Mel and I have never been in Galveston, Texas at Mardi Gras time. We've heard about the big Mardi Gras festivities at New Orleans, Louisiana, but had never been there either. After we found out our good friends, Mike and Judy Pluto have celebrated the Galveston Mardi Gras for many years, we knew we simply had to "bead" there to believe it! And, the Mardi Gras festivities does truly start with beads -- with more than 3 million beads thrown out.
Late last year, Mike and Judy Pluto asked us if we would like to go with them to Galveston for a long weekend during Mardi Gras. Of course we said, "YES," and jumped at the opportunity to experience Mardi Gras in all its glory!
Next we made camping reservations at the Sandpiper RV Resort at the intersection of Highway 87 and Seawall Boulevard, which is only steps away from Stewart Beach in Galveston for the long weekend of February 17 - 19, 2023. Also joining us for this weekend celebration were friends of the Pluto's -- Kevin and Dorothy Franklin.
* * * * * HISTORY OF MARDI GRAS * * * * *
Mardi Gras is traditionally a festival of feasting and merrymaking that occurs right before the season of Lent. In the days leading up to Lent, merrymakers would binge on all the rich, fatty foods -- meat, eggs, milk, lard and cheese -- that remained in their homes, in anticipation of several weeks of eating only fish and fasting. The first Mardi Gras was held in 1711 in Mobile, Alabama as a national gala imported from France. This historical event first appeared in New Orleans after 1873.It was first publicly observed on Galveston Island in 1867 as a dramatic entertainment and masked ball, with a 350 pound justice of peace presiding. By 1871, the festivities had grown to a city-wide carnival, with day and night parades, lavish costumes and an annual theme. The elite exclusive masked balls, as well as the gambling houses, restaurants and saloons stayed open all night for the community.
Following a sabbatical imposed in 1941 by war and challenging times, Mardi Gras Galveston was revived in 1985 by Galveston-born preservationist and developer George P. Mitchell. The largest celebration of its kind in Texas and the third largest in the nation, Mardi Gras at Galveston offers the unique chance to experience sand between your toes and gorgeous beach sunsets, while taking in the revelry of lavish parades with thousands of parade viewers lining the island's streets and shouting for beads. This year was the island's 112th celebration and was expected to draw crowds up to 350,000.
The official classical colors of Mardi Gras are purple, gold and green, with each color having a noteworthy meaning. Purple signifies royalty or justice, gold signifies power or purity of purpose, while green is a reminder of love, friendship or faith.
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When we arrived at Galveston around 11 a.m. on Friday, February 17th, it was windy and a little chilly. Mel and I were the first of the three RVs to arrive, so we went ahead and got set up. Around a couple hours later, Mike and Judy Pluto pulled into the campground. Shortly after that, Kevin and Dorothy Franklin arrived.
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(Sandpiper RV Resort in Galveston, Texas)
(Mel & Shirley's RV on the left and Mike & Judy's RV on the right.)
After we had visited briefly with everyone, Mel decided that he wanted to go to Galveston Island Brewing located at 8423 Stewart Road in Galveston to sample some of their craft beer. He tried several different craft beers, but said he really liked Tiki Wheat the best!
(Mel with the Tiki Wheat beer at Galveston Island Brewing.)
Friday night, everyone was on their own for dinner. Then around 7 p.m. we went to the evening parade. It was really chilly but the beads were a flying.
(Shirley and Mel with the bunch of beads they collected at the Friday night parade.)
Then on Saturday, Judy Pluto invited all of us to a brunch around 10 a.m. She prepared a scrumptious feast of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and salsa, along with mimosa cocktails. Since it was still pretty windy and chilly out, we all did our own things in our RVs until later that afternoon when we got ready to go to the early evening parade. Mel and Mike rode their E-bikes to the parade while the rest of us booked an Uber to take us there (which worked well on the way down, but not so well on the way back.)
(Vendor at parade selling Mardi Gras trinkets.)
(Watching the Mardi Gras parade -- in the chairs in the back row from left to right are Mel Mendenhall, Judy Pluto, Dorothy Franklin and Kevin Franklin. Mike Pluto is seated on the curb in the front.)
(One of the floats in the Mardi Gras parade.)
Sunday morning the wind had calmed down, and the temperature had improved tremendously. Mel and I decided to take a walk down to Stewart Beach. The sand was dry and hard so we could walk along the beach easily. We saw many jelly fish on the beach. Jellyfish like other sea life such as starfish and sand dollars are often brought ashore by the weather-moving ocean currents.
(Jellyfish on Stewart Beach in Galveston.)
As continues to be our tradition, we always write the name of the beach location in sand.
(Mel writes Galveston in the sand at Stewart Beach.)
The weather was beautifully warm on Sunday afternoon, so we all decided to go for a bike ride in Galveston on our E-bikes. We stopped to eat lunch at Huli Huli Hut at 312 19th Street in Galveston. Mel and I both each had a "Killer Coconut" drink -- made with Cruzan Coconut Rum, Ron Rio Rum, Pineapple Juice, Colada Mix, and Coco Shavings. It was really refreshing. We then shared the "Huli Fried Seafood Platter," which consisted of a large fried catfish, 2 shrimp kisses, 2 fried shrimp, 2 hush puppies, 2 stuffed shrimp, 2 gulf balls, 2 fried oyster, coleslaw and French fries.
After lunch, we rode our E-bikes to La King's Confectionary and Ice Cream Parlor to look around. It truly is a throwback to the 1920s when folks came out to enjoy a treat and conversation.
(TIDBIT OF HISTORY: From their website I was able to find out the history of this historic confectionary building. In 1927, Jimmy King began making candy in Houston while learning the trade from the 'Old World' candy makers. In 1976, Jimmy's oldest son Jack, moved his family to the historic Strand in Galveston to recreate an old-fashioned confectionary. He used the 19th-century formulas and methods, handed down to him, using traditional equipment and procedures to make confections.)
We stopped with our bikes at the confectionary to watch the afternoon parade and gather a few more beads -- as if we didn't already have enough! Our trip to Mardi Gras in Galveston was now coming to a close as we journeyed back to Thousand Trails at Lake Conroe on Monday morning, February 20th.
Happy Trails,
Shirley & Mel
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