Can you hear Glen?

    I could hear Glen Campbell in my ear as we approached Galveston. You can hear him too, if you click here.

      We stayed with K.C. and Dan and their three children Marshall, Dallas and Milo overnight, on our way to New Orleans. Dan was on an evening shift on a sulphur ship which docks within bicycle riding distance of his house.  He is a relief mate who supervises the watch and any loading that happens in the evening. 

    I got a photo of K.C. and the kids in the evening, and Dan the following morning. 

    One of the most interesting things about Galveston, apart from the welcome salty ocean smell from the Gulf of Mexico, and the sight of happy bathers on the beach, is the Victorian style residential architecture. I photographed some of the very grand and stately heritage buildings, including the Moody Mansion and the Bishop's Palace. 

    The following morning we had breakfast burritos and K.C. and Dan gave us a short driving tour of the city, while Dan filled us in on the historical context, talking about "The Storm" of 1900 and how the city was changed by it, as well as more recent storms. 

    He talked about the Mob presence in the city up until 1961, which included a gambling den called the Balinese Room far out over the water on a long pier - the FBI kept trying to raid and shut them down, but by the time they got down to the end of the pier, the roulette tables were always well secreted away and the gambling den was nothing but a dance hall. 

    K.C. and Dan directed us to take the ferry from Galveston to Bolivar, and we rode on the Gibb Gilchrist ferry. In Bolivar every house, store, and even church is up on high stilts. 

    Once past the Louisiana border we drive on high concrete motorways over the immense waterways known as the bayous. We crossed the Henderson Swamp and eventually came out at Lake Ponchartrain, passed Lafayette and Baton Rouge, and finally made it into New Orleans. The weather has been sunny, and the visibility is great.