At Moody Gardens you don’t have to handle the millipedes
and tarantulas to have a good time. The insects are a part of the
behind-the-scenes research identifying beneficial insects and plants in
rainforests. Moody Gardens is no ordinary amusement park. Science is at work
behind the playground of beaches and exotic plants and animals in the pyramid
greenhouse.
For most visitors to Galveston Island, the 10-story glass Rainforest Pyramid
glistening in the sun is the centerpiece of a 156-acre playground. The
biosphere is surrounded by swimming pools, a riverboat paddle-wheel boat, and a
3-D IMAX theater.
You would have to travel to three continents to see all of the plants,
birds, reptiles, and fish housed at the pyramid. The Moody Gardens has been so
successful in raising plants and recreating the rainforest ecosystem that
universities are using the facilities as laboratories.
The Gardens have found 16 different insects and bacteria that keep in
balance the populations of damaging insects. The tarantula eats other insects
and rodents, while the millipede is a soil-builder.
With a team of horticulturists searching the world’s rainforests for
interesting plants for the Gardens, they were bound to find some with healing
properties. Once a plant has been identified as having disease-control
possibilities, 10 to 12 years of study are required for each plant. By the time
the study is complete, the plant could be extinct in the wild.
The Moody Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic organization based in
Galveston, began the Gardens in 1993 as a part of Hope Therapy. The nationally
recognized program offers animal and horticulture therapy to the physically and
emotionally disabled.
Moody Gardens is open daily, year-round, 10am-10pm. The Colonel Paddlewheel
Boat sails daily from Labor Day through Memorial Day. Outside food and
beverages are not allowed in the park. Coin lockers are available for changing
clothes. The entrance to the park is south of downtown off Seawall Boulevard.
For more information, call 800/582-4673.
Coming up…
Texas Heritage Music Festival in Kerrville at Schreiner College began as a
tribute to Jimmie Rodgers and has grown to include all forms of Texas music.
Related events held at the Broken Spoke in Austin and Poor David’s Pub in
Dallas, Sept. 18-22. 210/896-3339.
The Republic of Texas Chilympiad in San Marcos promises a hot time at the
world’s largest chili cookoff with food by 500 cooks and an evening concert
with Jerry Jeff Walker, Sept. 20-21. 512/396-5400 or
http://www.axiom.net/chilympiad
Fall Festival at Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farm, 11418 Sprinkle Cut Off Rd.,
showcases Austin’s outdoor living history museum, noon-6pm, Sept. 21-22.
837-1215.
Coming up…
Texas State Fair welcomes visitors to Dallas, Sept. 29-Oct. 22. 214/565-9931
or http://www.texfair.com
Monarch Butterfly Watch runs September through October during the annual
migration to Mexico of the butterfly. The Hill Country is on a major flyway
with large clusters often observed during these months and then again Mar.-Apr.
http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu
This article appears in September 20 • 1996 and September 20 • 1996 (Cover).
