Lifestyle

Galveston Ho! OutSmart bellies up to the bar at 3rd Coast’s hot new location to have a drink with Galveston’s Rodney Seiler

Rodney Seiler and show director Tara Dion at 3rd Coast Beach Bar.

See also other Galveston Ho! features:
The ‘No-Sand, No-Shellfish’  Galveston weekend
The Galveston Laffite Society celebrates yo-ho-ho history

OutSmart: So you’ve got a swank new location now.
Rodney Seiler: Yeah, we moved off the seawall back in March and opened at the end of April in downtown Galveston. We’re 4,000 square feet now, about 50 percent larger, and we’ve changed from a beach bar theme to more urban modern. Downtown’s really making a comeback after the hurricane. I’m so happy to be part of the downtown crowd.

And your block’s kind of a hot location right now.
The block that we’re in is becoming the network. It gives people an opportunity to park once and party all night. Eat, shop, and then finish the evening off with a nightcap.

You were recently honored for your charity work, weren’t you?
The local AIDS organization is ACCT—AIDS Coalition of Coastal Texas. Their benefit gala, one of their fundraising events, is a champagne brunch they have at the San Luis Resort. And this year we had the surprising honor of receiving their Star of Hope Award. They haven’t given the award since Hurricane Ike. We raised a little over $21,000 for them in the past year. Believe me, I was shocked. I had no idea we had done that well. We were quite honored and pleasantly surprised.

How involved are you in island politics?
It’s a small town here, so if you’re involved with the community, you’re involved with the politics. I was a lot more involved in our last mayoral race. I was not real happy with the priorities the city was setting, and I was not happy with the way the city was bogged down in red tape. So I became a lot more involved.

Who did you support in the mayoral race?
I supported Joe Jaworski, who won. And for city council I supported Angela Brown. She lost by four votes. I felt like I should have held one more meet-and-greet and she would have won.

Galveston’s really on an upswing right now.
We have had a huge opportunity after the hurricane with everything that’s been rebuilt or remodeled, given a new coat of paint, freshened up. The city looks great.

And you guys dodged a bullet with the BP spill. You’re basically unscathed, aren’t you?
No oil whatsoever. For the first time I can remember since I moved here, the water has been blue or blue-green for as far as you can see.

So what are you drinking?
For a drink or a shot?

It’s on our tab. Have whatever you want.
For a drink, I always have Coors Light. For a shot, I drink X-Rated Liqueur. It’s very pink with a ruby-red grapefruit flavor.

We’ll drink to that.

Steven Foster is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.

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Ste7en Foster

Steven Foster is a regular contributor to OutSmart Magazine.

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