Dawn at Pleasure Pier

I had wanted to catch a sunrise over the Gulf, but so often during our stay the mornings were overcast.

I also wanted to find a setting around which to photograph the sunrise and chose Galveston's Pleasure Park.

I thought the structures of the Park would be silhouetted against the sunrise, but there was an unexpected component of the Park the day that the skies looked promising--the rides were lighted and a couple of them were operating before dawn.

Pleasure Pier, which opened in the early 1900’s, promoted itself as the "The Coney Island of the South.”

The pier was originally built as a recreational facility for the United States military during World War II. In the 1940s it was transformed into the Galveston Pleasure Pier and quickly became king as the largest of its kind in the country.

While waiting for the sun to rise, I found myself among a handful of others on the beach. The changing patterns of lights on the ferris wheel provided a colorful background for these pre-dawn activities.

The Pier operated as a tourist destination until 1961 when Hurricane Carla severely damaged the property.

Four years later, the Flagship Hotel opened on the once devastated Pleasure Pier and stayed open for over 40 years. On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike came along.

The monumental renovation that followed produced the Pleasure Pier, which opened in May of 2012 .

On the morning of my visit, the glorious beginning to the day was all too brief.

The clouds rolled in, but I was treated to the sunlight coming in streams of light that found openings in the clouds.

Maybe not as glorious, but interesting in its patterns.

The day begins.