Growing up, children of the Texas Gulf Coast breathe the piratical history together with the salty air. Richard Reid was one such boy in Galveston, scanning the sea, hoping for a clipper to appear on the horizon while listening to his parents tell stories about an ancestor who was part of Jean Laffite’s crew. [Read more…]
Jamie White, director of the Texas Seaport Museum, is who Hollywood turns to when they need advice on seafaring and all things pirate. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
When Hollywood goes pirating, Galvestonian Jamie White often is part of the crew. [Read more…]
The hull remains of the Trouvadore were measured and compared to the dimensions of known shipwrecks off East Caicos by diver James Hunter. Photo courtesy of Search for Trouvadore
Documentary filmmakers Richard Coberly and Veronica Veerkamp, of Windward Media in Kemah, know a thing or two about piracy on the high seas. For nearly two decades, they have made countless expeditions to the Turks and Caicos Islands, gathering information about Trouvadore, a slave ship that wrecked just off the coast of East Caicos in 1841. [Read more…]
Gene Geiger’s arms, chest and leg are adorned with naval tattoos done in Hong Kong while he served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
The U.S. Navy sailor remembers his arm bleeding profusely in a Hong Kong apartment. He drank beer, and children dashed about the room as a tattoo artist dug needles — “big, dull and dirty” — into his arm. Tattered design books lay scattered in the apartment. The needles pierced deeply, injecting dark ink. Blood dripped constantly, requiring mopping throughout the surgical craftwork. A ship took shape on Gene Geiger’s arm. [Read more…]
Kevin Brown, 60, owner of Pirate Brand, works on a silk-screen machine in Nassau Bay. Brown supplies custom T-shirt and logo design to local businesses. Photo by Zach Tate
Somewhere in a U.S. Coast Guard log book from the early 1970s, there’s a line that reads: “Kevin Bruce Brown — detained for piracy.” [Read more…]
Capt. Joe Butcher enjoys a cup of Pirates Blend brand hand-roasted Guatemalan coffee in the courtyard of the El Lago Coffee Co. in Seabrook. A scale model of the 79-foot schooner he plans to build will import 50,000 pounds of beans per trip using only wind power. Photo by Zach Tate
Books and movies bring mythical mariners such as Capt. Jack Sparrow to life with tales of seafaring treasure hunting under star-laden skies, marveled at through rum-hazed eyes. But real-life sailor, Capt. Joe Butcher, prefers coffee to rum, and a bag of beans to a chest of jewels. A taste for adventure, however, is something Sparrow and Butcher have in common. [Read more…]
Fried seafood is a sacred tradition in these parts. We honor and respect that tradition. But some chefs — a few new to the local dining scene — are inspiring us to step out of our culinary comfort zones by putting tasty twists on coastal classics. We showcase four of those chefs and their fresh approaches to seaside delicacies. [Read more…]
There’s a moment when you first take a bite of a beignet, when the pastry, still hot from frying, and the powdered sugar meet on your tongue and melt together. The feeling is so deeply satisfying that driving any distance, even hours east to Café Du Monde in New Orleans, seems so worth it. [Read more…]
Aaron Lieber hands a hot meal from the DLish Curbside Bistro truck to customer Darcy Heard at the Clear Lake Shores Food Park. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
It’s impossible to talk about the cuisine scene on the Texas Gulf Coast without mention of food trucks. [Read more…]
Noted Texas food writer Robb Walsh holds a giant snapper at Katie’s Seafood Market in Galveston where he likes to shop. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
It was a Monday in June when I met Robb Walsh at his newly purchased Galveston homestead: a rambling two-story Craftsman built in the 1920s on Avenue O. [Read more…]