» Tourists still come to Galveston despite fears over virus.
GALVESTON: Bar Cycle goes on; visitors with nonrefundable plans taking precautions
GALVESTON — Barbara Lee gave serious thought to hunkering down in her Bolivar Peninsula home on Sunday, but not even the new coronavirus could halt the holiday tradition of biking through the streets of Galveston while consuming alcohol.
So Lee threw on her shamrock green tutu, strapped a tiny leprechaun hat to her head along with some rainbow aviator shades for the “Bar Cycle 2020” — an annual event celebrating St. Patrick’s Day while also benefiting the Galveston Island Humane Society.
Lee was hardly alone. Dozens of green-clad revelers crowded the street Sunday in front of O’Malley’s Stage Door Pub in downtown Galveston, contrary to the advice from public health experts across the nation to practice “social distancing.”
“We were pretty much backing out of it last night, and then this morning we decided to just come, get here to the parking lot and fill it out, and see how things are going,” Lee said. “Our plan was not to really go into any of the pubs, just kind of follow the bike ride around and kind of stay to ourselves — 6 feet apart.”
As cities and states across the country are considering drastic measures to keep people in their homes to stem the tide of new coronavirus cases — from school closures to curfews to outright bans on nightlife activity — Galveston residents appear to have a decidedly more laissez-faire attitude to the global pandemic.
The city announced on Friday it would not issue event permits with 250 or more participants for at least 14 days, while encouraging limited in-person interactions. The advisory was released after Galveston County announced its first presumptive positive coronavirus case, a Friendswood woman in her early 30s.
Meanwhile, public health experts at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston continue to encourage social distancing as the best method for containing community spread of the virus. Dr. Gulshan Sharma, chief medical officer and clinical innovation officer at UTMB, said even people without any visible symptoms can carry the virus.
“The social distancing, all the news that is coming from all the public health officials, I think it is important that we should listen to those messages,” Sharma said. “As much as we can do social distancing and (limit) large gatherings, it will help dampen that curve.”
But even on an overcast, humid day, the seaside city was teeming with tourists. Dozens lined up for tickets to the Pleasure Pier, an amusement park facing the Gulf of Mexico. The weekend farmer’s market at the Bryan Museum bustled with its usual foot traffic. Children thrashed about in the waves on the seawall beaches.
“It’s been slower today, but it’s mostly a typical spring break,” said Stephan Sollenberger, who runs the Galveston Duck Tours. The duck boats pack up to 28 people in a tight space — a potential hotbed for virus transmission — but Sollenberger said they are being extra thorough in their posttour sanitary wipe-downs.
“We’ve had a few people asking (about the coronavirus), but most of them can see us doing wipedowns between tours,” Sollenberger said. “Everybody’s aware of it, but most of the people we’re talking to don’t seem that concerned. They think it’s a lot of hype.”
Some tourists like William and Angela Sawyer, who were walking through the Strand Historic District downtown, were a bit more cautious about crowded spaces. The Sawyers, from Elmore City, Okla., had pre-booked a weekend in Galveston long before the coronavirus outbreak. When they found out they could not get a refund for their hotel room, they decided to make the trip anyway.
William Sawyer pulled out a bottle of red hand sanitizer in his pocket to show they were being careful.
“We’re constantly washing our hands and using this disinfectant,” Sawyer said, noting they even wiped down the menus at the restaurant where they ate dinner Saturday night. “People don’t think about that, how many people are touching those things.”
Down the street from O’Malley’s, Lucio Garcia sat at his desk next door to Taquilo’s Tex Mex Cantina, one of six restaurants he manages in Galveston, lamenting the lost business from the virus outbreak. Garcia’s restaurants rely heavily on people who see shows at the nearby Grand 1894 Opera House. When the opera house shut its doors on Friday amid coronavirus concerns, reservations tanked at the Saltwater Grill, a premier island restaurant across the street from the venue.
“Saturday, we had 100-something reservations, it dropped down to like 13,” Garcia said. “Our sales are down from last year. (The virus) is affecting business a little bit.”
The downtown foot traffic on Sunday was buoyed a bit by the “Bar Cycle” with people spilling out of O’Malley’s onto the street and huddling in small groups. Danielle Nordstrom, the event organizer and an employee at the island humane society, said she gave little thought to postponing, though she kept a bottle of hand sanitizer at a table where she sold T-shirts.
“Nope, this is not an event you can cancel,” Nordstrom said. “These people come every single year. Hopefully, they’ve got the hand sanitizer.”
One of the event participants, Robert Zahn, a real estate agent, inhaled a vaporizer pen with a friend, Tim Dudley, and explained that they being cautious while still allowing themselves to enjoy the debauchery.
“We are outside with fresh air and we are actually keeping a physical distance from people,” said Zahn, who was wearing a green T-shirt. “The only concern would be if we go into a bar and there’s a crowd.”
Minutes later, Zahn and Dudley put their arms around two friends for a photograph.