Category: Uncategorized (Page 11 of 12)

Brewmasters Friday Night Pub Crawl

August 21, 2012 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

Date: Friday, Aug. 31, 2012
Time: 8:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Price: $25 per person in advance
Location: Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center Lobby

Remember those bar hopping nights? Well now it’s an official event. Grab your buddies and hop on the bus. With a free 2012 t-shirt and koozie, the ride will take you to different places to purchase special feature selections at Pub Crawl Stops.

And if you want something to make you feel real special, then check out the Taste It First selections. That’s right, be the first to taste new brews from Cedar Creek, Fort Bend Brewing, No Label and Southern Star before they hit the store shelves. From the makers of Texas Backyard Blonde, Lawn Ranger Cream Ale, El Hefe and Pine Belt Pale, these guys are brewing up their next fan favorite!

Porcupine Baby Born at Moody Gardens

July 27, 2012 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

Porcupine Baby!

From brightly colored macaws to lounging lizards, more than 200 animal species have made a home in the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens. And as of yesterday, Moody Gardens has the second prehensile tailed porcupine born onsite since the Rainforest Pyramid’s grand re-opening.

The reddish orange baby was born on the same exact date as its older sibling last year. A quill was sent for DNA testing to determine the gender and after, a name will be chosen. Weighing at 480 grams, the newborn is on exhibit inside the nocturnal gallery of the Rainforest Pyramid.

Here is the mother, Bobby-Sue!

Although the newborn looks as soft as a puppy, the quills will harden within a few weeks. Sharing an exhibit with the mother, Bobby-Sue, the new baby is climbing the trees and exploring the area. Bobby-Sue and the father, Bono, have been together since 2007 and this is their second baby since their introduction into the newly enhanced pyramid.

Prehensile Tailed porcupines are found in the wild in Central and South America. These vegetarian, tree-dwelling rodents usually weigh between four and eleven pounds and their tails are almost as long as their whole body. They are covered in short, thick spines and their body color runs from yellowish to orange to brown. One of their defining characteristics is a small head with a round, bulbous nose which is covered by short and fine hair. They also have whiskers on the face and feet that help in maneuvering around at night.This species is named for their unique tail, which is used a fifth hand to help hold onto branches as they climb throughout the canopy. The last 1/3 of the tail is spineless, enabling the animal to get a better grip on the tree branches. The front and hind feet are modified for grasping, which makes them excellent climbers. One thing they cannot do however is jump.Porcupines have a built-in defense. While most of their body is covered in sharp quills, they are incapable of throwing them, which is a common misconception. These quills will detach easily when touched and imbed into the skin of an enemy. They have also been known to hit and bite their attackers and curl up into a ball when caught. When provoked, they will stomp their hind feet, sit on their haunches, shake their quills and emit deep growls and high pitched cries. These defenses are so formidable that Prehensile Tailed porcupines have the luxury of a longer lifespan and slower reproductive rate than most rodents.

WORLD’S LARGEST FLOWERING PLANT IN FULL BLOOM AT MOODY GARDENS

June 14, 2012 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

: 9:30am on 6/13/12

Corpse Flower, “Morticia” Intrigues Guests with Two-Day Bloom and Powerful Stench.

Galveston Island, TX (June 14, 2012) — The odor of rotting flesh has never smelled so sweet as “Morticia,” the Giant Corpse Flower officially started to bloom in the evening June 13 at the Moody Gardens Rainforest Pyramid. With a short blooming period of 2 to 4 days, visitors have the rare opportunity to see and smell the Amorphophallus titanum. Native only to Sumatra, Indonesia, it is not only rare in its native habitat, it is extremely rare in cultivation. Fewer than 85 Corpse Flowers have ever bloomed in the United States. Measuring in at 56 inches tall and 40 inches in circumference, this bloom is only the fourth in the state of Texas. Visitors can expect to have their breath taken away in more ways than one.

“The stench and beauty of this plant are equally amazing,” said Donnita Brannon, horticulture exhibit manager at Moody Gardens; who added the staff has been anxiously waiting for the big blooming event to occur since the plant first broke dormancy May 1. “She is even more beautiful than I expected. We are celebrating and invite guests to hurry out to the Rainforest Pyramid to share this experience with us.”

The common name, Corpse Flower, originates from the unpleasant odor the plant emits during flowering. The strong smell that is similar to rotting flesh attracts its pollinators, carrion beetles and sweat flies. It is considered the largest flowering plant in the world, often reaching heights of over 10 feet tall. Technically, it is the largest unbranched inflorescence, containing both male & female flowers.

