The Bryan is an absolute must…read more.. Go! Historic Orphanage building purchased and restored by JP Bryan a Houston Oil Man for a place to exhibit his vast collection of western memorabilia. One of the best overall projects of this type I've every experienced. If you like history Go. If you love Texas Go. If you like real estate go. There's almost no one who wouldn't appreciate the 1+1=3 qualities of this place. Originally built before the historic Hurricane of 1900 that wiped out a large percentage of Galveston. Orphaned children actually rode out that storm in this building that was significantly damaged. Repaired and operated as an orphanage until 1984 when it was closed, then used as a private residence. Sitting vacant for many years it was restored to perfection in 2013 and operating as a museum in 2015. Besides stunning, sombreros,fire arms,saddles,documents and fine art,each room has a kiosk that tells you what the room was used for when it was an orphanage. To top it all off,exit through the world class gift shop. I did and purchased two future gifts! Again,a very strong.... Go!

Took the family to The Bryan Museum on the Island and what a gem! It was such a beautiful outing…read morefilled with history. Before it was a museum the building was an orphanage. It survived the devastating 1900 storm. The storm blew out the center of the building but the east and west wings held and the survivors made it because they were tucked into those sides. I got chills learning about that. To think of those children scared for their lives is so touching. There is so much to see. There are three floors of history. The collection covers the West and beyond. It's the kind of place where you keep stopping and going, wait, what?! The $15 per person ticket is worth it. If you haven't been, especially if you're local to Houston or Galveston, put it on your list. History feels different when the building itself is the history.

The ship and museum: 4/5 stars. You only get to go on the top deck of the ship and the museum is…read moresmall but still worth visiting. The harbor tour and dolphin watching: 5/5 stars!!!!! We saw several dolphins including dolphins leaping out of the water as they raced in front of a cargo ship. The narrator shared lots of interesting information and took us to see a decades old wreck. I think this is a "Must Do" in Galveston.

The strand was good and lots of information from the tickets seller for the dolphin tours. We…read morelearned that they just came back from New York. They will be open in a few weeks.

It's beautiful and easy to visualize life in the 1900's. View the video of the 1900 Hurricane ay…read moreRosenberg Library then come and tour the Moody Mansion! There is so much to see and if you have an imagination, thinking what it was like to be this rich and living with such opulence especially after the city was destroyed by the hurricane.

Bobbie was incredibly helpful. We learned a lot from her. The audio tour didn't work.in a rare turn…read moreof events., we met the curator. There was so much history and information, it was overwhelming. We even got to see the cars and all.

Lovely and historic train museum in Galveston dedicated to the history trains.I had no item the…read morehistory of the Freedom Tree that has roots connected to the South. A movie inside the train area with small amount of seating was worth listening. Note: some train cars are without AC and it was 96 degrees inside .Some cars have AC so was easier to do self guided tour. Parking was $5 for 24 hours which was cool since parked and then went to walk around Strand after. Military members are gratis so that was great that they support the military.

I'm a lover of visiting museums while on vacation, and I stumbled upon the Galveston Railroad…read moreMuseum during my trip. It was such an interesting, informative, and enjoyable experience. All of the trains were well maintained and did a great job of giving visitors a timeline and visual look at the history of railroads, from the beginning to where we are today. The trains are still accessible, and you're able to tour almost all of them, except for the ones marked for VIP guests. There was also a friendly staff member who passed by a few times to share fun facts about some of the things we were looking at, which was pretty cool. The gift shop was a nice touch with a good selection and reasonable priced souvenirs. I recommend stopping by if you're visiting Galveston, traveling with kids, love museums, or are a train enthusiast. And when you're finished exploring the museum you can get a great view of the cruise ships.

Nearly 19,000 square feet of a step back in time makes this a great break from the heat and beach…read more The historical explanations are sort and interesting. Highly recommended.

During a long weekend trip last week to Galveston, I was fortunate enough that a waitress at BLVD…read moreSeafood recommended I check this old house out. It was nicely laid out and you could walk up and buy a ticket with a self guided audio tour of the place that included historical tid bits about the family and what was happening in the area at the time they lived in it. They apparently have private tours of the upstairs/attic areas but those you have to book and pay for in advance. I enjoyed the audio tour and even bought a few items at the quite spacious gift store! At times I felt like I was the only one in the house because it was probably a non tourist heavy day. You can easily park on the street and walk in to buy a ticket the day of...well at least on the day I was there!

