Galveston

However, the narrator finds his house to be a “pretty nice place”, because it reminds him of his childhood home: “The smell of the place is kind of old (…) and I’m reminded of the times I spent on the sleeping porch at my grandmother’s house in Galveston, Texas, in the fifties.” The narrator is fond of his childhood home, because he believes people cared about each other then. This suggests that the narrator associates the old smell of the apartment with his memory of a time when people cared, which is what makes him appreciate the place. This is particularly important to him since the narrator and Rachel no longer care about each other. 

The narrator has an idealized memory of Galveston, Texas, where he spent time as a child:

In Galveston in the fifties, there was more light than I have seen any other place at any other time. Nothing seemed to be dark at all. Everything was baked white and bristling with reflections. Sand everywhere, bright awnings, green shutters, fast winds. 

The description is idyllic, even poetic. It suggests that the narrator has strong positive emotions associated with that place, and his memories of it are influenced by nostalgia. He even considers moving there to start a new life: “I wouldn’t mind ditching Rachel and moving back there and running a restaurant (…) or someplace downtown.” This suggests that he sees Galveston as a ...