I finally snagged the opportunity to attend the Lone Star Rally in Galveston, Texas once more. Being semi-retired from the strip club business does have one advantage. It gave me the opportunity to hit more events. On the downside – No Daily Strippers and no paycheck, both serious issues, which at some point I need to think about just in case I don’t win the lotto.
The LSR continues to grow each year in spite of Mother Nature. In 2004, we were hit with the outer bands from one of the largest, most devastating hurricanes in history, which made a mess of Galveston, not enough to stop LSR though. Then last year’s event was postponed due to Hurricane Ike, which flattened Galveston and a big portion of the Texas coast.
While not able to attend the 2008 event, I remember I was shooting a bike for Southern Metal Choppers as they made their way down from Austin, through Houston heading towards the rally. As they pulled up to the shop it was snowing! The 2009 weather seemed improved with Thursday & Friday starting off cool and rainy, but by Saturday the weather was dead on Sunny and in the 70s. Folks were out in droves!
The Lone Star Rally is a free event, and while the official attendance figures are still not in, one of the fine folks at the rally office reported in. “We were estimating 250,000 plus, in attendance this year,” she said, “giving a much-needed economic shot in the arm to the island.”
Businesses are still recovering after Ike’s wrath last year. Our favorite terrific Mexican food place, discovered in 2004, wasn't open. I'm not sure of its fate, as this entire end of Galveston was underwater.
The historic Strand was the favorite people watching area. It's the main drag in this historic part of the island, with vendors set up on side streets. Then the remaining event venues were separated by the 4-lanes of Harborside Drive, where you cross over to the harbor side of Galveston Bay. This is where the main stage was positioned, along with the rally vendors and participants requiring a little more space, like Rhett Rotten and the Wall of Death.
Harbor housed several excellent restaurants and cool touristy shops, plus the magnificent Elissa, known as The Tall Ship of Texas. The Elissa is a 132-year old, 205-foot, 3-masted square-rigged sailing vessel rescued from being destroyed in 1979 and then restored back to sailing condition over the next 3 years. Folks can take tours of the Ocean Star Museum, an off-shore drilling platform, retired from fighting off hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico to fight hurricanes in the harbor.
As I made my way through the crowd one of the more interesting vendors I happened upon was the bright yellow 18-wheeler of TRC Rocks – The Rock Place out of Ogden, Utah these folks have some very cool rock sculptures! While I cannot find a website for them, the phone number: 801-476-3332 and Ed Mueller is the man to talk too if you are looking something unique to add to your yard!
I then came across the Allstate Insurance display, where 2 young ladies were registering folks for a chance to win a custom bike built by Dave Perewitz, that pesky photographer from Easyriders magazine kept getting in my shots though. Mike, a young lady named Sonya (Billy’s goddaughter, I think?) told me if I saw you again to tell you to come find her working over at 20th & the Strand. I know it is a little after the fact, but I did pass along the message to Rick & Joe-T over at Strokers just in case. When it comes to soft messages from young hotties, I honor my word.
While there were plenty of hot bands playing at the harbor stage, this year’s main musical guests included Pat Green scheduled for Friday night, with Leon Russel, Edgar Winter and Lynyrd Skynyrd scheduled to play on Halloween night. Both concerts were held at Moody Gardens with ticket prices ranging from $20-$95 dollars, depending on how close you wanted to be. Since the concerts were held a few miles away from the main event, there was a free shuttle service from the Strand to the music action each night.
There were noticeably more RV’s, travel trailers and tents filling up the now vacant lots along the seawall and throughout the city, in part due to the continued growth of the rally, coupled with the loss of three or four hotels due to the hurricane. One of those lost being the Flagship Hotel, built in 1965; she stretched out 1000 feet into the Gulf of Mexico and was/is one of a few hotels in the U.S. built entirely over the water. It was sort of eerie as I drove past the intersection in search of Denny’s at 5:00 in the morning. I could see nothing more than faint shadow of the building in the darkness.
The storm totally destroyed many buildings that called the beach home. The Balinese Room, another famous landmark washed away, which ZZ Top paid tribute to on their 1975 Fandango album. Although originally built in 1923, it began life as the Balinese Room in 1942, featuring headliners such as Frank Sinatra, Burns and Allen, Bob Hope, and Jack Benny. I am fortunate to have attended a concert or two in this historical place.
While I did not get to participate, there was a hunt for Jean Lafitte’s hidden treasure; Lafitte was a 19th century pirate who roamed the Gulf of Mexico. Rachael Beaman was able to locate all the clues left at various establishments throughout the island and win the treasure along with a custom built motorcycle! Not a bad haul for a day of treasure hunting.
Unfortunately, I was not able to stay for Saturday night’s Halloween festivities; there is no debauchery on the Strand as this is a family orientated event. However, that does not stop the fun, so come on down next year, and check out the Lone Star Rally!
One helpful tip OBEY the speed limits as you head south out of Houston down I-45. There are several small towns along the way. They love to generate additional revenue on the rally weekend.Hopefully by next year’s rally I will be back to having two semi-descent working knees and be able to cover more ground. Like I told the boss man, I may have some parts failing and be slowing some, but I will take old and worn out parts over the alternative any day. And I still ride a rigid frame! Now down to the garage to finish fixing my dad’s FLH, need to put on those new shocks…
Till next time,
–RFR
