Inaugural Galveston Restaurant Week "Celebrates Delicious!" January 15-21

(October 11, 2011) - The first-ever Galveston.com & Company Galveston Restaurant Week - Sunday, January 15th to Saturday, January 21st, 2012 - brings the city's vibrant food scene to life for one week of delicious dining. The event will showcase the freshest ingredients, most flavorful dishes and tastiest culinary gems that Galveston has to offer! The event is proudly sponsored by Yelp.

Home of the finest Gulf Coast seafood and some of Texas's most delectable restaurants, Galveston Island proudly welcomes you to Galveston Restaurant Week, where you can choose from a host of Galveston's most delightful and delicious eateries for prix-fixe lunch and/or dinner menus - in attractive price points of $10, $15, $20, $25, $30, $35, $40, and $45, depending on the restaurant.

And to make this delectable week even more tasty? You could possibly win a CRUISE GIVEAWAY FOR 2 simply by sharing your favorite Restaurant Photos online! Full details are available at GalvestonRestaurantWeek.com.

Participating in Galveston Restaurant Week is easy! There are no passes to buy, no coupons to carry, and no cards to punch, only a quick call to the restaurant of your choice to make reservations; then simply dine out during the week of January 15th thru 21st. Reservations are strongly recommended to make sure you're able to sample your favorite flavors! We invite you to experience cuisine that will amplify your palate and highlight the fun of dining on Galveston Island. Quite simply, this new culinary tradition promises to "celebrate delicious!" like no other event of the year.

Join us this January, and discover why Galveston Island is one of the Gulf Coast's most diverse culinary destinations! For more information and a complete list of participating locations in Galveston Restaurant Week (and their menus!), please visit www.galvestonrestaurantweek.com.

Living history encampments will be established by the 19th- Century Living History Association, Inc. and the 1st Texas Infantry. The public is invited free of charge to visit the encampments from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Reenactors participating in the event are required to register with Galveston Historical Foundation. For reenactor registration, click here.

Also free to the public, a reenactment of the battle will occur on Strand Street, between 23rd and 20th streets, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 14 and 1 p.m. Sunday, January 15.

Galveston Historical Foundation’s series of commemorative tours will offer full details and descriptions of many aspects of the battle by several experts in the field.

Civil War walking tours will be led by noted author and Civil War historian Edward T. Cotham, Jr., visiting the sites of the battle. Cotham’s books, including “Battle on the Bay: The Civil War Struggle for Galveston,” will be available for purchase and signing. The tour begins at the Peanut Butter Warehouse and ends at Custom House, where Cotham's books will be on sale. Cotham will be available to sign copies. Cotham will also lead the Bird’s Eye tours from the top of the ANICO tower.

Cotham also researched and wrote the Battle of Galveston Harbor Tour, being offered each weekend in January.

A Civil War Segway tour will also be offered, focusing on the East End residential area and the civilians that participated in the battle as well as the prominent Galvestonian’s who had Civil War careers.

A Civil War tour of the Broadway Cemetery will include visits to the grave of Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder, the monument to those who perished during the Battle of Galveston, and the graves of other notable Civil War figures.

The Civil War Battle of Galveston, which took place during the early morning hours of January 1, 1863, is widely acknowledged as the most important military event in Galveston’s history.

Played out on both land and sea, in a drama that unfolded over the course of several months, the Battle of Galveston ended with Confederate forces driving out the Union ships that had held Galveston Harbor since October, 1862. As part of the Union blockade of the Texas coast, Commander William B. Renshaw and his squadron of eight Union ships demanded surrender by Confederate Forces of Galveston Harbor, the most important Texas port, on October 4, 1862.

But Confederate Major General John Bankhead Magruder led a successful campaign to retake Galveston early on New Year’s morning, January 1, 1863. Confederate “cottonclads” struck from the rear of the Union squadron. A naval battle ensued with Magruder’s forces retaking Galveston. Confederate losses numbered 26 killed and 117 wounded. Union losses included the captured infantry and the Harriet Lane, about 150 casualties on the naval ships, and destruction of the Westfield. The port remained under Confederate control for the rest of the war.