I did it! I drove down to Galveston to see the statue of Mary Star of the Sea. It was so lovely! She was indeed waiting for me in the church parking lot, and there were two people there to watch for her safety (along with a sign saying “do not hold onto or grab the hands”). They gave me all sorts of useful information. Here’s what I learned: She was added to the church later, so she’s only been up there since 1878 (the Basilica dates from 1848). She was made in France and weighs 3,000 tons. The day she was supposed to go up to her place on top of the spire was a very windy day and people were concerned it would be impossible to get her up there (even nowadays it’s quite difficult, involves plenty of insulation and a crane that costs $3,000 a day). Despite the stormy weather, in 1878, people believed that if she wanted to get up there, she would. And she did!
Also, she is standing on a serpent, to show her victory over evil. It will take about two months to restore her and we might get to visit her again at that point or not. After all, the crane is expensive and she might want to get back up there as soon as she can.
Needless to say, this was all very satisfactory information and I enjoyed seeing her up close immensely. She looks very happy and peaceful and I think she liked seeing me too.
Afterwards I went to Maceo’s and ate a very good sandwich. Ronnie then fed me a pumpkin cannoli, which was amazing, and a very good espresso. It was so good seeing him! It’d been too long.
Then my friend and I loaded the carousel horses into my car and I drove them home to Houston. I’m absolutely thrilled to have them back. I’d missed them so very much!