The plant has a very unpredictable blooming schedule. There is no bloom season and flowers can be produced at any time of year. The Corpse Flower grows from an underground tuber which can weigh up to 200 pounds. A single large leaf that resembles a small tree emerges from this tuber that can grow to more than 20 feet tall. During this vegetative state, the tuber gains energy to produce the massive bloom. The plant then goes into a dormant period for approximately three months. The tuber will then either produce another leaf or a flower as it has at Moody Gardens. Once the tuber breaks dormancy and begins to send up a flower spike, the plant will usually bloom within four to six weeks as it did at Moody Gardens. There are six other Corpse Flower tubers in the Rainforest Pyramid. Brannon hopes to see some of these plants bloom in the future.

The Corpse Flower was first discovered in 1878 by an Italian plant explorer Odoardo Beccari. Upon initial discovery, the plant struck fear into Beccari’s team due to the plant’s tremendous size and smell. It was believed to be a man-eating plant. Beccari took seeds back to the botanical gardens in Florence, Italy and later sent seedlings to The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, England. The first recorded bloom of the Corpse Flower took place at Kew in 1889. Police had to be called in to control the crowds of people who came to see it.

The first bloom ever recorded in the United States took place at New York Botanic Garden in 1937 where it created a similar response. The same plant bloomed again in 1939. In May 1998, the University of Missouri at St. Louis had a bloom and was the first in this country in nearly 60 years. Due to the plant’s peculiarity, popularity and incredible appeal to growers and collectors in the botanical community, the Corpse Flower began to gain attention in again the 1990s and early 2000s. Since May 1998, there have been 84 recorded blooms in the U.S. at arboretums, botanic gardens, zoos and universities.

Rainforest Pyramid®: Special Hours of Operation
Thursday, June 14: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday, June 15: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday, June 16: 9 a.m. – 10p.m.

Click here for more information

“Who ‘nose’ when the Corpse Flower will bloom?” Contest

June 6, 2012 / Moody Gardens / 14 Comments

UPDATE—WINNERS: Lucky 13…today has been declared official bloom date! Only guesses submitted by 2:00pm today June 13, 2012 will be taken in consideration. Email us at communications@moodygardens.com if we reply to your comment with “WINNER” to claim your prize. Thank you all for your guesses!

Morticia, the Corpse Flower, looks like she’s ready for her bloom! But without a set blooming season, it’s hard to predict when the Corpse Flower will bloom. So who “nose” when the Corpse Flower will bloom and begin its silent and smelly flowering? The first 20 people to guess correctly will win a free ticket to the Rainforest Pyramid to see Morticia!

A Corpse Flower bloom occurs when the spadix, the long, French bread-like stem, emerges from the bud. At that point, the flower will grow four to six inches a day and the strong smell will start to roll in. The strong smell that is similar to rotting flesh attracts its pollinators, carrion beetles and sweat flies. It is considered the largest flowering plant in the world, often reaching heights of over 10 feet tall. Technically, it is the largest unbranched inflorescence, containing both male & female flowers.

The Corpse Flower grows from an underground tuber which can weigh up to 200 pounds. From this tuber, a large single leaf emerges resembling a small tree that can grow to more than 20 feet tall. During this vegetative state, the tuber gains its energy to produce the massive bloom. The plant then goes into a dormant period for approximately three months. The tuber will then either produce another leaf or a flower as it has at Moody Gardens.

Once fully unfurled, the flower will only last for a day or two. Then the flower collapses upon itself and withers away. The tuber will then go into a dormant period, resting and gaining energy, eventually sending up another tree trunk-like stalk, beginning the incredible process all over again!

The Corpse Flower is under threat of extinction in the wild due to illegal logging and the clearing of rain forest land for cultivation of oil palm plantations. It is our hope that interest in and appreciation of our Earth’s amazing plants and animals will lead to increased efforts at conserving the habitats of these and other rare species.

CONTEST RULES:

Use the information we’ve provided above as well as Morticia’s growth progress, which we update frequently on our Facebook & Twitter, to guess the exact date that she will bloom. Our horticultural exhibit manager, Donita Brannon, will declare the official bloom date. Here are the rules:

Leave your guess in the comments section of this post or tweet us your guess @Moody_Gardens with hashtag #MorticiaContest
Only one guess per person.
Contest open until flower starts to bloom
First 20 people to guess correctly will win two (2) tickets to the Rainforest Pyramid®
Only people who guess the EXACT date determined by our horticultural exhibit manager will win

While you’re at it, why not go ahead and like us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Inc. Any comments that are inappropriate, offensive, spam or commercial in nature can be deleted by the page admin. Must be 18 years or older to win.

And the winner is…

January 3, 2012 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

After 6 weeks of photo submissions and one week of voting on Facebook, we have found our Festival of Lights Photo Contest season winner! With 324 “likes” the winner is:

Congratulations to the Wehrle Family! They have won the following:

Four (4) Tickets to all of the Moody Gardens® Attractions (Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, MG 3D Theater, 4D Special FX Theater, Ridefilm Theater, Colonel Paddlewheel Boat, Discovery Museum and Palm Beach)

Chance to Meet a Real Penguin in a Penguin Encounter for up to four people

Welcome to Penguin Manor!

