Day 09 - Galveston, Tx

Last night Rob found a better route to get us back to Galveston to avoid that terrible traffic we experienced on our way North from the ferry. We wanted to visit the Moody Mansion, and Michele found out that another of the big mansions had self-guided tours. We got out the door around 9:30 and had easy traffic for the 35 miles south. The mansion had its own parking lot so we could park off-street without worrying about the bike and trailer. 

The Moody Mansion was built from 1893-1895 by a wealthy widow who hired an englishman architect. She died soon after in 1899 and it went on the market. William Moody Jr. bought it in 1900 for his wife and young family. His father was from Virginia and got his law degree from UVA in the 1800s. He also served in the Civil War in the Confederate Army. He moved to Galveston to take advantage of business fortune, getting involved in cotton, railroads, finance and more. William Jr. expanded the business and started many of his own. He and his wife had four children, three of whom lived into their 90s. Their oldest, Mary, inherited everything, by then also included ranches, newspapers, hotels, and insurance. 

The house is 40 rooms and we saw about 20 on this tour. Most of the decor and furniture is from the original owner. There are eight species of wood used in the house. This is the formal reception room. The chairs were tiny, so we don’t think anyone sat in here long. The walls had silk fabric as its wallpaper. The wood trim is (sacrilegiously) painted cherry.

The library was beautiful and much of the kids’ education occurred here. 

We asked about the carved desk and chair and it is one of the few items not in the docent book. The nice docent lady told us she thinks it is rosewood, and it has many animals carved into it. 

In the back we liked the butler’s pantry with the speaking tube system.

The dining room table expands for 20 guests. 

The family spent most of their time in the living room. 

The second floor housed the bedrooms and bathrooms. 

There is a third floor and basement we could not see on this tour. This house tour was special in that we could freely roam through most rooms and closely look at objects and furniture.

After immersing ourselves in Moody life, we walked about a mile for lunch at Shykatz Cafe. Huge menu and very good chicken wrap. After lunch we walked a few blocks to the Bishops Palace mansion. 

Built by Colonel Gresham from 1886-1892. He was a lawyer who also was from Virginia, and lived there with his wife and nine children. A church bought the house in 1923 and it was the Bishop’s residence. 

The woodwork was equally impressive in this mansion.

The built in dining room cabinet area was so ornate. It reflected nautical themes and has its own half dome made of wood.

Mrs. Gresham was a gifted artist and painted many of the paintings and ceilings. The house has its own chapel.

The tub had three spigots, the third being for rainwater as it was believed to be more gentle on women’s hair.

We have more pictures, these are just a sampling. Michele took at least one pic in every room of both houses.

We walked the mile back to Moody’s Mansion and suited up for our drive back to our hotel. Traffic was decent on the same alternate route. We relaxed in our room a few hours then had dinner across the street at the Iguanas Ranas Cantina Mexican restaurant. Tomorrow we visit Space Center Houston museum at the NASA Johnson Space Center!

Day 08 - Shreveport, LA to Houston, TX

We intended to wake at 6 and leave at 7:30, but mistakenly set the alarm for 6:30am. We got out the door at 8:15. Our travel today would be 370 miles and a long day time-wise. Temps started at 54F and warmed to the low 80s. We shed the heated gear throughout the day at each stop. 

Today our route was mostly on secondary highways, so no more interstate for now. It was much quieter and much less traffic, making for a mostly calmer ride day. We rode for 35 miles to the Texas state line. 

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'...

Our route actually went North on Louisiana Highway 1 for a bit, then West on Louisiana 2. There were some prosperous homes along the way.

We rode through the Texas Forest Trail for over half the day, past bayous and through historic towns.

We took a fuel break and leg stretch about 1/3 of the way at a busy truck center. They tend to have consistently clean bathrooms. An older gentleman walked over to Rob and asked about the Wing. He had a trike for a long time that he named Retirement, but sold it when his wife passed over a year ago. He was with his new wife having breakfast at Dennys. He said she doesn't like riding motorcycles, but always points them out on the road when she sees them. 

We eventually turned South, taking TX-147. 

At Noon, we got to our lunch stop, the Burger House in Colmsnell, TX. We were in a rural area and there were not many options, but this place got good reviews from locals and people traveling through. 

It was tiny inside, and we entered to about five tables of people staring at us. The waitress was friendly and service was quick, despite the Saturday lunch rush. We ordered a burger and fries and both were really good, not greasy at all. 

