 The Strand plays host to a yearly Mardi Gras festival , Galveston Island Jazz & Blues Festival and a Victorian @-@ themed Christmas festival called Dickens on the Strand ( honoring the works of novelist Charles Dickens , especially A Christmas Carol ) in early December . Galveston is home to several historic ships : the tall ship Elissa ( the official Tall Ship of Texas ) at the Texas Seaport Museum and USS Cavalla and USS Stewart , both berthed at Seawolf Park on nearby Pelican Island . Galveston is ranked the number one cruise port on the Gulf Coast and fourth in the United States . 
