Exploring Nature: Glorious Galveston

If you like to plan ahead, you might put the 22nd annual FeatherFest birding festival on your 2024 calendar. This year’s festival is set for April 18 - 21 on Galveston Island, one of my very favorite places. FeatherFest will offer sightings of over 200 species of birds during the height of spring migration. Birding and photo field trips will be led by Kevin Karlson, Greg Miller, Louise Zemaitis and a host of local experts. You can check out Galvestonfeatherfest.com for more information.

Birds you might see include sandhill cranes, American kestrels, belted kingfishers, red-breasted mergansers, common loons and vermilion flycatchers. Plus lots and lots of seagulls.

While you are in Galveston, you could also visit the latest attraction, the Battleship Texas, currently docked at Pier 20 at the Port of Galveston. A veteran of both World Wars, this is the last surviving “dreadnaught” in existence.

It is currently in a dock leased for ten years, with an option to renew. So it should be there for a while.

Once repairs are completed, the ship will be open for tours. And I’m told all scheduled tours are currently sold out. Hopefully, this may be changed by springtime.

One thing that will be available for sure is fine dining. Galveston has many, many great eateries, and one of the oldest and best is Guido’s, located on Seawall Boulevard and open for lunch and dinner.

Owner Nick Guido presides over some of the best seafood you’ll find anywhere. The place is especially good with all things shrimp.

If walking is your thing, the seawall has a sidewalk that is 10.3 miles long, the longest continuous sidewalk in the United States.

Other Galveston attractions include the Pleasure Pier, Moody Gardens, Bishop’s Palace, the Grand Opera House and the Strand, a long street filled with interesting shops and restaurants.

Whether for avian or culinary reasons, historic Galveston is a great place to visit. I recommend it highly!