Happy New Year

We brought in the New Year outside with fairy lights, Spanish music from next door, fire works and sparkling white wine!

2022 was a good year for us. Spent a lot of time planning this trip and 2023 will bring us the fruition of our planning!                                   A Texas toast to ya'all. 

                                    May the best of your past be the worst of your future! 

 We have been doing some more exploring and would like to do some more around here. We have booked another week here in Magnolia Beach. Followed by a week further south really near to Corpus Christi at I.B. Magee Beach Park . We are booked to arrive Jan 6 and checking out Jan 13. Then back west to Laredo a border town with Mexico on the Rio Grande River! No swimming cause we don't want to be mistaken for aliens.

That's a quick look into the future now back to the past!

In the last few days we have been to Seadrift, Indianola, Alamo Beach, and Long Mott. Also looking at real estate in Port Lavaca. Not to mention all the open spaces in between.

All the spaces in between as we headed south and east revealed increased agriculture - grain, hay and cattle Magnolia Beach has water front then bayou and most of the permanent folks travel for work. There is evidence of industry. The biggest being the Dow Plant at Long Mott. (I did take pictures I'm sure I took pictures - mysteriously they are gone!)

Seadrift was lovely. population of about 1,000. We drove to the beach there. These signs were posted everywhere.

I'm thinking that swimming is not a good idea!

There are cover picnic tables, palm trees and people fishing along the beach. A very large pier with commercial fishing boats.

There were even some stores. We stopped in a Dollar General and bought some granola bars. I don't quite know how to describe it. There was a grocery section with fridges and freezer and on the other side some clothes, household items and stuff. I've been seeing them everywhere and check it out. Definitely not a Dollarama.

We met an intriguing Texan woman. She was moving to Seadrift with here husband because her Daddy was in Pearl Harbor a real hero had lived in Seadrift. He said if you wanted a safe place to live this was it. She also spoke about the last two rough years and that God was fixing things. Not that she was churchy or anything but she loved Jesus. She was pretty darn chatty.

Indianola does not exist any more. Not even a ghost town its plain gone!! Lots of signs posted about what had been. In the 1800's it had been a very active port city between Mexico and Texas. However, between two hurricanes  (about the 50 years apart) and the railroad being built it just disappeared. This monolith sites by itself along the beach.

It is about this French guy who went to Canada. When he finished up North (Montreal) he headed down the Mississippi. Somehow or other he ended up in Indianola. Apparently starting the whole idea of creating a city here. I can't remember his name but it was really long. Another interesting tidbit about this place is that among the first Europeans were Germans. Indeed some of the towns and cities in this area have German sounding names. Did I mention the Marina in Indianola? Or that they sell live bait there?

Right out side our campsite I met their  supplier. On the second day that I saw a guy on the road casting some kind of net into what I believed to be a big puddle I had to quench my curiosity. Turns out it wasn't a puddle but water flowing from the bayou into the ocean. So I watched him some more. He gather up his net, twirled in a circular motion and then thew the net. The net opened up and was circular as it landed on the water. The twirler guy dragged it up onto the road. Out of the net came several little fish which he put in a pail. These he sold to the marina before going to work (I don't know where) at 10am. I didn't have my camera and he hasn't come back.

Alamo Beach is like most of the beaches in this part of the world. The difference being it had way more expensive houses. As for example, three stories and a pool in the front.

I think I will end here. I have other stories but those are for another day!!