ISLE BET

Top picks for summer fun in Galveston

by Tim Brookover

Galveston is more than sand and the Strand, two of the only Island features that many visitors bother to experience. Next time you cross the causeway, keep in mind these spots.

1894 Grand Opera House

My grandfather took me to the opera house when I was a boy, years before it was restored to splendor. He had performed there as a cornet player in the municipal band. By the early 1970s the place was a magnificent wreck. In Houston, the building probably would have vanished, replaced by a parking lot. Instead, the reconstructed Grand (2020 Postoffice, 800/821-1894, 409/765-1894, www.thegrand.com) is an astounding hall. The new 2003-2004 season includes an October 18 sure-hit performance by chanteuses Cleo Laine and Maureen McGovern.

Galveston County Historical Museum

This gem is housed in the 1919 neoclassical-style City National Bank. The lovely building alone is worth a visit, and the façade is a great spot for dramatic glamour shots. Permanent exhibitions recount the Galveston story, including the cataclysmic 1900 storm and the role of African Americans in the city. Through October 23, the museum (2219 Market, 409/766-2340) presents a textiles show, Quilts in Motion, with demonstrations by the Island Quilt Guild.

MOD Coffee and Tea

A terrific street of galleries, shops, and restaurants, Postoffice rivals Strand for activity. MOD is a must-stop for a refreshing beverage, cold or hot, as well as fresh salads and pastries. The eclectic crowd includes day-trippers and earnest medical students with their imposing textbooks. On Friday nights, MOD screens independent and foreign films and serves free popcorn. The flicks this month include Best in Show on July 11, Paragraph 51 on July 18. Throughout July, MOD (2126 Postoffice, 409/765-5959) will display paintings by Leslie LeCornu.

ETC/East End Theatre Co.

This company launched in 2002 with a production of The Laramie Project. Beginning August 14, Etc., located across the street from the Opera House (2001 Postoffice, 409/762-3556), will present Sweet Charity, the rousing Cy Coleman/Dorothy Fields musical that, as all show-tune queens should know, helped make Gwen Verdon a Broadway legend and Shirley MacLaine a film star. The production will run through September 7.

Midsummer Books

Many readers complain about the demise of small bookstores, and then run to Borders for the discounts. On the Island, Midsummer Books (2311 Ship’s Mechanic Row, 409/765-5930) represents the proud tradition of the independent bookseller. This trim, tidy shop stocks a terrific array of Galveston books not found anywhere else. The art-book selection is particularly marvelous. The staff doesn’t mind browsing. The pocket-sized, kitschy-fun Mardi Gras Museum is located next door.

The Tremont House

On summer afternoons, one of the great Island pleasures is sitting in the Toujouse Bar in the hotel’s black-and-white atrium and listening to Oma Galloway work wonders at the grand piano. Galloway doesn’t merely tickle the ivories. He performs. For the price of a beverage, you can enjoy a show and escape the heat in the swanky Tremont (2300 Ship’s Mechanic Row, 409/763.0300, 800/WYNDHAM)

Galveston Art Center

Houstonian Clint Willour is director of this museum/gallery (2127 Strand, 409/763-2403), which presents changing exhibitions of work by regional artists. Now showing: Digitally Assisted, a group exhibition; Elizabeth Berrera: Splamata; and Eric Schnell: A Better Story (Part III). Check out the small shop downstairs for a ceramics and art jewelry.

Ashton Villa

Most of the grand mansions that once lined Broadway are gone, but Ashton Villa was the first. Wealthy businessman James Moreau Brown built the house in 1859, and his daughter Miss Bettie Brown was active in the Women’s Health Protective Association, which after the 1900 storm reburied the dead, distributed relief supplies, and worked for city beautification. One of many historic houses in the Island open for tours, Ashton Villa (2328 Broadway, 409/762-3933) is also site of the Heritage Visitors Center. More info: Galveston Historical Foundation, www.galvestonhistory.org.

EIBAND’S GALLERY

This emporium of more than 50 dealers in antiques and vintage treasures bears the name of the marvelous, now-defunct local department store. The cases and cases stuffed with old costume jewelry will appeal to the little drag queen in all of us. This place (2001 Postoffice, 409/763-5495) is enormous, with four floors and more than 13,000 square feet of stuff. Take the massive staircase to the dusty top floor for a true Miss Havisham experience.

THE BEACH

No, we don’t really expect sun-worshippers to shun the shore. The most beautiful Island beaches certainly lie on the west end of the Island. These include the pristine Galveston Island State Park (14901 FM 3005, 409/737-1222). However, nothing beats the carny attitude of Stewart Beach (6th and Seawall Blvd.), the site of Splash Day events and other gay frolicking. And if you want to play a round of miniature golf just steps from the Gulf, this is the beach for you.

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