While in Galveston, we took the chance to visit the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum with my parents. This is a retired jack-up oil rig with museum exhibits across three floors. This taught us about the offshore oil drilling industry and the different types of rigs that are used and how. It was pretty cool to see the miniature models of how the rigs would be anchored in the water and the underwater portions of the process. Of course, Dustin was already familiar with the process with his history of underwater welding for the oil industry, but he didn’t complain! It was pretty special for the rest of us to see this sneak into his past.

We were able to walk out on the deck portion of the rig and were quickly assaulted by the bird poop smell baking in the sun. Dustin gave us the insider scoop that the in-use rigs don’t have the bird-poop-smell problem because they regularly clean the decks and there’s not as many birds off shore.

We got to see some of the safety measures that are in place aboard the rigs and learn about the daily life on the rig. Overall this was a fun experience that allowed us to learn more about the oil industry as well as give us a glimpse into Dustin’s past!