Like most Texans my family and I took a trip to Galveston a few years ago. It's an absolutely beautiful city and I'm heartbroken to think about what is about to happen there. I remember there were many buildings actually built on piers extending INTO the Gulf of Mexico from Seawall Blvd and that we ate at a seafood restaurant built in that manner.
Inside the restaurant was a collection of photos of its' previous incarnations. There was a parade from the late 1800s and a vast scene of destruction from 1900. There was a brand new pier, restaurant and seawall in 1909....and a pile of lumber smashed into the seawall in 1915. There's a picture of it rebuilt soon after, and smashed to pieces again in 1961. The restaurant rose anew again, and it was in that 3rd or 4th iteration that I had the chance to eat the best seafood I've ever had. I remember seeing the way they proudly displayed the number of times the Gulf of Mexico had torn their restaurant off its pier and being impressed with their attitude toward things like that. Everyone knew that place would once again be a pile of rubble in time, and it was accepted, just as nature must accept that the restaurant will be rebuilt again in the same spot.
I can't remember the name of that restaurant. I wish I'd bought a T-shirt.
Looking at Google Maps, I think it might be the pier extending from Tremont St. I also remember there was a high-rise hotel perched atop a pier extending into the ocean in the same way, and thinking that was just ridiculously precarious.
Does anybody know if a webcam is specifically trained on those especially vulnerable frontline buildings in Galveston?
EDIT: Er, does anybody know if this place is still standing?