Go Fish Galvez

And God bless him for it!

Boy, have I been out of the Galveston loop lately. Busy with the new job, trying to make a lasting positive impression and secure that impending raise—which, by the way, I did today!

So it’s been awhile since last I cruised east on Seawall Boulevard, far enough down to inspect the latest doin’s at the old Flagship Hotel pier where work has been underway for the past year in preparation for the latest rendition of Galveston’s historic Pleasure Pier.

Now, in my defense, I had been checking pretty regularly for awhile but gave up when no noticeable progress was apparent.

Then, just two days ago, as I was watching the evening news, I happened to catch a story by our own part-time Galveston resident and (very gay, and also perennially happy) full-time KPRC weatherman Frank Billingsley, doing an interview with Tilman Fertitta, new owner of the old pier and carnivalist entrepreneur unsurpassed in these parts, unveiling the current status of his latest venture, a recreation or, more accurately, new incarnation of the old Galveston Pleasure Pier. Wow, things are really happening now—and fast!

Apparently much more work was in order than I had any clue about and all, thus far, just to shore up those ancient pilings supporting the pier itself. Good idea, Tilman. It would have been such bad publicity for the island, not to mention your own reputation, to have had the very first carnival riders hurled to a watery demise on opening day.

But now, with that most important work completed, the flurry of fun has begun in earnest!

Sixty million large ones later, the new Pleasure Pier is slated to feature a number of traditional rides, including a 36-foot double-decker carousel, as well as a 100-foot tall Ferris Wheel.

And for the truly adventurous (or seriously impaired), there will be a 200-foot-tall swing, billed to be the highest ride in the entire state of Texas, in keeping with the old saying that everything here is always bigger.

Now, I used to be a stalwart carnival goer (with mine own humble homage to the legendary Midway at the State Fair of Texas), less so now, I ruefully confess, thanks to age and the consequent damage too much carnival going can do.

But with this new revival of spirit on the island, courtesy Tilman’s latest Big Adventure, I’m beginning to feel a niggling new craving for a big pink ball of cotton-like confectionary. And happily I won’t have too far to travel now to satisfy it.

So let’s up the ante, Mr. Fertitta, you with the big bags o’ cash. (I’d contribute myself but the raise hasn’t kicked in yet.) Next up on my short list, should you dare, or care?

Let’s bring back gambling to this historic old city, an endeavor in which she cut her teeth, honed to an art, made her fame.

Let’s return our old town to her historic roots, back to a hint of her infamous heyday, her Brat Pack glory, back to a soft summer breeze with a wafting melody of a young Frankie crooning and the ladies all swooning…

She is, after all, a grand old gal…