"Deep in the South of Texas
Not so long ago,
There on a crowded island
In the Gulf of Mexico
It didn't take too much money,
Man, but it sure was nice.
You could dance all night if you felt all right,
Drinking whiskey and throwing dice."
"Balinese" - ZZ Top
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| A staple of any beach town, pulled taffy is a specialty of La King's Confectionery, which has been creating sweet treats on Galveston Island since the 1920s |
As Columbus-area natives often head south to the Hocking Hills to get away from city life, Houston folks make a similar trek down to the beaches of Galveston Island along the Gulf of Mexico. On a particularly clear and promisingly warm day, we made the similar trek along back roads along Texas Highway 6 to this sandy paradise.
Whether you are weather-attuned or not (we admit to being a couple of weather geeks ourselves), you cannot visit Galveston without the specter of deadly hurricanes in the back of your mind. In 1900, Galveston, then the fourth largest city and the economic powerhouse of the state of Texas, was hit with what is still the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history blew ashore and killed over 6,000 people. Most recently, 2008's Hurricane Ike dealt released its wrath over the area, an mental and economic body blow that the area has only now recovered from. But as noted by this Texas Monthly article on the city, the struggle to best protect "the (most) quintessentially Texan" of cities from here on out is still being debated to this day.
