Connie

I just spent 3 days in Galveston and was just amazed at the clean up since Hurricane Ike. As a matter of fact, if I hadn't known there had been a hurricane, I wouldn't have hardly even been aware of the few properties that are still rebuilding. Nearly all hotels, restaurants and attractions are open and all spiffed up.

I went to Galveston expecting to still see lots of damage but I wanted to spend some tourism dollars there anyway. Things looked so good that I came back home and looked up online photos to remind myself how bad Galveston looked after Ike.

We drove about 15 miles west from Galveston and most of the homes are not damaged or have been rebuilt. I expected wiped out areas and didn't see it. We also took the ferry over to Bolivar Peninsula, where some of the worst damage was and there's been tons of rebuilding going on.

All I heard from people when I said I was going to Galveston was, "Why are you going there--there's nothing left.". Nothing could be further from the truth.

minnehappylis

I am so happy to hear a positive report. We love the city and the hospitable residents of Galveston!

Toucan2

I'm glad to hear Galveston is looking so good. We were on the Bolivar Peninsula at the end of April, and it was still a pretty sobering drive, although a lot of work had been done since we were last there in December. Recovery on the peninsula is going to take a long while I think, although it is certainly on its way.

Connie

The wait for the ferry to Bolivar Peninsula took hours coming and going because there were lots of construction workers and their trailers, lumber yard delivery trucks, etc. Even though it took us nearly four hours to go over and back, I was glad to see all the rebuilding going on.

bkluvsNola

Connie,

Have the oak trees along I-45 when it becomes a street (Avenue J I think) turned green yet? When I was there at Easter none of the oak trees had bloomed yet and they looked like they weren't coming back. I also read an article stating that many trees are lost. Did you see if any of those trees were coming back? It's a shame if they lost them all...

I found that Galveston had a lot of work needed to be done when I visited in April.

Connie

I didn't notice those particular trees but I was amazed at how much vegetation--trees, bushes, etc were alive and thriving. I expected to see lots of dead or missing trees and bushes and didn't see it. Of course, I'm sure there are some but it's not like they were all wiped out. If they were wiped out, they've spent a lot of money planting mature ones.

They obviously had a goal to be ready for summer and, in my opinion, they met that goal.

volcanogirl

We went down a couple of weeks ago; I think the beaches look better than before Ike. It looks like they've trucked in some sand. All the restaurants along the sea wall were packed - it was good to see.

Connie

Some nights, when we were walking on the beach, front end loaders were going a short distance out into the water, scooping up sand and bringing it back up to the beach. I could also tell that they had sometimes driven along the water's edge and scooped up seaweed (?) and debris and dumped it at the edge of the seawall. The only debris we ever saw was a few chunks of concrete and one post.

My sister was playing out in the waves and an intact coconut hit her on the arm. We were curious how far away that would have come from. They don't grow along the Texas coast, do they?

volcanogirl

There are a lot of palm trees in Galveston, but I don't recall ever seeing any coconut palms. What a funny story!

I did read in the paper that they plan to demolish the Flagship Hotel. It seemed pretty rundown even before the hurricane.