Galveston Island When the Gulf Remembers

Galveston is fifty miles south of Houston on I-45, and its history is more dramatic than its beach-town reputation suggests. In 1900, the deadliest natural disaster in American history — a hurricane that killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people — leveled the city. Galveston rebuilt, raised the entire island grade by seventeen feet, and constructed a seawall that still holds today.

The Strand Historic District is the rebuilt city's Victorian commercial core — iron-front buildings that survived because their owners refused to abandon them. Gaido's has been serving Gulf seafood since 1911, and the Bishop's Palace at 1402 Broadway is the grandest Victorian house in Texas, open for tours.

Practical notes: The drive from Houston takes an hour. The Galveston Island State Park on the bay side has kayak trails through the wetlands. The Gulf-side beaches are fine for swimming but the water is brown (it's the Gulf of Mexico, not the Caribbean). The real draw is the history, the architecture, and the seafood.