This morning, the temperature in Galveston was 37 degrees F (normal low is 50), and the high today was 48 (normal is 64). I had the temperature on the thermostat turned up to 80 and was still freezing. Get this ... Roger's feet were even cold!! What does that tell you? LOL.

The ceilings are quite high, and the vents are on the ceilings . We finally figured out to turn on the ceiling fans, which is pushing the hot air down to us. Much better.

We found a Galveston board game in the house (same as Monopoly but with Galveston attractions), so spent the morning playing that and finishing laundry. We are only two short blocks to the beach/seawall, but it was ugly out there so will have to do that another day when it warms up.

We went on a little driving tour. It was cold, windy and raining off and on, so we toured from inside the car. We went to the Visitor Centre, drove down the seawall, drove past where Gil & Lois stayed the last 10 days (nice location), then headed back to where the old historic buildings are. We saw some beautiful buildings which we will have to go back and visit inside another day.

Some information about Galveston:
-- The island has been occupied since the early 1500's, but was not incorporated as a city until 1839. The move to make it a city was started by a Canadian - Michel B . Menard;
-- A hurricane struck Galveston in 1900. It is considered one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history. There were 120 mph winds and a tidal surge that swept across the island, killing over 6,000 people;
-- In the aftermath of the hurricane, city leaders decided they needed strong protection from the sea. They built a seawall 7 miles long and 17 ft high, and began a project to raise the grade of the entire town. The project took until 1962, costing $15 million. Today, the seawall stretches 55,000 ft and protects one-third of Galveston's oceanfront.
-- During the grade raising, 500 city blocks were raised. Homes were jacked up and dredges poured 5-6 ft of sand beneath them. Residents used elevated wooden sidewalks to walk thru town during the 8 years it took to complete.
-- While Galveston was rebuilding from the storm, Houston dredged a channel and created a port to compete with Galveston's, becoming the preeminent port of Texas.
-- Hurrican Ike hit Galveston in 2008, causing significant damage.

Update on Brie & Ryan:  They are in Kuala Lumpur, but have run into a problem with their credit cards. Brie's card has been cancelled because someone used it online in Canada to buy flowers (she had told them she was going to be away, so they determined it was fraudulent use). Her other card (Mastercard) was declined when she tried to use it, and when she tried to call Mastercard, they said they are doing a system upgrade and couldn't check her information (odd??). Ryan has a card that they are using now, but they are somewhat concerned. :(