I don't even know where to begin with this review. It's an oil drilling engineer's dream museum…read more Haha! It's definitely unique. The Ocean Star is a good example of an offshore jack-up (not to be confused with jacked-up) oil drilling rig. It operated in the Gulf between 1969 and 1984. Let's just say that offshore drilling has come a long way since that time. It became a museum in 1997 after it was retired. It's now on display for all to see. It also appears to be a wildlife zone. There are many different kinds of seabirds that live or sunbathe there. I'm sure the fish love it, too. I'd say the only con is that the outdoor platform smells and looks like an unkept birdcage. I'm sure that they wash it down every now and then, but there's really no way to keep the flock of birds away from it without ruining the outdoor experience. Not even the fake owls. Just be prepared, and watch where you walk. The good news is that there are public restrooms on the rig where you can wash your hands after touching the platform rails. Other than that, it was a cool learning experience. A great place for kids to learn about underwater landscapes and engineering. It educates all ages on how life really is on an oil drilling rig. It's a lot bigger than I thought. There are 3 levels of displays as well as a couple of outdoor platforms. You'll also learn about the dangers and safety procedures of running an offshore rig. It's all very interesting. It was worth the admission fee. Military & Seniors get a $3 discount. It's located off of Pier 20 past Katie's Seafood House, and within walking distance of the Strand Historic District. It took about an hour to go through the museum. It may take a little longer with the audio guide. It was cool to see the pelicans and seagulls sunbathing under the rig. You might even spot a few dolphins here and there. It was a fun morning!

Loved the museum! Learned so much about oil drilling and rigs. Don't skip the video when you…read morefirst enter, it was very informative. A great place to visit!

While visiting family in Lumberton, we went to Galveston for a day on our way to Houston. We…read morevisited the Galveston Naval Museum. Upon arrival, we had to pay-to-park, which I thought was weird, especially since you've got to pay an entrance fee, as well! On the flip side, it wasn't very busy that day, so wasn't difficult to find parking! It was very interesting to explore the WWII USS Cavalla Submarine & the Destroyer escort USS Stewart. With few visitors on site while we were, we made it through both vessels quickly, even taking numerous photos! A couple of notable issues include the fact that the museum was undergoing renovation and the only restrooms were 'FRU-FRY' port-o-lets at the absolute end of the tour, adjacent to the gift store. The gift store was a small one-room (10x10) air-conditioned building, (picture a portable storage unit) that had very few mediocre Knick-knacks to choose from (stickers, toys, post cards (who collects post cards anymore???) The choices in the gift store insinuate that children would enjoy the museum. The current generation of individuals is most definitely NOT interested in military armamentarium.

This is a small naval museum on a quiet little island with a fishing pier and park. Touring the…read moresubmarine and battleship was very cool, historic, and in need of restoration. I'm guessing that's why admission runs on the higher side. Still, we had a good, educational hour exploring everything. Just note there's an extra charge for parking.

Fun tour through the history of piracy. There are videos available through QR codes if you don't…read morewant to read the descriptions. (It can get challenging if multiple parties are hearing different descriptions close to each other. Fire the cannon! A fun outing.

If you are visiting Galveston and want to have a spectacular time with your family, you should not…read moremiss visiting the pirate museum and the haunted house. Don't forget to request to play in the amazing Escape Room. Come with your family and enjoy.

While visiting Galveston, there are days when you need a break from the beach or from the rain, and…read moreMoody Gardens is the perfect diversion because it is an inside, air conditioned 5-7 hour adventure walk through exhibits which have something for everyone. My favorite exhibit was the chance to touch the stingrays. Parking is easy, and there is a food court plus a restaurant on-site.

I think Moody Gardens is worth it for children and only children. It is ridiculously overpriced. I…read morenever came here as a child, so this is coming from my current perspective. The concept of the three pyramids is cool, and the aquarium and rainforest pyramids were alright. They were still very small though, and did not showcase many interesting animals. The discovery pyramid was baffling as there is only a movie showing on the first floor and an extremely juvenile educational exhibit on the second floor. I can't believe there's an admission fee to enter just the discovery pyramid. We also saw the Dinos Alive exhibit, which was probably the most lame dinosaur exhibit I've seen. The 4D movie was catered to very young children. We got the after 4pm pass for $50 each, which includes access to all the attractions. We were done within two hours, even though we tried to stretch it out. We didn't do the ropes course/zipline or the waterpark though, but we saw that the waterpark is very small.

Lots of cool information here. I just wish I had given myself more time. Interested in the…read moreartifacts of the 1900 storm. Steve was a fabulous tour guide. He gave us a lot of good things to do on our last day here:

What a wonderful collection of history. So many interesting facts about Galveston. The Balinese…read moreroom, the 1900 storm, the military camps. Just a lot of information. We loved it. We spent a little over an hour there. If you love museums you'll won't be disappointed.