Back on the road, we rode US69. We took another short fuel break and leg stretcher. Next, we were excited to travel by boat - a car ferry - to take us a short ride over to Galveston. It is a free ferry provided by the state. We had a short wait in line, then boarded. 

Since it was such a short ride, we didn't have to strap down the bike like we did a few years ago when we were up in Nova Scotia on the big ferry. Michele got off the bike and stood by the boat side to better see the water and views along the way. The people who stood up near the front got splashed pretty good when we crossed the wake of another boat. They all came back to their cars with wet clothes. Those waves were surprising given the water was so calm, there was barely any boat motion. The engine vibration below us was more noticeable than the boat movement. 

We disembarked smoothly and rode along the beach highway.  The GPS said we were -5ft below sea level. The bay smelled like the ocean and had real waves.

The houses are all on very tall stilts.

Galveston and Galveston Bay were very congested with traffic. We did catch sight of several historic mansions, one of which we might visit tomorrow.

It was really hectic and we were getting weary. From the ferry drop off to our hotel it was over 45 minutes. 

Our hotel, which is on NASA One Road, is a mile from that chaos and in a quieter location across the street from a marina. We checked in and then walked just across the street to a fancy food truck that serves authentic Hawaiian food with rave reviews. Since it wouldn't be open Sunday or Monday, we wanted to try it. We got the pig (pulled pork) with cabbage, rice and Hawaiian macaroni, plus a side of fries with the special herbs and sauce. It was all very delicious. We're glad we tried it.

We are here for 3 nights and have tickets to visit the Houston Space Center all day on Monday. 

Animals we've seen so far on the trip, many of which were today alone: gray and white cranes, a roadrunner, various water birds at the ferry, wild turkeys, roosters, horses, donkeys, cows of all colors, dogs of all colors, goats and sheep. 

Day 07 - Leeds, AL to Shreveport, LA

We had our longest mileage day so far ahead of us with Louisiana as our destination, so we got up at 6am and were out the door by 7:45am. We saw on the news while we ate breakfast that there was an accident on I20/59 West after the Mercedes Plant. As we passed by the area, traffic was light so we thought we were in the clear. No such luck. Just a few more miles down the road traffic came to a halt. We crawled and intermittently stopped for 45 minutes for about 5 miles. Once traffic got moving again, we saw mobile signs on either side of the road saying all vehicles must use Exit 62. Although the highway workers were taking the signs down, we could see ahead that traffic was slowing again. We took the exit to Highway 11 that paralleled the interstate, hoping we could get around and ahead of the backup. Eventually we got back on to I20 West and it was clear. 

We crossed into Mississippi and took a break for fuel about 30 minutes later. We drove another hour and found a Subway to stop and get lunch. Rob thought it would be funny to play a little April Fools joke. As we approached the parking lot with Subway right in front of us, Rob asked, "Let me know if you see the Subway." I told him it's right in front of him. He asked the same question again, but with more urgency, "Anytime now, tell me if you see it." I told him again that it's right in front of him. The third time he did this, he got a mild curse word yelled at him quite loudly. 

After lunch and back on the interstate, there wasn't too much to see scenery-wise. There were some interesting vehicles and cargo, though. We saw two of these ridiculous towing combinations. Rob said, "This looks like a disaster." 

This one is a Camaro without a bumper pulling two junked up cars. 

This particular cargo (properly towed, unlike the cars above) is something we've never seen on a truck before!

This neat boat was from DC.

At Vicksburg, we crossed the Mississippi River and entered Louisiana. 

It was another 170 miles until Shreveport, our destination for the day. We had an easy ride west and traffic was tolerable most of the afternoon. We were able to keep a consistent 70mph on the interstate, which really helped with the fuel mileage in the afternoon. Mpg at 70mph was 36 vs. only 32 when riding 75mph. The Wing is as aerodynamic as a brick.

To pass the time on the highway, we tried to count in our heads how many US contiguous states end with the letter "A". Without looking up maps, we got a count. We'll need to verify them tonight. Do you know how many there are?

We got to our hotel at 5pm, quickly got settled, and walked over to Ricky's Mexican Restaurant and Bar right next door. After 480 miles of riding today, we both needed a cocktail. Rob's was especially robust. Here's his before and after photo enjoying it. 

Rob was sitting in our booth facing a TV. He said, "Why did the Air Force Reverse choose a B-52 plane for its recruiting commercial?" We got a good laugh over that one. We shared chicken fajitas and listened to a live band playing Tom Petty songs out on the restaurant porch.  

