Smoking Diaries #8: Ghosts of Galveston

Unidentified dancers at Galveston’s Mardi Gras party in 1953

by Sarah Hepola

This week’s adventure takes us to the coast of Texas. Galveston is a haunted city, but a city on the rise. Our chilly beachside ramble winds us through the history of the first major town in Texas and a hurricane that swept between 6,000-8,000 people out to sea (but what happened to them after that? Find out). The 1900 Galveston hurricane is still the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, though it’s largely forgotten, even in Texas. The story of how Galveston failed is also the story of how Houston succeeded (it was an hour north, and inland). But Galveston has new energy, newly renovated hotels, gorgeous Victorian homes, and if they can sort out of the lousy food in this town, your narrator might contemplate a move.

The Hotel Grand Galvez, where your narrator stayed with one Nancy Rommelmann

Topics discussed: Why the Grand Galvez reminds us of the Titanic, what do we mean when we talk about ghosts, the tale of the “lovelorn lady,” and how do we deal with our own dark history?

Hotel Grand Galvez staircase (left) reminds your narrator of that other staircase