On any given Saturday night at Rudy & Paco fine dining establishment, you will find owner Francisco “Paco” Vargas doing what he loves best: entertaining! For 11 years now, Paco has been wowing patrons of his Nicaraguan influenced restaurant with award-winning cuisine and impeccable service. With resilience to adversity, sheer determination and a solid work ethic, Paco personifies what it truly takes to realize the “American dream.”Read More
Island Doctor's Upcoming Novel Weaves A Tale of Galveston's History With Epidemics For a seed to germinate and blossom, the temperature needs to be right, and of course, there has to be light and water. But when UTMB pathologist Dr. Paul Boor has a ‘germ’ of an idea, it doesn’t matter what the temperature is, or if he’s properly hydrated. He just sits back and thinks about his day at the lab. That’s where the ideas for his novels are germinating. Read More
I recently attended one of the most meaningful wedding ceremonies I’ve ever witnessed. It was not your typical or traditional wedding by any means, but is was certainly the most touching and true. Read More
Legendary artists whose compelling gifts include an unparalleled ability to move and inspire audiences will headline the 2008-2009 “Signature Season” at The Grand 1894 Opera House. Season highlights include the long-awaited Galveston premiere of violinist Itzhak Perlman; encore performances by Hal Holbrook, Neil Sedaka, and Ronan Tynan; Broadway musicals including Tony winners The Pajama Game and The Drowsy Chaperone; Twist King Chubby Checker; and the political satire of Capitol Steps. Read More
Chances are if you have ventured out to the east end of Galveston Island lately, during the last few daylight hours, you may have seen me taking photographs. My name is Kyle Eskue and I am a pathology resident at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
As a pathologist, I diagnose cancer daily using a microscope to look at the details of tissues and cells. This attention to detail required in my career is also reflected in my favorite aspects of digital photography.
Armed only with my digital camera and a telephoto lens, my overall goal with my photography is to capture details in nature that we simply don’t notice every day. But more on this later. READ MORE
Island Bicycle
When I was asked by the publisher of The Islander Magazine to write a short story about Island Bicycle and its owner Jeff Nielsen, I was very excited to do so because of my own personal experience with Jeff and his great bike shop. I have recommended him and his great staff to both clients and friends as the best place on the Island to buy a bike and to get ongoing care and service.
Island Bicycle Company, conveniently located at 1808 Seawall Boulevard (near Miller’s Landing), is the only bicycle rental and sales shop open seven days a week, year round, on the Island. READ MORE
Islander By Choice
Almost everyone has hometown
pride, but if you’re from Galveston, it doesn’t just stop there.
Galvestonians are known for the way they take hometown pride to another level.
If you are born in Galveston, you are entitled to call yourself a “BOI”
- Born On the Island. READ MORE
Downtown Is Alive With The Sound of Music
Downtown Galveston does
have a thriving club scene with plenty of live music options. But clubs aren’t
the only place to see and hear live music. Visitors to downtown Galveston have
opportunities to see performers in settings they may not expect.
Island Music’s Robert
Donovan had a plan for a concert series that would allow performers to be creative
and audience members to listen. The On the Sidewalk series, held every other
Thursday on 25th Street in front of Island Music, gives musicians a place to
play that puts them in the forefront. They have the opportunity to be creative
and stretch their talents. READ MORE
IN AUGUST OF 2000 MY WIFE SHANNON AND I, ALONG WITH OUR SIX-MONTH-OLD DAUGHTER, packed up and moved from Dallas to Galveston Island. We had just purchased a house on the West End in Jamaica Beach from the parents of a friend of mine from college.
Although we had visited and stayed at the house several times over the years we had not seen it in a couple of years. My friend had called me in June of that year to tell me that his parents were selling their canal home and within six weeks we had our offer accepted.
Sea beans are drifting seeds that come from trees and plants along the tropical coastlines and rain forests of the world. Beans fall from plants into rivers and streams that feed into the ocean.
They can drift for many years and travel thousands of miles because they have a very hard and durable outer shell. Once a bean makes landfall it can last many more years without decaying. Sea beans are collected for many purposes. Most beachcombers collect them just for fun. There are cultures that use sea beans for medicinal and spiritual purposes. READ MORE
This photograph was taken on the Seawall the day that Hurricane Dolly blew into South Texas. Photo By David Smith
Jamaica Beach - The First 10 Years
After building for months, we had finally completed the construction of the streets for the first two hundred lots, and we had built a sales office on San Luis Pass Road, along with a small pavilion near the beach that we called the Quarter Deck.
About 75 people showed up for the grand opening, most of whom were family and friends. The place looked very desolate.
The Partners were Johnny Goyen, Bill Sherrill, Jack Valenti, Jack Wilson, Earl Galceran of Galveston and me. Earlier that year, we had voted to name the project Holiday Beach and the advertising agency of Weekly and Valenti was hired to produce a small four-page brochure. I still have a copy. READ MORE
Galveston Galleries
Continuing at DesignWorks, 2119A Postoffice Street, in the heart of Galveston’s Arts & Entertainment District, is “Sinapses,” an exhibition of the organic monoprints on paper by Houston-based artist, Rosane Volchan O’Conor.
In this body of work, Volchan O’Conor explores themes of memory and moment in these multi-layered works that invite closer inspection and introspection. Using bits of textiles and other found objects in her actual printmaking process, and re-using the original plate over and over again, Volchan O’Conor creates textured monoprints that achieve a rare depth of field.READ MORE
Neighborhood Spotlight
On a memorable evening in 1925 a group consisting of one lawyer, three doctors and their wives met in the office of Doctor Willard Cooke to discuss the feasibility of starting a small residential area with desirable restrictions. At that time there were no zoning restrictions in Galveston and the only area that had any protection along that line was a two block stretch on Avenue P-1/2 between 37th and 39th Street. The lots in that area had already been sold and many had been built upon. READ MORE
Galveston Gardening
Continuing the discussion, “Speaking of Palms…” from last month’s article about palm trees suitable for Galveston, let us consider the Sago, the “non-palm”. The Sago Palm, discovered in Japan in the 1700s, can be seen everywhere in Galveston and is considered the most popular of landscape palms.
It is not, however, a palm tree at all! It is a cycad as its scientific name, cycas revoluta, indicates although it has many of the characteristics of palm trees and lends itself easily to that tropical look desired by so many Islanders. READ MORE
Travel
My Alaska was absolutely
breathtaking. Pines and cedar oaks mask the skyline and the black water off
the rugged coast churn with the life underneath. Beautiful in the state of Alaska
is a vast understatement.
I found myself caught up
in my parents’ scheme to cruise from a Seattle port straight into the
heart of Alaska for a week in the month of June. Packing my bags I waved goodbye,
if only for a week, to Galveston Island. READ MORE
September Wine Selections
Welcome to September and the start of school. This month Economy Liquor will feature all white wines to help with relaxation after these busy days of running around. One wine will be sparkling and the other two come very different locations. READ MORE
September 2008 Issue
Look For It On Newstands Now
Victor Lang Remembers
Once upon a time, about five decades ago, everyone in Galveston seemed to know each other. The Island seemed like a small community and even if you didn’t know a person’s name, you knew their face.
People tended to stay where they were born; so pretty soon, you had run across everyone in town at some event or in a store. And that, according to local actor, educator and BOI (Born On Island) Victor Lang, is what made for the Island’s friendly atmosphere. READ MORE
Dyana Dafova - An Unforgettable Experience
For everyone who is looking for a reason to feel better about the often-depressing state of the world, help is on the way. On September 20, there’s an excellent reason to stop watching TV and instead, watch the stage at The Grand 1894 Opera House. Bulgarian-born singer and composer Dyana Dafova will be making her Texas debut in Galveston to launch the release of her spiritually uplifting, internationally recognized CD Charisma: One World in Song.
It has been 23 years since James Fulbright first opened his surf shop in the small, one-room garage below his home at 37th Street and Avenue R on Galveston Island. Eventually, James and his wife Debbie Fulbright outgrew the original location and they opened Surf Specialties on the Seawall in 1995. READ MORE
On any given Saturday night at Rudy & Paco fine dining establishment, you will find owner Francisco “Paco” Vargas doing what he loves best: entertaining! For 11 years now, Paco has been wowing patrons of his Nicaraguan influenced restaurant with award-winning cuisine and impeccable service. With resilience to adversity, sheer determination and a solid work ethic, Paco personifies what it truly takes to realize the “American dream.”
For a seed to germinate and blossom, the temperature needs to be right, and of course, there has to be light and water. But when UTMB pathologist Dr. Paul Boor has a ‘germ’ of an idea, it doesn’t matter what the temperature is, or if he’s properly hydrated. He just sits back and thinks about his day at the lab. That’s where the ideas for his novels are germinating. 
Legendary artists whose compelling gifts include an unparalleled ability to move and inspire audiences will headline the 2008-2009 “Signature Season” at The Grand 1894 Opera House. 
Chances are if you have ventured out to the east end of Galveston Island lately, during the last few daylight hours, you may have seen me taking photographs. My name is Kyle Eskue and I am a pathology resident at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. 
When I was asked by the publisher of The Islander Magazine to write a short story about Island Bicycle and its owner Jeff Nielsen, I was very excited to do so because of my own personal experience with Jeff and his great bike shop. I have recommended him and his great staff to both clients and friends as the best place on the Island to buy a bike and to get ongoing care and service.
IN AUGUST OF 2000 MY WIFE SHANNON AND I, ALONG WITH OUR SIX-MONTH-OLD DAUGHTER, packed up and moved from Dallas to Galveston Island. We had just purchased a house on the West End in Jamaica Beach from the parents of a friend of mine from college.
Sea beans are drifting seeds that come from trees and plants along the tropical coastlines and rain forests of the world. Beans fall from plants into rivers and streams that feed into the ocean. 
After building for months, we had finally completed the construction of the streets for the first two hundred lots, and we had built a sales office on San Luis Pass Road, along with a small pavilion near the beach that we called the Quarter Deck. 
Continuing at DesignWorks, 2119A Postoffice Street, in the heart of Galveston’s Arts & Entertainment District, is “Sinapses,” an exhibition of the organic monoprints on paper by Houston-based artist, Rosane Volchan O’Conor.
On a memorable evening in 1925 a group consisting of one lawyer, three doctors and their wives met in the office of Doctor Willard Cooke to discuss the feasibility of starting a small residential area with desirable restrictions. At that time there were no zoning restrictions in Galveston and the only area that had any protection along that line was a two block stretch on Avenue P-1/2 between 37th and 39th Street. The lots in that area had already been sold and many had been built upon.
Continuing the discussion, “Speaking of Palms…” from last month’s article about palm trees suitable for Galveston, let us consider the Sago, the “non-palm”. The Sago Palm, discovered in Japan in the 1700s, can be seen everywhere in Galveston and is considered the most popular of landscape palms. 
Once upon a time, about five decades ago, everyone in Galveston seemed to know each other. The Island seemed like a small community and even if you didn’t know a person’s name, you knew their face. 