Today went fairly smoothly considering the traffic issue this morning. The temperatures were really pleasant, around 66 by lunchtime and 72 upon our arrival in Shreveport. This morning I was thinking there wouldn't be anything to write in the blog since we'd be in the interstate all day. I was planning to post more motorcycle pics from yesterday, but as is always the case, road trips always yield something interesting or unusual. 

Tomorrow we head to Houston!

Day 06 - Huntsville to Leeds, AL and Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

Today's destination would be Birmingham, Alabama, 116 miles from Huntsville, and directly to the Barber Motorsports Museum.

Last night's storm was much less intense than the weather channels predicted. We had a steady downpour and a few minutes of wind. When Rob went out to prep the bike in the morning, all was well. The ziplock bags we put on the handlebar controls worked great as did the protection of the fence. 

We got our Airbnb tidied up and packed up the bike. Michele mentioned to Rob that the rain cleaned all the pollen off the trailer, it was shiny and clean. He said he had just spent 30 minutes wiping it down, that's why! We got on the road at 9am under heavy gray skies and temps of 54F. 

At the intersection of I565 and I65 about 20 minutes down the road, traffic came to a standstill. Rob switched on the CB channel to hear about the issue ahead from the truck drivers. The bridge over the TN river was down to one lane due to construction that's been going on for two weeks, causing about a 5 mile backup. We figure we lost about 30 minutes. Once past that, we had easy traveling and not too much traffic. 

We arrived at the museum at 11:30. We bought our tickets and then drove back into town to get lunch since the museum does not have food onsite. While we were waiting for our food, a guy asked Rob if his bike actually had a reverse gear? He said he was talking to his wife on the phone when we pulled up and said, "I've never seen that in my life! A motorcycle that has a reverse gear!" He was really funny, we had a good laugh. 

We got back to the museum at 12:30pm and had until 5pm closing to see the 950 bikes on display. This museum is the world's largest motorcycle collection of over 1,600 bikes, collected from all over the world. There are a lot of racecars also, many from former champions, and a handful of Model Ts. George Barber was a Porsche racer in the 1960s and was encouraged to start a motorcycle collection since there were numerous car collections already. He was gifted a few rare bikes from a racer friend to start his collection. 

The place is incredible and in a very large building. The property spans many acres, that includes a race track, small lake, waterfall and other racing areas. The bikes are maintained to run and are cleverly displayed throughout 5+ floors. A striking feature is the columns of four vertical displays that hold 60 bikes surrounding the elevator shaft, 15 bikes per column. The ticket guy suggested we start at the top floor and work our way down. 

The bikes were mostly organized and grouped by era, with special sections for specific manufacturers. We learned about bike manufacturers we never heard of. The museum seems to specialize in rare bikes, with many on display that were small production. The displays included a write-up for nearly every bike on display including its specs and history. Here are just a few examples. 

The sidecar exhibit was really neat.

 

Check out how the sidecar rider leans off the platform to help counter balance the bike. Michele thought this would be fun for her to try. (Michele: Um, no.)

 

 

This one delivered "biscuits" in the early 1900s. It supposedly still has biscuits in it but we could not touch anything to confirm or deny.

Michele really liked this scooter with the cute coordinated trailer. 

 

 

 This one holds the quarter mile record for a V-twin.

 

 

A few were both functional and unusual.

 

Michele couldn't believe her eyes, a round motorcycle!

This one had directions written on paper that the rider rotated. Very clever to record the route of the off-road race course.

We admired the displays as much as the bikes.

The museum restores bikes and cars for its collection in the basement. Given the age of most of the bikes, including a lot of military ones from the major wars, they are in just pristine condition. Some from 1920 or 1950 looked brand new. The security guard chatted with us a bit and said they open the basement on weekends for the premium tour. There were a bunch of cool race cars and bikes down there that we could see from above. Next time we visit we'll be sure to pick a time when we can get this tour. 

This amazing sculpture was in front of the museum. It was commissioned for the museum.

 

We definitely will be back. This place is like no other museum we've ever been to. No expense was spared, everything is high end and thoughtfully displayed. This was a bucket list place for us and we're so happy to have experienced it today. 

We finished up around 4pm. We could have stayed longer but were a little tired from all the walking. On the way out, Michele told the docent that she noticed an oil leak on the 1920s Majestic, a beautiful white bike. A Lotus F1 car was displayed above it and was slowly dripping oil. We headed out and checked into our Hampton Inn nearby. We drove a short way down the road for dinner, then were done for the night.

Tomorrow is a long ride day westward through Mississippi and into Louisiana.