The Galveston Railroad Museum offers train rides on the Harborside Express, an open-air caboose that travels 1-mile up Harborside Drive in Galveston then returns to the Railroad Museum. The train rides are approximately 15 minutes long. Boarding for the Harborside Express begins at 11 a.m. with the last ticket sold at 1:30 p.m. The train is a standing ride without seats and due to the caboose being open-air, the rides can be closed during inclement weather. Tickets are $5 in addition to the admission of the Galveston Railroad Museum which must be purchased at the museum. Children 3-12 are $5, adults are $10 and seniors 65 and up are $8 and children 2 and under are free. Only the museum sells tickets at the museum on the day of the ride. There are no online ticket sales. (Beware of fraudulent ticket sales.) The dates of the train rides are September 7, 14, 21, 28 and October 5. Don’t miss out on this unique adventure. The Galveston Railroad Museum is located at 2602 Santa Fe Place in Galveston in the Strand District. For additional information, go to www.galvestonmuseum.org/trainrides.
Their phone number is 409-765-5700. All aboard on this fun family adventure!  

For more than 25 years The Galveston Art Center has organized the ArtWalk on eight Saturday evenings each year in the heart of Galveston’s historic and shopping district. The ArtWalk takes place inside the art galleries, both commercial and non-profit and other spaces such as cafes and shops that showcase the rotating art exhibits. One of the Galveston Arts Center’s largest programs is the ArtWalk and supports Galveston’s art community and connects a diverse assortment of the local places to see and learn about and purchasing art. October 12 is the next ArtWalk and November 30 is the last one of the year. The ArtWalk is 6 to 9 p.m. along the historic district and shopping district with plenty of restaurants and bars and continues to The Grand 1894 Opera House at 2020 Postoffice Street. For more information and map go to www.downtowngalveston.org.  Art Matters. 

Family Day in Galveston is on September 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Life on a Rig at the retired Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum and Education Center on Harborside Drive in Galveston. One can step aboard the Ocean Star and enjoy three floors of exhibits and learn about the different kinds of offshore structures and what they do and who works with them. 

Search the museum to discover more about these vehicles at sea. The kids can also see what they would look like as an oil worker, trying on the safety gear and explore the old control room and participate in a scavenger hunt during the visit. Free Admission for children 18 and under with a paying chaperone. September 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. is Ocean Star 50th Birthday and celebrating this event is with an Open House and tours about the original launch on September 21, 1969, and retired and repurposed as a museum in 1997. They are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Contact them at 409-766-7827 or at  www.oceanstaroec.com. Technology turned fun.