Moody Gardens - Galveston

One of the largest attractions in Galveston is a place called Moody Gardens. It's like any large theme park, way too much to see in one day. So, they offer different packages along with varying price ranges to allow people to explore at their own pace. 

First of all Moody Gardens sits on 242 acres of land. It officially opened in 1986 and declares itself as a non-profit organization that educates visitors using nature as its platform. The park is open 365 days a year with over 2 million visitors each year. The park has three main attraction, the Rainforest Pyramid, the Discovery Pyramid, and the Aquarium Pyramid. Other attractions include the MG 3D theater, Palm Beach, the paddlewheel boat, and a golf course just to name a few. There are two seasonal attractions during the winter months which include the festival of lights and Ice Land.

Our first major decision, what attractions are we going to see. We decided to start with the Rainforest Pyramid, then do Ice Land, and finish it off with the Festival of Lights. The cost was $30 each. Definitely doable so away we go. Enjoy.

The Rainforest Pyramid is exactly what it says, a rainforest pyramid. The large clear pyramid opened in 1993 and reaches 10 stories. Of course the first thing that hits you when walking in is the humidity, then you see all the vivid colours and wonderful sounds.

We spent a good couple of hours walking through the Rainforest Pyramid and what a wonderful experience it was. Now on to Ice Land. Prior to entering we were shown a short 5 minute film on the making of this icy cold palace. Using 2 million pounds of ice the VYA Ice Carving Team from Harbin, China was given the daunting task of making the ice come alive. Working in a 28,000 square foot insulated tent with a   continuous temperature of 9 degree F, the 30 man/woman team carved towering ice figures. This years theme: SpongeBob Squarepants.

They give each person long parkas before entering. Me loving cold I just laughed. Rule number one you have to wear it. As soon as you walk in the cold hits you like a baseball. We noticed the temperature on the ice wall as we were walking around. They weren't lying.

Yes that is Susan under all those clothes. She was not a happy puppy. Finally, I'm in my element and loving it.

The ice slide is a favorite. I wanted to try it so bad but with my tailbone issue I didn't risk it. Maybe another time.

I kept having to remind myself this is all made from ice.









By this time we had enough of the theme park thing so we went home for some much needed rest and relaxation. We still had the Festival of Lights later on after dark, so a few happy hour drinks was out of the question.

It's dark so back to Moody Gardens we go to see the Christmas light display. It consists of a mile-long walking trail of over one million lights and 100 lighted scenes situated on Galveston Bay. As you walk around you're senses are stimulated by the smells of popcorn, hot chocolate, and roasted marshmallows over a campfire all while listening to holiday music.

          

The Lanterns Festival has been apart of the Chinese New Year celebration since the Han Dynasty of the Chinese Empire 206 BC - 221 AD. The people of the Han Dynasty believe that fire contained mystical properties that would ward off evil and prevent natural disasters. Being in a hurricane zone, Galveston could sure use all the help it can get. Anyway, these lantern were to honour the ice carvers who came to Moody Gardens from Harbin China sharing their trade and culture.

Galveston, TX - Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum

We have all seen them offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Have you ever wondered what they are. Well, we had the opportunity to visit one. What I'm talking about is none other than an offshore drilling rig. Galveston is home to the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum located at Pier 19 in Galveston Bay. What a perfect opportunity to see and learn right here in our back yard, well almost. 

After paying our $6 admission we entered the Ocean Star, a retired drilling rig, by way of a causeway or bridge. Not knowing what to expect we were greeted by a young man who told us how to go about touring the rig on our own with no time limits. Got to love it. We started in the theater where we watched a video on the offshore oil and gas industry.

The first US oil well was completed in 1859 in Pennsylvania.

The Ocean Star Drilling Rig, a jackup drilling rig was built in 1968 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company of Beaumont, Texas. Ocean Star drilled over 200 wells in the Gulf of Mexico before becoming decommissioned in 1984. The Offshore Energy Center bought the drilling rig in 1995 and spent the next 2 years converting it to a museum.

Underwater view

The first part of the museum was a refresher course on hydrocarbons. Oil and gas are hydrocarbons. Two basic elements make up a hydrocarbon, hydrogen and carbon. These hydrocarbons occur in layers of rocks that can lie thousands of feet below the surface. In the early days of oil exploration wildcatters would drill in areas on a hunch not knowing if oil was present or not. Geologists started studying the earths formations. Much of the world's oil and gas deposits lie offshore under thousands of feet of water and then thousands of feet of soil and rock. Fortunately, scientists and geologists have  developed effective ways of viewing the subsurface. The most common is seismology.

How is oil formed you ask? Well let me tell you. Imagine the sea millions of years ago. In this sea lived large numbers of tiny organisms. When these organisms die they settle on the bottom of the ocean floor. Over the years, huge quantities of this material along with mud and sand accumulate on the sea floor. As millions of years go by layers of this sediment build up becoming thousands of feet thick. The huge weight of this overlying sediment creates great pressure and heat on the deep layers below changing the layers into rock. At the same time heat, pressure, and other forces change the dead organic material into deposits of hydrocarbons...oil and gas. Seeping through cracks in the rock the hydrocarbons move upward until they are stopped and/or trapped by a subsurface barrier. These trapped reservoirs of petroleum are what today's oil industry seeks. Clear as mud, well by this time Susan was already on information overwhelm and we are only 1/3 through it. I loved it. Check out the pair of wanna-be-oil riggers.

Engineers use different type of bits depending on the type of rock being scraped or crushed. Roller-cone bits are used for consolidated rock. Polycrystalline diamond compact bits are used for softer rock.

