Tuba Christmas at the Kemah Boardwalk

>Okay, I must apologize before we begin. For whatever reason, I can't seem to get the blog program to work in the way I want. Therefore, y'all--my lovely readers--shall have to wade through all the words and pictures. I'll just write all the descriptions out and they prolly won't be near their pictures. :( I tried! I promise! Anyway--onto the words.

I had an adventure today! My old--as in years I've known him, not his age--friend Bryan (whom I met at a churchofchristsingles.com get-to-gether in Dallas back in 2002) was playing in the Kemah Tuba Christmas dealie. (Which--by the way--I highly recommend! All those brass instruments playing beautiful Christmas songs. WOW!)


Before I began, I had a guitar lesson. Which was fantastic, as always. I wish I could afford to stay with him. His place is called Guitar Lesson Studio. Then a quick lunch at Whataburger. That franchise in Lumberton is always decorated up so well. Look at that tree! Decorated in orange and white. You may have to click on the picture to noticed that some of the ornaments are apple pie containers! They also use some other orange and white WB items to make the garland. In the little window box type planter that separate the ordering area from the eating area, they have inserted several white and red silk flowers. It looks so Christmas-ey there and I always smile as I walk into the restaurant.

The next four are the
four shots I took as I approached and passed under a really neat looking angular bridge. It is kinda hard to explain. It is one of those "on location" type situation. I'll try though. As I passed under the bridge, it almost looked as each section of the bridge kinda 'swallowed' the subsequent sections, one at a time. Too cool!


After the bridge and before I actually reached the boardwalk, I drove through Kemah proper. There is a building on the left hand side which was very unique. It was oddly shaped--kinda like a thin rectangle. Large bells and other items hung from its roof. And the roof itself--WOW! It was entirely covered with large pots filled with palm-ey looking plants. I wonder how they survived Hurricane Ike? On the left hand side, almost from floor to ceiling, there is a large window made of what looks like about 120 smaller panes of varying colors. How cool is that? Actually pretty much everything about the building is cool.
Half-way up, there is a shelf which holds several sculptures. It is such an interesting place. I wish I'd had time to park there and explore. I imagine it is an art studio, yeah?

The next photo is of a small group of trees which are all leaning over to the left. I just liked how they looked!

The boats moored at Kemah.






The old-fashioned police car which sits on the boardwalk.

People having fun on Pharoah's Fury. When I saw it, I was thrilled! This has always been one of my favorite rides. Strike one for getting older, however. After about two or three whips back and forth, I started having a bit of motion sickness. Yikes! Not a good thing to have when you are on a amusement park ride, yeah? I started imagining how angry everyone below me would be if I couldn't control it. I decided to close my eyes and I managed to survive the ride without losing it.
What was kinda cool is that when I told the older guy sitting next to me about my motion sickness, he seemed very concerned. He wanted to know who my people were on the ride and he was going to email me the photos. How sweet! I love it when my faith in the greatness of humanity is reassured!


An odd picture of the Ferris wheel.



Some sail boats practicing for the boat parade that was scheduled for this evening.







A shot of the piers and the roller coast from the sky.









The penguin shirt (you know how I love penguin!) of a young friend who rode the ride in the with his family at the same time I did. They were fun and the dad was full of information about all the things we were seeing. It is nice to hang around with smart people, yeah?


















A photo of the Ferris Wheel, The Inverter, and that Fly-ey thingie from way up at the top of the ride which takes you up about 500 feet or so. It is funny that I never noticed the black and white check design of the ground until I was up in the air. Something about this picture really appeals to me. Can't quite figure out what it is, but--there ya go. It is cool!


On top of the roller coaster, looking out on the Gulf.













Of course, I made a friend--Denver. We had a very fun conversation. :) It is unusual for an 18-year-old to be so well spoken.








































The next two shots are of the shooting fountain. Dunno what it is actually called, but it was so fun to watch the kids run through it, trying to get across the circle before the water shoots up! The parents were having almost as much fun watching their children smile and laugh and shriek. It was just beautiful!


























A neat water-tower.





















The Tuba Christmas band.











An apropos name for something which helps you relax and have fun.




















A shot of the sun going down as I was leaving Kemah.
















The fish tank at Cheddar's in Beaumont. How cool is it? Okay, The End. : )