< Previous110 COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016patch and transportation during the war. It was an Elco PT that evacuated Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his staff from the Philippines, when he famously vowed, “I shall return.”Another, PT 109 commanded by Lt. j.g. John F. Kennedy, was rammed and sunk Stem to Stern(Clockwise from top left) Serenity cruises on Clear Lake and Galveston Bay, often on fundraising excursions to benefit local charities. The Rolls-Royce logo is carved into the floor of the salon of the cruiser, which originally was powered by the company’s engines. She is now powered by twin 1951 Detroit Diesel 671 engines. The state room features a poster-style bed. The Texas Flag flies from the bow. The small crew’s quarters features twin bunks.by an enemy destroyer. Several of his crew were lost, and Kennedy suffered a back injury which plagued him for the rest of his life. But the story of his heroic swim to a nearby island, towing a more seriously injured shipmate, became a significant part of his political charisma.In 1945, the War Shipping Administration sold Serenity. She had 11 different owners and seven names, until bought by the Blairs.Her twin 1951 Detroit Diesel 671 engines are still going strong, with regular mainte-nance. Her hull, planked in four-inch ma-hogany, required some rebuilding.“We had to replace a lot of rotten ribs,” Jim Blair said. “We put in 4,000 or 5,000 stainless steel screws on that job.”Today, Serenity cruises on Clear Lake and Galveston Bay, often on fundraising excur-sions organized by the Blairs to benefit local charities.“Serenity is not your average yacht,” Beasley said. “She’s a lucky boat to have the Blairs looking out for her. ” COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016 111www.AffordableAirTX.comSERVICE SPECIALWith This Ad expires 2/29/16$69Brent Ballard 409.925.8275TACLBO22538ESay Goodbye to Window Units with a Modern, Affordable Central A/C & Heating System!Premier Dealer:FREEESTIMATESFINANCINGAVAILABLEAFFORDABLEAIR & HEATWE ARE HERE FOR YOUWHEN YOU NEED US!SERVICING YOUR CITY SINCE 1994!1/31/161/31/16FarleyAppliance Your Appliance SolutionVisit our showroom today! 814 W. Main St., League City281-332-8000www.farleyappliance.comMonday - Friday 8:30 am - 6 pm Saturday 9 am - 5 pmNew Appliances Sales & ServiceBuilt-In SpecialistRE/MAX LEAding EdgE409-744-33003616 7 Mile Rd.Galveston, TX 77554SELLING OR BUYING? ContACt youR LoCAL REAL EstAtE EXpERts foR A fREE MARkEt EvALuAtionThe Tom and Gerri Team409-789-1672The Sincox Team281-413-0222Frank Burgy 409-771-4773Ryan Moody409-599-1818Kelly Kelley281-794-9463Susanna Mayberry409-234-6618Nicki Huprich409-599-0490112 COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016HomeportStory by Leslie Watts Photos by Jennifer ReynoldsBliss-filled childhood memories have transitioned into happy grown-up realities for Galveston resident Carolyn Gaido at her upscale Sportsman Road retreat known as Camp Gucci.With its panoramic views of the island’s West Bay area, Gaido’s high-raised home is a modern reminder of the happy days she spent as a young girl at her uncle’s rustic camp that, in its time, would have been only a few hundred yards away.“I grew up on this road,” Gaido said. “It was very special, and we children loved coming down here. The men enjoyed their time here, too, and we had a lot of fun. It was very primitive, however, and the women didn’t care for it at all — the living condi-tions were just too rough.”Today, the rustic fishing and hunting camps that once defined Sportsman Road and gave it its name are gone, and Gaido’s home-away-from-home hideaway is cozy and comfortable with the latest in modern amenities. More importantly, however, it also serves as an upbeat bayside retreat where she is now creating memorable experiences for her own children and grandchildren.“The water, the sky, the sea birds — ev-erything here is exciting for them,” she said. “One son even chose to get married here, and the grandchildren are so fond of it, they now call me ‘Grandmother Gucci.’”The home pays homage to its coastal lo-cation through both design and décor. Built as a fish camp in 1952, it had been enlarged and updated several times before being Welcome to ‘Camp Gucci’A 1952 fish camp evolves into a modern retreat Carolyn Gaido’s Sportsman Road retreat, known as “Camp Gucci,” pays homage to its coastal location through both design and décor. COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016 113114 COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016Homeportbought in 1999 by Gaido and Jon “Rusty” Eversberg. When Hurricane Ike rolled through the area in 2008, it set the stage for even more reworking for greater storm-resis-tance and also changed some of the décor.Gaido points to a weathered bronze sculp-ture titled “Sandpiper Flash” that occupies a place of honor above a fireplace that was added post-Ike.“As we were rushing around preparing for the storm, that piece was left sitting on the coffee table,” Gaido said. “We never imag-ined conditions would get so severe, but the patina you see on the birds was not part of the original design, but a result of its being inundated by salt water spray.”Other items throughout the home provide similarly compelling stories. A long, har-vest-style dining table was custom made from vintage wood salvaged from a down-town bordello, and a lampshade features original postcards showing the first Gaido family restaurant.Additional original pieces feature such island treasures as a Mardi Gras chair Carolyn Gaido is making sure her grandchildren Kate, Madison, Cole and Ellie, have as much fun making mem-ories at her Sportsman Road retreat known as “Camp Gucci” as she did growing up.