Offshore, several wells can be drilled from a single fixed 
platform. Drilling crews first drill a vertical well. Then using a method called deflection the drilling deflects away from the main well. Advancement in directional drilling technology permits multilateral drilling. This allows drillers to tap into the smallest of reservoirs thereby increasing the maximum recovery potential.

How are damaged underwater lines fixed you ask! Wearing atmospheric diving suits, divers can safely descend to 2300 ft for extended periods. The suits have powerful manipulator claws and an assortment of tools (I could only dream about) to perform hundreds of deep water installation or repairs.

Secondly, ROVs or remotely operated vehicles allow specialist on the surface to perform underwater maintenance and inspection of pipeline as well as construction. All subsea activity that was done in response to the Macondo Blowout on April 20, 2010 was performed by an ROV.

There are several different types of oil rigs off shore. Below are just a few.
Jacket platforms are free-standing structures held to the sea floor by pilings.







Compliant towers are allowed to sway with the ocean currents and are held upright by cables.







Tension leg platforms have positive buoyancy and are tied to the seafloor by tendons.

Gravity-based structures are huge concrete or steel structures that sit on the bottom and contain production storage tanks.

Specially equipped vessels receive and process crude oil from the seafloor gather stations. They clean and separate the crude oil from water, mud, and gas then store it until an offloading shuttle tanker takes it away.
  









Since 1938, over 56,000 wells have been drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. The total footage drilled by these wells is approximately 596 million feet or 113,000 miles. That's equivalent to 46 times the distance between Los Angles and New York. The deepest well to date(2008) was drilled in 2005 and reached 34,000 feet. In 2008 the cost of drilling for a typical well was $1,000 to $5,000 per foot. Meaning the oil and gas industry has invested $1.8 trillion drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
             Blue dots: 1937 - 1984  Orange dots: 1985 - 1999  
                           Black dots: 2000 - July 2008

New rigs being built in harbour

After walking around for 2 hours we were starved so we went for lunch at a place called The Spot.

All the burger fixings

My burger...so good

Texas: We're Here

As we left the banks of the Mississippi River the sun was shining and the day was getting warm. It's going to be a nice drive, no major highways for the first few hours. Sometimes it's not about how fast you get there its enjoying how you get there. With a quick one night stop over in Beaumont we were off the next morning to Galveston, TX.

There are so many wonderful things to see and do in the Galveston area that our month long stay here will not be boring. A few days after arriving we started hearing weather reports about nasty weather coming our way. Our first Texas Gulf Coast storm has hit. Tornadoes reported near Houston with heavy rains and very damaging winds. I'm use to heavy rain, damaging winds, lightening, and the occasional tornado but what I'm not use to is the Gulf water looking to come across the highway toward the campground. We are about 1000 ft from the Gulf water and behind us is the intercoastal waterway. And yes we are only 1 foot, that's 12 inches, or one little ruler above sea level. After it was over all I could say was we survived so I can write another blog. Were we afraid, not really just concerned. I didn't like the idea of our new rig floating over to Florida via way of the Gulf.

The city of Galveston is situated on Galveston Island, a barrier island along the Texas Gulf Coast known to be constantly influenced by weather and water. It sits approximately 45 miles from downtown Houston.

The first Europeans landed on Galveston Island as far back as 1528 a place where the Akokisa and Karankawa Indians called home. During the charting of the Gulf of Mexico, Spanish explorer Jose de Evia named the island Galveztown after Bernardo do Galvez a Spanish colonial governor. In 1817 the pirate Jean Lafitte established a colony on Galveston Island of over 1,000 people naming it Campeche. He was eventually forced from the island burning all he left behind.

By 1839 the incorporated town of Galveston had grown quickly. The sophisticated town opened the first state post office, the first hospital, the first golf course, and so on. Between 1865 and 1924 the Port of Galveston opened it's doors to more than 200,000 immigrants from Germany, Italy, and Greece. However, on the fateful day of September 8, 1900 a devastating hurricane hit Galveston causing massive destruction. With over 6,000 lives lost it is considered to be the most deadliest natural disaster in US history. The towns people that survived were determined to prevent a similar fate if another hurricane hit. Therefore, they raised the entire town by eight feet and created a 17 foot high seawall slanting the land so it would drain into the bay.

A 10 ft bronze statue stand atop the Seawall. It was dedicated in memory of the people who lost their lives during the hurricane of  September 8, 1900. The statue portrays a family: father, mother, and child clinging together. During the dedication ceremony names of victims were placed in a vault under the sculpture.

Imagine streets lined with live oaks creating a canopy that light could barely sneak through. That was the East End of Galveston prior to Hurricane Ike. On September 13, 2008 Galveston took a direct hit causing a tidal surge that covered most of the island. In it's wake the street lined tree canopies were gone. But where there was destruction, a group of homeowners saw a chance for rejuvenation. Tree sculptures have replaced the majestic oaks that once lined the streets and shaded homes.

We found the Tin Man and Toto on the front lawn of this beautiful home. As the story goes one of the directors from the movie "The Wizard Of Oz" was born in the front downstairs bedroom of this house. 

The homeowners of this home own a beautiful gentle grey Great Dane named Hunter. The oak tree had grown around the fence at the spot where the paws grip the fence.

The area hardest hit by Hurricane Ike was the East End Historical District. Many of the beautiful homes survived the destruction. This area reminded us of Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.

As we drove around and walked from one sculputure to the next we could not imagine how destructive the hurricane was. Then we come across a house that has not been touched.

The sculptures only represent a small portion of the trees that were destroyed. After the storm Galveston ensured that 100% of the destroyed trees did not go into the land fill rather be used in recycling projects. More than 100 tons of Galveston trees went to restore America's only remaining whaling ship. Another 200 tons went to Malaga, Spain for the restoration of the Brig "Galveztown". So, not all was wasted.