First I heard them, rumbling in front of Diamond Beach; then I saw them lit up like Christmas trees in the dark of the night.  My initial thought was that in the midst of all the motorcycles, an odd convention of sports cars had come to the west end of the seawall.  I’ve been through many a bike rally on the island, but had never seen anything like this.  Grabbing the trusty iPhone, off to the seawall I ran, hoping they would stay long enough for me to capture a few pics.  The owners of these “Sling Shots” more than complied, so proud of their new machines they stayed for half an hour fielding questions from all us “old timers” who had no idea these things even existed.  My initial thought was I must have one of these to cruise with the grand angels along the seawall.   Upon closer examination, I realized there were only two seats.  I’m already thinking of adding a rumble seat behind.  Then I found out how much the basic sling shot costs, before adding a roof:)

The next morning I had to go take a walkabout on The Strand, just to make sure there were a few “old fashioned” bikes hanging around.  Of course there were, in full force.  News reports tell us it’s the biggest bike rally the island has ever seen, with over 600,000 bikers arriving for the weekend.  Some of the locals are bothered by the noise and traffic.  I just love the excitement they bring.  It’s only once a year; I can stand that.  It’s these special events that makes Galveston so special.  Then I began to reminisce of the bike rallies over the years.  The year that my nephew Joey brought his Paisley and Tobyn for their first “biker” weekend, we actually saw a “sling shot”.  We had no idea at the time how popular it would become.  Then there was the year that our local priests decided to take part, what a sight:)  I’m already looking forward to what next year will bring.