Roller Coasters near Houston
In our quest to Ride All The Roller Coasters, Brian and I make sure to check for nearby coasters whenever we travel. There were two near my cousin Joey's wedding this weekend, the Iron Shark at Galveston Pleasure Pier and The Boardwalk Bullet at Kemah Boardwalk, both on the Texas Gulf Coast south of Houston.
I'll cover them in reverse order, since I have more to say about the first one we rode.
The Boardwalk Bullet was built in 2007 but has a classic coaster feel. Its 3,236 foot length is squeezed into a footprint of just one acre! The ride was very peppy, starting right off with a small drop from the platform to speed you onto the lift hill. It reminded me a bit of the old wooden coaster at Kennywood, like the Thunderbolt, being very twisty, though its sharp vertical banks were more in keeping with modern wood coasters like The Ravine Flyer II at Waldemeer.
It was NOT a smooth ride. ZOMG. We hit the line at a fortuitous moment and were able to get the first car, traditionally the smoothest ride on a wooden coaster, but even in the first car it was a tooth-rattling experience. They would not let us wear our glasses on the ride, and I understand why! Still, I found it zippy and the intricately-knotted track full of interest. It was hard to keep my hands in the air because there were so many tunnels and I feared for my fingers' safety.
Grace nearly lost her hair stick and Brian said he had a sore neck the rest of the weekend from that ride.
Brian and Grace really liked Kemah Boardwalk, though. It was a reasonably-priced park with no admission fee, just ride fees, so we paid our $6 each just for the roller coaster. There weren't a lot of rides. The real attraction seemed to be the restaurants - there were several large ones in a row along the waterfront. We went to Landry's, a seafood place, and greatly enjoyed our lunch. We had seats right up against the big picture window looking out at the boardwalk. "We missed our foodie opportunity," Gracie said, looking down at our devastated plates. We'd been too hungry to pause to take photos.
Having seen the size of the portions at other tables - gargantuan - we all ordered appetizers. I got the "Oyster Bar Trash" which was wonderful - crab meat and grilled shrimp jumbled together with rice and beurre blanc. Brian had "lobster bread" and Gracie got the wedge salad, which was even more drowning in cheese, bacon, and dressing than the average wedge salad. She also got a side of asparagus grilled and drizzled with more beurre blanc. Gracie probably ingested twice the calories I did with my butter-covered meat.
After lunch we had a leisurely walk around the boardwalk shops and a stop in the arcade where the shufflepuck table obviously cheated in Brian's favor.
I preferred The Galveston Pleasure Pier. It was an even more compact park, built entirely on a pier in 2012. Rides were carefully crammed into the space with a single walking path down the middle. We had to buy $10 "walk on" tickets to walk down the pier, in addition to our $6 coaster tickets, but I wished we'd bought all-ride passes. I was particularly interested in their compact little log ride, which looked to be everything my favorite log ride at Geauga Lake was, but twisted into a figure eight to fit in just a few feet of space. I also thought riding the double-decker carousel and bumper cars on the pier would feel nostalgic and picturesque.
In this picture, Gracie and I wade in the surf with the Pleasure Pier behind us.
ANYWAY, the Iron Shark. Built in 2012, this was a chain-lift steel coaster with a 100 ft vertical lift hill. You went straight up - rather like in the old mass-produced Toboggan coaster - but the drop was also straight down, with a slight curve to 95%, like Cedar Point's Maverick.
This wee coaster packs a lot of thrill into a short space with three inversions and sections over the water. One minute ride time eked out of half a wildcat. (I don't have any information on the rides' actual footprint, but it sure didn't seem to have much space.)
Grace shouted "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU" all the way up the lift hill. There's nothing like the suffering of family to really add enjoyment to a ride.
"Does that rope look frayed to you?" I asked. "How often do you suppose they service this thing, hanging out over the gulf like this?"
After our thrilling ride, and checking our ride photos, we wandered a bit, just soaking in the ambiance. I stood still to be splashed by the log ride and we watched the carousel go round.
We then decided to leave the park and get smoothies at a place across the street. But first we walked down onto the beach so we could dip our toes in the Gulf of Mexico - to say we did. The water was surprisingly warm, like a bath, and thick with a crinkly seaweed. (It also stank pretty bad. Fish-tastic.)
If you are ever in Galveston, you will be robbing yourself if you do not stop at Tropical Island Smoothies on Seawall Road, across from the Pleasure Pier. This little place had a sign dwarfed by the tattoo parlor that shared its building. Inside it was pleasantly cool (we had been out in the 95 degree heat at the park) and painted in saturated fruit-colors. I got the Peach Love smoothie, which was Mango, Peach, kiwi and banana and it was the best damn smoothie I have ever drunk. Gracie got an equally superlative mocha frappe and Brian ordered the watermelon smoothie, which was uniquely watermelon-y. They simply dropped frozen chunks of watermelon in a blender, smoothed it up, and handed it to him. Purity itself! nom nom nom.
The two parks were about a half-hour apart and an hour from our hotel in Clute, Texas. Well worth all that driving. We can also say that we definitely saw a lot of the part of Texas we were in. HUGE thanks to La Taqueria Guadalajara for helping us when Garmin steered us wrong on the way to our hotel. If we'd had more time, we'd have gone back for Tacos. If you're ever in Clute, please make me feel less guilty by looking them up. I'm certain the food is authentic because one of the waiters had to translate the directions for us from the other waiters. :D
So there - two more coasters off the list! These are also the ONLY two coasters in the Houston area, discounting a kiddie coaster in a park downtown, so I feel like we've checked that airport off our list of places to fly for coasters. :D
I'll cover them in reverse order, since I have more to say about the first one we rode.
