Readying for Summer on the Boardwalk

Usually our day's destination is a town's historic district, a restored theater or hotel, an event, or some scenic attraction.

Today's destination was a place for lunch, but first, something to do.

About midway between Houston and Galveston is the town of Kemah (TX), located on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. And in this shore town was the Kemah Boardwalk.

It had been a colder-than-usual winter in the Galveston area, and the spring day that we visited the park fit this same description.

Add the fact that this was a weekday--albeit possibly during Spring Break--and this may account for the relatively small attendance.

For this reason, the carousel and other rides operated on a somewhat intermittent schedule.

The 65-foot Ferris wheel

and The Aviator were two of the partially-filled rides.

Two rides that usually had a waiting line were the Drop Zone (left in the photo below) and the Boardwalk Tower (right).

The Drop Zone

Boardwalk Tower

We turned our attention to other scenes on the Boardwalk. This young fellow kept his grandmother moving quickly as she tried to keep up with him.

This light fixture with its "eyelashes" was a curious creation in and of itself; adding an audience of one appreciative gull completes the scene.

We thought that this fish food dispensing machine would catch the attention of visitors. But in case passersby hadn't noticed the machine's position on the Boardwalk, this feathered watchman was there to point it out.

And if there were still questions about how to use the machine, his helpful assistant

was there to point out where the coins should go. (Incidently, what had caught Kate's eye was watching this bird flip up the dispenser door with its beak and pull out one nugget of food.)

Vendors awaited crowds who wanted take their turn at trying to win a souvenir or, if all else failed, to buy one.

We caught the Boardwalk Express as it headed into a tunnel on its way to

Saltgrass Junction.

All that was needed was about another 30 degrees.


Pelican Pics of the Day