(Above left) The long harvest-style dining table in Carolyn Gaido’s home was custom made from wood salvaged from a bordello in downtown Galveston. (Above middle) A weathered bronze sculpture titled “Sandpiper Flash” was on the coffee table when Hurricane Ike hit. The patina on the birds is from the salt water that flooded into the home. COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016 115purchased at a local charity auction and a collage incorporating a gambling chip from the Galveston’s fabled Balinese Room.Birds, sea life and other coastal images also figure prominently in the home’s décor, from rugs to drawer pulls. Oyster shells serve in place of numbers on a clock face, and a commissioned work by artist Jack Morris portrays the now-lost landmark J.W.’s Bait Camp. Other paintings include sand and sea scenes by artists Al Barnes, Yvonne Macik, Herb Booth and Calvin Wehrle, plus Gayle Reynolds’ renditions of Galveston’s Mardi Gras arch, Hotel Galvez and island bar The Poop Deck.Gaido’s most prized item, however, may well be the limited edition book titled “Sportsman — A Road of Histories,” by Allen Pauly. Published in 2009, the book traces the area’s earliest days and also includes photos of local homes taken by Pauly only a few days before Hurricane Ike.“Our area lost 21 homes, and Allen lost his, too,” Gaido said. “For many, this book is all they have left.” (Above right) A painting by artist Jack Morris portraying the now-lost landmark J.W.’s Bait Camp hangs on a wall. (Below left) A lampshade features original postcards show-ing the first Gaido family restaurant. (Below right) Carolyn Gaido and her granddaughter Ellie look for her home in Allen Pauly’s book “Sportsman — A Road of Histories.”Phil Speer points out some of his prized plants in his greenhouse. COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016 117Beautiful BackyardsStory by Sue Mayfield Geiger | Photos by Stuart VillanuevaA hospital stay years ago leads Clear Lake-area engineer to amass huge collection of bromeliadsPhil Speer hands me a cutting from one of his bromeliad plants surrounding a tree in his Clear Lake-area front yard.“Just try and kill this,” he said. “It won’t happen.”The plant is from the Neoregelia species and will do just fine growing in thin air, as long as it gets the proper amount of light and water.A retired engineer, Speer got interested in growing bromeliads in 1983 when his sec-retary presented him with one while he was in the hospital. He still has that plant and it lives happily in his backyard greenhouse for the winter. Aside from the hundreds of bromeliads occupying the greenhouse, thousands more are planted in the ground, hanging from trees, stacked atop plant racks or perched along the fence.Although his collection consists mainly of the Cryptanthus, Dyckia and Billbergia varieties, many of them are hybrids.Speer knows his botany well and likes to talk about the bromeliads and their pups — the offshoots.‘Just try and kill this’118 COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016Beautiful Backyards(Left) Phil Speer stands in the doorway of his greenhouse. The 8-by-20-foot interior is home to hundreds of bromeliads.The 8-by-20-foot greenhouse interior has a narrow walking path, but we squeeze in as an air circulator runs full blast to keep the plants from getting scale disease.“The Cryptanthus’ leaves come in varied colors and shapes; the Orthophytum leaves are spiny; the Vrieseas have smooth leaves with bright inflores-cences; and the Guzmania is the kind you see in the grocery stores,” he said.A Tillandsia cyanea with a bright purple flow-er smells like cinnamon; an Aechmea has tall blooms with various colors and shapes, some resembling matchsticks; and a Shirley Temple hybrid boasts striking pink leaves.The Fiesta hybrid with a tiny whitish-pink flower is barely visible inside a red spiked inflorescence that alerts butterflies.Exiting the greenhouse, it’s hard to miss the side yard containing hundreds of Dyckia pups growing in small pots. They can tolerate the cold weather, are easy to grow and have tall, spiked orange or yellow bell-shaped blooms.Speer is in high demand as a speaker at various bromeliad societies and garden clubs, where he demonstrates the art of planting, although his tech-niques are really quite simple.“You just wiggle off the pup, punch a hole in the plant mixture — mulch, perlite, sand and peat — and sprinkle on Osmocote 14-14-14 fertilizer,” Speer said.Aside from having a green thumb, Speer also is an artist, having made up to 30 stained-glass pieces of art, mostly featuring bromeliads, and about 75 wood intarsias, one of which garnered him the Best in Art award at the 2004 Bromeliad Society International World Conference. He won Best in Art in stained glass in 2010.Speer’s wife, Carole, also works with stained glass, but prefers to watch her husband do his art.“She’s my best critic,” he said.Come March, Speer will empty his greenhouse varieties and let his prized plants get some fresh air until next November, when he will tuck them back in their winter hideaway, all snugly nestled within their protective environment.“You can get addicted to this hobby if you’re not careful,” Speer said. “When I come out to the greenhouse, I can totally turn off my engineering brain. It’s very quiet and peaceful — like a whole other world.” COASTMONTHLY.COM / February 2016 119Next >