The Boardwalk Bullet was built in 2007 but has a classic coaster feel. Its 3,236 foot length is squeezed into a footprint of just one acre! The ride was very peppy, starting right off with a small drop from the platform to speed you onto the lift hill. It reminded me a bit of the old wooden coaster at Kennywood, like the Thunderbolt, being very twisty, though its sharp vertical banks were more in keeping with modern wood coasters like The Ravine Flyer II at Waldemeer.
It was NOT a smooth ride. ZOMG. We hit the line at a fortuitous moment and were able to get the first car, traditionally the smoothest ride on a wooden coaster, but even in the first car it was a tooth-rattling experience. They would not let us wear our glasses on the ride, and I understand why! Still, I found it zippy and the intricately-knotted track full of interest. It was hard to keep my hands in the air because there were so many tunnels and I feared for my fingers' safety.
Grace nearly lost her hair stick and Brian said he had a sore neck the rest of the weekend from that ride.
Brian and Grace really liked Kemah Boardwalk, though. It was a reasonably-priced park with no admission fee, just ride fees, so we paid our $6 each just for the roller coaster. There weren't a lot of rides. The real attraction seemed to be the restaurants - there were several large ones in a row along the waterfront. We went to Landry's, a seafood place, and greatly enjoyed our lunch. We had seats right up against the big picture window looking out at the boardwalk. "We missed our foodie opportunity," Gracie said, looking down at our devastated plates. We'd been too hungry to pause to take photos.
Having seen the size of the portions at other tables - gargantuan - we all ordered appetizers. I got the "Oyster Bar Trash" which was wonderful - crab meat and grilled shrimp jumbled together with rice and beurre blanc. Brian had "lobster bread" and Gracie got the wedge salad, which was even more drowning in cheese, bacon, and dressing than the average wedge salad. She also got a side of asparagus grilled and drizzled with more beurre blanc. Gracie probably ingested twice the calories I did with my butter-covered meat.
After lunch we had a leisurely walk around the boardwalk shops and a stop in the arcade where the shufflepuck table obviously cheated in Brian's favor.
I preferred The Galveston Pleasure Pier. It was an even more compact park, built entirely on a pier in 2012. Rides were carefully crammed into the space with a single walking path down the middle. We had to buy $10 "walk on" tickets to walk down the pier, in addition to our $6 coaster tickets, but I wished we'd bought all-ride passes. I was particularly interested in their compact little log ride, which looked to be everything my favorite log ride at Geauga Lake was, but twisted into a figure eight to fit in just a few feet of space. I also thought riding the double-decker carousel and bumper cars on the pier would feel nostalgic and picturesque.
In this picture, Gracie and I wade in the surf with the Pleasure Pier behind us.
ANYWAY, the Iron Shark. Built in 2012, this was a chain-lift steel coaster with a 100 ft vertical lift hill. You went straight up - rather like in the old mass-produced Toboggan coaster - but the drop was also straight down, with a slight curve to 95%, like Cedar Point's Maverick.
This wee coaster packs a lot of thrill into a short space with three inversions and sections over the water. One minute ride time eked out of half a wildcat. (I don't have any information on the rides' actual footprint, but it sure didn't seem to have much space.)
Grace shouted "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU" all the way up the lift hill. There's nothing like the suffering of family to really add enjoyment to a ride.
"Does that rope look frayed to you?" I asked. "How often do you suppose they service this thing, hanging out over the gulf like this?"
After our thrilling ride, and checking our ride photos, we wandered a bit, just soaking in the ambiance. I stood still to be splashed by the log ride and we watched the carousel go round.
We then decided to leave the park and get smoothies at a place across the street. But first we walked down onto the beach so we could dip our toes in the Gulf of Mexico - to say we did. The water was surprisingly warm, like a bath, and thick with a crinkly seaweed. (It also stank pretty bad. Fish-tastic.)
If you are ever in Galveston, you will be robbing yourself if you do not stop at Tropical Island Smoothies on Seawall Road, across from the Pleasure Pier. This little place had a sign dwarfed by the tattoo parlor that shared its building. Inside it was pleasantly cool (we had been out in the 95 degree heat at the park) and painted in saturated fruit-colors. I got the Peach Love smoothie, which was Mango, Peach, kiwi and banana and it was the best damn smoothie I have ever drunk. Gracie got an equally superlative mocha frappe and Brian ordered the watermelon smoothie, which was uniquely watermelon-y. They simply dropped frozen chunks of watermelon in a blender, smoothed it up, and handed it to him. Purity itself! nom nom nom.
The two parks were about a half-hour apart and an hour from our hotel in Clute, Texas. Well worth all that driving. We can also say that we definitely saw a lot of the part of Texas we were in. HUGE thanks to La Taqueria Guadalajara for helping us when Garmin steered us wrong on the way to our hotel. If we'd had more time, we'd have gone back for Tacos. If you're ever in Clute, please make me feel less guilty by looking them up. I'm certain the food is authentic because one of the waiters had to translate the directions for us from the other waiters. :D
So there - two more coasters off the list! These are also the ONLY two coasters in the Houston area, discounting a kiddie coaster in a park downtown, so I feel like we've checked that airport off our list of places to fly for coasters. :D