December 7, 2011 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

Talk about culinary creativity at Moody Gardens Hotel! Pastry Chef Becky Kastelz spent more than 40 hours building Penguin Manor (in honor of our wonderful penguins), a set of three gingerbread houses decorated with the season’s most delicious candies .

Entrance to Penguin Manor

The three houses, made from 28 pounds of gingerbread (including 3 gallons of molasses) and sugar windows, are adorned with M&Ms, licorice, chocolate snowcaps, fondant candy canes, modeling chocolate wreaths, vanilla wafer cookies, and lots and lots of royal icing (over 20 pounds). The fences and balcony are chocolate-covered pretzels with jellybean gardens. An M&M driveway lined with chocolate kisses leads onto the lawn.

Caroling Penguins

Fondant penguins enjoy the holidays with caroling, skating on a sugar pond, making snow angels in coconut snow, snowball fights, and decorating Christmas trees made of ice cream cones covered in royal icing and non-pareils.

Who knew pretzels could also function as a balcony rail!

To protect the display from Galveston’s famous humidity, the entire house and all decorations have been coated with non-edible lacquer.

A roof good enough to eat!

Snow Angels, a holiday must!

Decorating the tree!

One final look!

Come see it for yourself at the Moody Gardens Hotel lobby this holiday season!

Shop Till You Drop at Moody Gardens Presents: Home for the Holidays Gift Market

November 22, 2011 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

With the holidays just around the corner, it is sometimes hard to come up with that perfect gift for someone. Whether it is your significant other, brother, sister, mom or dad, the holidays can be a stressful time, but we have the cure this Thanksgiving break.

Come spend the weekend shopping with us at Moody Gardens Presents: Home for the Holidays Gift Market November 25th- 27th. The gift market will be located at the Moody Gardens Convention Center in Expo A and Expo B. Here at Moody Gardens we are very excited for the opportunity to give you as visitors the chance to find unique gifts for you and the family. Tickets are $5 for regular admission, or you can make a shopping extravaganza out of it and spend $25 for the Gift Market VIP Lounge. The VIP area overlooks the showroom floor and offers specialty holiday hors d’oeuvres, featured beverages, wines and hot wassail. Over 100 vendors with various products will be here this weekend. If you are not sure what you are looking for we have put some suggestions together for each family member.

Gifts for Mom: At the gift market you will find vendors with homemade jewelry that is sure to be a hit. There will also be clothing boutiques and home goods that she will find enjoy this winter season.

Gifts for Dad: Find a unique present for Dad at the gift market. Some vendors will have household Texas decorations along with sports memorabilia and much more!

Gifts for Sisters: This weekend you will find all types of great gifts for sisters of all ages. Some of the things you will find range from princess themed accessories for little sisters to monogrammed tote bags for big sisters.

Gifts for Brothers: Brothers of all ages can be hard to shop for, but with the gift markets help it should make it a little easier. Look out for great homemade snacks that the brothers can munch on when they are hungry or make a personalized holiday gift for them at the market.

With so much shopping all in one place it will be hard not to find something that you will like. Also, once you are done shopping stay and enjoy the “Tinsel Anniversary” of the Festival of Lights for $5.95 per person. This weekend there is so much to do so get the shopping bags ready and come to Moody Gardens.

Times for the Moody Gardens Presents: The Home for the Holidays Gift Market

November 25th: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
November 26th: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
November 27th: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Click here for more information

Santa’s Festival of Lights Photo Contest

November 11, 2011 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

Show your best red and green at the Festival of Lights Holiday Scene!

Come to our winter wonderland to capture your best Festival of Lights moments. After getting yourself into the holiday spirit, send us your most creative shots for a chance to receive a special gift. The Festival of Lights photo contest will take place each week during the 10th Annual Festival of Lights, as outlined below, with the grand prize winner selected the week of December 25. Here is a Naughty and Nice List from Santa that will help guide you to your presents. Winners will be announced every Friday on the Moody Garden’s® Facebook Page and also contacted at the email address that the picture was sent from.

NICE:

• Submit photos that are taken at Moody Gardens® and have a holiday theme. Here are some examples of photos Santa would approve of:

o A photo featuring your family and/or friends

o A photograph featuring any of the Moody Gardens® holiday events & activities

o A photo featuring your favorite light display, Santa, Snow Zone, Ice Rink, Christmas tree, etc. The possibilities are endless!

What to send:

• Send photo to facebook@moodygardens.com as an attachment

• Only ONE photo per participant each week so make sure you select your best shot!

