Groothusen

On April 10, last year, we stopped in Groothusen and found the church. Although we had spent a night in a Bed & Breakfast in Groothusen (in 1997) we didn't have time to explore the church.

This is a Reformed Church, but it has a beautiful golden swan on its steeple. The story goes that a woman from Swedish royalty wanted to ensure that the churches in Ostfriesland became Lutheran after the Reformation. She had a swan installed on the steeple of this church and then called a Lutheran minister. However, the people had a different idea. They liked the beautiful swan, but were determined to be a Reformed Church. So forever thereafter, against the common thought, a swan still flies above this Reformed Church.

If we had come later in the year, this view would have been obscured by leaves on the trees.

The sanctuary was beautifully white, in preparation for Easter.
Ahead is the organ and to the left, the pulpit and Communion Table

A colorful sign made by the youth in a confirmation class was hanging in the entryway which said:

"Tradition is not holding the ash, but continuing the flame."

Loquard Lutheran Church - Ostfriesland

This was our "home" church when we were in Ostfriesland, Germany in 2011. Loquard is the town and church where Gene's grandfather grew up and where he was baptized and confirmed. We attended their confirmation service and it was very moving to think that someone so close to us had gone through the same things - in the same church 129 years ago.

The front door faces other buildings that were built after the church was constructed.

Back view including the Cemetery -- the best view of the church.
Isn't it amazing that this church  - and many of the others we saw - was built 800 to 1000 years ago?

Introduction to my photos of German churches

Since churches play a large role in our lives, I've been asked to post pictures of the the churches we saw and which had great meaning for us when we were in Germany in 2011.

Many of them are alike, but each is unique in its own way.

I'll begin by reminding you of the steeples and what they "said."

Generally, we could tell if the church was Lutheran or Reformed by the type of bird flying above.

Swans, for the most part, were atop the Lutheran churches.

This goose isn't on any steeple, but perches precariously on a pole above a dike not far from where we lived, Loquard, my husband's grandfather's village.

Roosters can usually be seen on the weathervane above Reformed churches.

I recall a rooster was on the top of my home church's steeple  -  Not a Reformed church, but close!

Throughout our trip, we were in or viewed mostly Reformed Church steeples.

This guy looks so happy to see the morning. The artist who designed it must have been thinking of Easter morning.













Back on Friday, May 20, 2011, I posted "The Steeple Tells the Tale - Maybe." You may want to go back to see it again.

GALVESTON'S PLEASURE PIER

Here are some shots taken from our car along the Seawall Boulevard in Galveston.

This may be about as close as I will come to actually

visiting the "Pleasure Pier"

at my age.

It's just one of those things that is fun to look at - from afar.

Ever since Hurricane Ike came along and destroyed literally everything along the Gulf side on Galveston Island, folks have been working hard, planning new and improved tourist attractions. Where The Flagship Hotel once showed off her twin mermaids, there now stands a huge conglomeration of ways to spend money. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is the anchor of the pier and if you just want to eat there, you don't have to buy a ticket for the rest of the pier.

The Iron Shark roller coaster is for the real thrill-seeker," Landry's theme park director Mark Kane said. It has a vertical-drop tower and includes a loop, four full upside-down inversions and, after a 90-foot lift, a dead-vertical drop, except that at one point the tracks actually bend backward, so it's beyond vertical. Scary-looking!

The pier is a product of Galveston native Tilman Fertitta, whose Landry's empire includes numerous restaurants and hotels, the Kemah Boardwalk entertainment area south of Houston and casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, along with other ventures. Fertitta once worked as a lifeguard at the Flagship Hotel, which sat for 46 years on the pier and fell on hard times even before Ike bit a hole in it.

The name Pleasure Pier comes from the 1940s pier that first graced the site, attracting tourists from all over the nation with its midway, air-conditioned ballroom, stadium, aquarium and more. Hurricane Carla trashed that park in 1961.

Construction has been ongoing for quite some time - the pier surface itself was raised 32 inches — "basically building a pier on the pier" — to make room for electricity, plumbing and other infrastructure. And before they could even start that, the old hotel had to be demolished which in itself was a huge project.

 

Looking at the tall steel structure on a day when winds were topping out about 40 mph, I had to ask about high winds. They have, of course, been taken into account. Kane said the structures and rides are built to withstand 130 mph gusts — up to a Category 3 hurricane.  ( I think I will refrain from commenting on the possibilities of winds at 130 mph and above and all the structures blowing inland...)

http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/pleasure-pier-picks-up-speed-in-galveston-2304516.html?viewAsSinglePage=true

 For more details regarding times and pricing check out: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8676211

THE BEST SAND CASTLE

Back in 2007 on one of the weekends the sandcastle building was going on in Galveston, some folks came to our beach and built this wonderful vision. Sadly, since that time, we have seen no more sandcastles like this.

NEIGHBORHOOD FRIENDS

A couple of Saturdays ago, our subdivision had its "somewhat regular" meeting under Bill and Belinda Hickman's beautiful home. Everyone had a great time, the food was delicious and some good decisions were made. I hope you enjoy these shots.

Photos by Jean E. Straatmeyer

May 18, 2012