POMPELIAN VILLA IN PORT ARTHUR

A cool night - down in the high 30's but the sun rose and the temps warmed up nicely to just barely 60 and there was just a gentle breeze!! A great day to go explore the town.

This house was built in 1900 as a winter home for the gentleman who invented barbed wire. Hard to believe that our house was built in the same year!! Our house doesn't look anything like this!! This villa's exterior is all original and it does not show the magnificence of the quality of antiques that furnish it. Some pieces are from the 1700's. The docent was very knowledgeable about the people who had owned the home and about the furnishings. The 10 rooms encircle the peristyle which has this fountain as its centerpiece.

Thursday morning we will move out of Texas and on into Louisiana - but who knows where!

GALVESTON ISLAND SUN RISE

The winds rocked and rolled us to sleep on Monday night and we woke up to this sunrise on the beach Tuesday morning. The fog rolled in and the winds did not let up in spite of it North to Port Arthur into winds that averaged 20-35 mph. There goes the gas mileage in the truck! And gas prices went from $2.97 in Port Lavaca to $3.09 in Port Arthur.

We have parked at a lovely municipal RV park on Paradise Island which is right across from Port Arthur and the intercoastal waterway. Our door faces Lake Sabine.

Dellanera City Park in Galveston

Moving day again -100 miles! Foggy till noon and overcast but 70 degrees for the whole day! I collected shells at one of the public access spots while Harry checked the map and we are now parked right across the dune from the gulf. We have wifi but it's iffy!

SUNDAY ON THE BOARDWALK

I was up early on this warm sunny Sunday morning and I headed to the boardwalk which starts right behind our door! The wind was calm and the bay was smooth. As I walked around the boardwalk, the first rays of the morning sun were just coming thru and I saw at least 20 Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, White Ibis and a Rosy Spoonbill sitting on the railing in front of me. Of course I didn't have the camera with me and yes- all the birds flew away when I got too near. I finished my 1/2 mile around and quickly went to get the camera. On my second time around, about a dozen of the white birds had returned to the railing and I was ready!! I took several pictures before they flew again and then as I was finishing up my walk I noticed the gang had gathered again in one of the many small ponds that are there in the marsh. More pictures! See if you can find the Rosy Spoonbill!

We even put the kayaks in the water for the first time! We tried a boat launch on the Chocolate River/Bayou but it looked like chocolate and Harry was not comfortable with it so we came back and put them in the bay, right off of our beach. We didn't see anything different but we saw it from a different angle. Harry was all tuckered out so he found his book and his chair in the sun and worked on touching up his winter tan. The beach was full of families and the townsfolk all came out to enjoy the boardwalk

Friday Nite On The Town With Tex

We have not had a “date night” in such a long time! Harry decided we would dress up shine up the old pick-up truck and go into town to the Theatre! Check out Tex’s new boots and jacket! You can tell we’re dressed up because he has a crease in his denims! I’m still waiting for my haircut to grow out!

The Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre opened in the early 1900’s as a movie house but lay dormant for about 30 years till it was purchased in 1983 and then donated to the city in 1993. In early 1994 the restoration was begun and the first play was presented in late September 1994. Since then they have performed at least 5 productions a year including such plays as “The Wizard of Oz” and “ The Odd Couple”. The performance we were lucky enough to see was “ On Golden Pond”! The local actors were really good! You could hear Peter Fonda and Katherine Hepburn in the 2 that played their parts

Finding WiFi , not easy.

Rain, Rain go away! Wednesday was supposed to be cloudy with no rain till Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. HA!

We went exploring yesterday and found the tiny fishing village of Seadrift and then Port O’Connor which was advertised to be “The Best Kept Secret On the Gulf Coast”. We have not found the secret yet. 2 gas stations, 1 hardware store, ½ dozen restaurants, several marine supply places, lots of condos and fishing boats! This town was totally destroyed by a hurricane in the 1960’s so most of the town is fairly new. The restaurant that was recommended to us turned out to be on winter schedule and will not open till Friday. As we were looking for another restaurant, the heavens opened up and the torrent of rain came down! Everyone else in town had the same thought – get out of the rain and go to lunch. Every working person in town was on their lunch and were all at Cathy’s!!

We found several lakes and salt marshes that were listed as “kayak trails” and some very nice beaches. Coming cross country was a combination of cattle ranches, oil fields and salt marshes.

Today was foggy most of the day and so we drove to town and checked out several of the small shops that are in the “historic” downtown. Pretty soon, their “downtown” is gonna be history! Once back home, Harry decided he would go to the “office”! Since we do not have wifi, he’s been going up the road a block or so, across from another RV park that has free wifi. The park is just around the corner of the bay from us and Harry has found that he can pick up their signal out at the gazebo on the boardwalk! Now he can walk to work!

Port Lavaca Texas

Monday seems to be “Moving Day”! With a Northeast wind of 20-25mph coming at us we crossed over from Port Aransas on the ferry, up route 35, thru Rockport and parked in the city park campground in Port Lavaca. The Lighthouse Beach Bird Sanctuary and Campground has about 60 camp spots and we got the last one that was right next to the beach and the ½ mile boardwalk that takes you out over the water and thru the salt march. Each camping area has a cement cabana that covers your own picnic table. No wifi but Harry has cable TV, so instead of driving me nuts by flipping thru 3 or 4 channels, now he has a multitude to torture me with!

Today was gray and cool so we rode the bikes 5 miles down, around and thru Port Lavaca’s “historic” downtown area. We checked out an eclectic mix of stuff in a really old hardware store. There is also a restored old movie theater which now has plays put on by local actors. Friday we are going to go see “On Golden Pond”!

Since we haven’t found any wifi yet, we’ll be visiting the local library to be sending our blogs and email messages. So – in case we don’t get any messages posted for a few days, here is our BUSY schedule: Wed and Thursday are to be gray and rainy so we are going out to explore the area’s other interesting towns, Port O’Connor, Magnolia Beach (supposed to be good kayaking there) and Seabreeze. We’re hoping for warmer weather so we can put the kayaks in the water on Friday or Saturday. We’ve got beaches to comb too! And then Monday is Moving Day again!