• JPEG format in high resolution (please do not exceed 2 MB)

• In the body of the email, include the following information:

o Full Name

o Date of Birth

o Short description of photograph including location of where it was taken

o Date that photo was taken

o Copy and Paste the following disclaimer: I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand the rules for the Moody Gardens® Santa’s Festival of Lights Photo Contest and if I do not abide by these rules, I will not be eligible to participate.

When to send:

• Each contest week begins on Friday through Thursday at 12pm (See schedule below)

NAUGHTY

Do not submit photos that are:

• Inappropriate, offensive, spam or commercial in nature will not be considered

• Low quality photos (small, blurry, etc.)

• Copyrighted photos that do not belong to you.

• Photographs that are not associated with Moody Gardens® holiday events

• Photos from past years. Visit www.moodygardens.org for the 2011 Festival of Lights schedule.

Presents from Santa:

• The selected photo for each week will be featured on our Digital Billboard located on the west side of I-45 Southbound, south of Calder Road, and on the Moody Gardens® home page rotating banners.

• If you win one of the weekly challenges, you will be a part of our Season Winner Contest which will start on December 23. The 6 previous winning photos will be posted on Facebook by Moody Gardens® and the photo with the most “likes” will win our season prize which includes the following:

o Four (4) Tickets to all of the Moody Gardens® Attractions (Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, MG 3D Theater, 4D Special FX Theater, Ridefilm Theater, Colonel Paddlewheel Boat, Discovery Museum)

o Chance to Meet a Real Penguin in a Penguin Encounter for up to four people

Santa’s Timeline

Week One:

• Submit photos between November 11-November 20

Week Two:

• Submit photos between November 21-November 27

Week Three:

• Submit photos between November 28-December 4

Week Four:

• Submit photos between December 5-December 11

Week Five:

• Submit photos between December 12-December 18

Week Six:

• Submit photos between December 19-December 26

Season Winner:

• December 26: Voting Opens on Facebook.

• December 30: Voting Closes in the morning

• Week of January 2: Season Winner Announced Facebook in the p.m.

Terms & Conditions: By submitting photograph(s) to Moody Gardens®, the participant hereby agrees that all photographs submitted become property of Moody Gardens®. Moody Gardens® reserves the non-exclusive right to use any photograph(s) in publications or for promotional purposes. By submitting photos, the participant also acknowledges that any persons appearing in submitted photograph(s) have given the participant and Moody Gardens® consent for reproduction and promotional use. Participants must be 18 or older to enter. If participant is under 18 and wishes to participate, they may have a parent or guardian submit on their behalf. Participants may submit entries only once per weekly contest. If a participant is selected as weekly winner then they cannot win again. Only participants that have followed the outlined rules and regulations will be considered.

Have fun and think outside the (gift) box!

*Download contest information and rules by clicking here.

What Can You Expect at Moody Gardens This Holiday Season?

November 10, 2011 / Moody Gardens / 0 Comments

Believe it or not the holidays have arrived at Moody Gardens! Holiday lights displays have been set up all around the property, holiday music is playing in employee offices and our giant Christmas tree is standing tall. We have a lot going on these next two months but don’t worry, we’ve got your one-stop guide to holiday fun at Moody Gardens right here. So pull out your pen and paper and mark your calendars because you are invited to a variety of holiday events at Moody Gardens:

Click here to view YOUR invitation!

Looking for more Holiday excitement? Here are some more events coming up this holiday season at Moody Gardens:

MOODY GARDENS PRESENTS: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS GIFT MARKET

When: Nov. 25, 5-9pm, Nov. 26, 10am-9pm, Nov. 27, 11am-4pm
Where: Moody Gardens Convention Center
What: An extraordinary holiday shopping experience that will include a wide variety of jewelry, hand bags, Yellow Box, personalized gifts, clothing for adults and kids, holiday décor, quilts, linens, books for all ages, mosaics, embroidery, designer, florals and more!
Visit http://www.moodygardens.org/seasonal_fun/holiday_gift_market/ for tickets and more information.

IMAGINE CHRISTMAS: A HOLIDAY MUSICAL AND DINNER SHOW

When: December 15-December 27
Where: Moody Gardens Convention Center
What: Imagine Christmas combines inspiring music, beautiful dance and imaginative aerial acrobatics to tell the story of Christ’s birth in a way that evokes child-like wonder, awe and amazement.
Visit http://www.islandstarlive.com/ for tickets and more information.

Moody Gardens Pumpkin & Bat House Contest

October 31, 2011 / Moody Gardens / 2 Comments

To add to the fun of Halloweekend, the different departments at Moody Gardens had a Pumpkin Contest and a Bat House Decorating Contest. Visitors this weekend voted and helped us choose the best of the best. Before we reveal the winners, we wanted to give you a chance to guess which pumpkin and which bat house won.

PUMPKIN CONTEST: