Adrienne Culpepper: April 2009 Archives

Apparently Mondo has an extremely soft spot for baby chicks.  After our "appearance" (is a stint on the radio still called an appearance - I mean, nobody really sees us, right??) on 1540 KGBC this Saturday (thank you again Julian and Bobby!), he spotted them outside the studio and chased one down.  And held it.  And loved it.  And I think we all believe, deep down, that it loved him.  Did anyone bring the hand sanitizer??

This just in: we have a confirmed Captain 6-pack sighting from Friday evening.  I don't think he won at foosball, though.  Is that Lois Lane??

This weekend on Galveston Island was an interesting one: weather-wise.  Saturday was insane.  There were actually small tornados reported at Scholes airport which doesn't surprise me considering what we were experiencing at the shop.  The wind was HOWLING - the glass was actually bowing in from the force of the wind and the rain was just relentless.  Some places downtown even had water coming up to the doors (but it didn't stop the Lunchbox Cafe ladies from serving a tremendous lunch this afternoon, thank you!).  At 2pm, it was as dark as it would have been at 10pm.  Nutty I tell you.

Then - Sunday came.  Perfection.  Absolutely beautiful.  I lived in So.Cal for 3 months, people and I can honestly say they've got nothing on April 19th, 2009 in Galveston.

It was so beautiful Mikie and I decided it was a good time to go out and paper the downtown businesses with our new Beach Revue posters (thanks, Willthing - as usual your artistry is amazing) on foot - and then eventually on bike.  We stopped for lunch at the Old Strand Emporium (where you can also find our IBC shirts for sale!) and I was thrilled that they had Tsingtao beer on hand (ahh memories of the honeymoon). 

Later on, Willthing got St. Valentine (his '59 caddy) running and we ventured out on the inaugural summer caddy ride.  There was a TON of folks out and about on Strand and around downtown.  It was great to see how many people were enjoying the sun, the shops and just people watching in general - back on the Island, so close to "normal"...

I wish I had my camera with me.  Alas, I did not so instead I will have to share a shot of my 2 children basking in the sun on another beautiful day on the Island:

Don't forget the East End Historic District's first block party of the season is tonight - 15th and Church (they block off the street for the festivities - don't forget to bring a covered dish to share as it is potluck!) and it starts around 6pm.  (it'll be cancelled if it rains) <<UPDATE: EEHD BLOCK PARTY HAS BEEN RESCUEDULED TO NEXT FRIDAY AT 6pm!>>

Also this weekend is Artwalk!  Artwalk locations are spread out as usual.  Most places are open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m, but from 4-8pm, Water's Edge Studio and Gallery will be open.  For more details, please visit www.galvestonartscenter.org.

And PLEASE don't forget Saturday from 11am-12pm IBC will be on the air with 1540AM KGBC chattin it up.  Call in! Share other stuff that's going on around town - whatever keeps me from telling horrible jokes to avoid dead air time!  :)

That's right - it is official.  The date has been set for Galvestonians to descend upon our capitol and represent support for the continued recovery of our City. 

This Thursday, April 16th is the day.  11am is the hour (10am will be a group picture on the capitol steps for everyone there).

The Chamber of Commerce has offered up their free bus seats as well for anyone needing a ride (please contact them to reserve a seat at 409.763.5326.).  Galvestonians are being asked to wear white shirts, blouses or jackets to express their solidarity.  Craig Eiland has asked that we remember the 3 main goals that he's outlined below:

Goal #1 - Get the money
Goal #2 - Accomplish Goal #1
Goal #3 - Never forget Goal 1 and 2

Click here for more info.

I love traditions.  Eating fondue on Christmas Eve after midnight mass, playing football in the street before Thanksgiving dinner, and hunting eggs on Easter Sunday.  I've been very lucky that wherever I am on Easter, that tradition has been accommodated - as a kid, my family and cousins would all descend on one house in Bethany Beach, DE and all the grandkids would tear around hunting for eggs and easter baskets after church.  My Uncle Frank was notorious for hiding eggs in the most impossible places and would go so far as to dig a hole in the sand, drop in an egg, and cover it.  Problem was, ours is a family of dog lovers, so digging in the sand is a great leap of faith - or desperation. 

Eventually, most of my cousins got old enough that the novelty wore off and it was pretty much just my cousin Kim and I climbing over each other on the egg hunts, but we didn't care - it was always fun.  One year in college, my good friend Klayre invited me to her parent's house in Spring for Easter.  There we were - two twenty-somethings running around the cul-de-sac like maniacs looking for plastic neon eggs.

Last year was the beginning of the ultimate Easter Egg hunt for me when I realized what a gold-mine we had at the Nautical Shop with all the potential hiding places.  (Since I've known my husband, he's always been a good sport and humors me for things like this, but I really had run out of hiding places at our house so it couldn't have happened at a better time!) So, we began the first annual come-one-come-all Nautical Antiques Easter Egg Extravaganza:

It was a roaring success.  So, despite the fact that Ike temporarily soured our newfound shop venue, the show had to go on this year.  And it did.  At casa de Willthing.  One important thing to note about this year's eggs: because I waited until the last minute to buy new plastic eggs (the ones I had from last year were Iked) and discovered that Walmart, Randall's and Kroger were fresh out, we had to improvise.

All I can say is thank God for aluminum foil.  And Happy Easter.  I know ours was!

Happy Easter everyone - now we can go back to all those pre-lenten bad habbits!!!  Whoohooo!!  Just kidding...  maybe...

So one of the things I love about living on Galveston Island is the fact that you simply never know what you'll get to see or experience each day.  Take yesterday for example.  Mikie and I head to work to open up the shop (yes, we're still at only 1 day/week capacity, but we're getting closer every day!!!) and it seems as though it's going to be like any other day...  But, my friends this is Galveston - always have your eyes open and camera ready...

Then, our buddy Clyde (that's "worshipful master" to you freemasons out there) swaggers in just to say hi.  We get to talking and he tells us he's been practicing his new bagpipes - yes, BAGPIPES.  "Do you have these bagpipes WITH you by any chance" I ask... 

So, Tom Green, Mikie, some customers and I were serenaded by the hum of the Irish music bag (made that up) while they shopped and we listened.  Seriously - where else does this happen!??! 

If I can get Willthing to show me how to hook this up to the video I took, you'll get to hear it too! 

Hi All,
I hope everyone can come out to the City Council meeting tomorrow (starts at 2pm, but GRC won't be on deck until 5:30pm) or at least catch it on Channel 16 when Betty requests the City Council to adopt the work and process of the Galveston Community Recovery Committee.

I am really proud of the end result of this whole thing - who'd have thought a committee of 300+ could have figured out each other's names, let alone come up with 42 really well thought-out projects.  Some of my favorites: the Downtown Redevelopment Plan, the Galveston-Houston Commuter Rail, the Facade Restoration Program and the Stroll and Roll.  You can check them all out at http://www.recoverygalveston.org/.