Tomorrow’s the 36th annual Dickens on the Strand, and Galveston is going into its finest Victorian mode – with candy apples, bagpipes, games and crafts, and a whole cast of Dickens characters roaming the streets.
The festival began in the dark days of the Strand, when the Galveston Historical Foundation was casting about for ways to rebuild a decaying treasure. The first few years, lifelong Galvestonian Christine Hopkins told me, the festival was held only at night, when the festive lighting cast the shabby Victorian buildings at their romantic best.
Eventually, a multimillion-dollar restoration brought the charming historic downtown to life, but the city took another big hit last year when Ike deposited eight feet of floodwaters in the streets of downtown.
Nonetheless, Galvestonians being the hardy lot they are, the town has rallied impressively. A visit a few weeks ago with my daughter showed just how far the city’s come.
Here’s a little glimpse of a sunny day a couple of weeks ago.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
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