Wow!
It’s February already. We’ve been here in Rockport, Texas for 3 months, and it
seems as though we just arrived. Although the weather hasn’t been super
cooperative—cool temperatures, overcast, windy, and a bit of rain now and
then—we’ve enjoyed the days where the sun has been shining brightly and the
temperatures reach the 70s.
Last
week I mentioned we were going on a pirate ship this week…that hit our calendar
Monday the 26th.
There
were almost 50 folks from Bay View RV Resort who signed up for the Red Dragon
Pirate Ship cruise out of Port Aransas, Texas. So, about 12:30, along with
friends Bob and Sharon, we left Rockport heading south on Highway 35 to take
the ferry from Aransas Pass to Port Aransas. We were to be at the ship by 3:30
for the pre-cruise festivities, so we had plenty of time to get there and do
some extra sight-seeing.
From Aransas Pass you have 2
options to get to Port Aransas: drive through Corpus Christi and back along North
Padre Island/Mustang Island in the Gulf of Mexico (about 80+ miles), or take
the ferry from Aransas Pass (about 15 minutes). Of course, we opted for the
ferry, operated by the Texas Department of Transportation. This free mode of
transportation operates 24/7 and is the
way to go. There are 8 boats, each capable of carrying 28 passenger vehicles,
although commercial vehicles are allowed on board, as well. The maximum length
allowed is 85 feet and maximum width is 96”, so one sees some interesting vehicles
including RVs pulling boats and/or cars, as well as 18-wheelers. Often you can
see Atlantic bottlenose dolphins following the wake of ferries and ships in the
Lydia Ann shipping channel that separates the mainland from Mustang Island
where Port Aransas is located. Because there are refineries in the Corpus
Christi area, this channel is used for oil tankers, as well as other
ocean-going vessels. And for you historians, there is an old WWII liberty ship
visible in the channel, sunk to help create an artificial reef. And, there are 14
WWII ships sunk in the Gulf of Mexico for the express purpose of creating these
reefs. Here’s a link to a site explaining the Mustang Island Liberty Ship Reef. Interesting!
Before going to the pirate
ship we went to the Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie’s Pasture hoping to
do some birding. This 1,217 acre preserve provides a natural habitat for almost
300 species of birds, plus snakes and other wildlife. Unfortunately, we didn’t
see as many birds as we had hoped—wrong time of day for many of them.
From there we went to Port
Aransas South Jetty. The north and south jetties are formed from a natural
channel connecting the Corpus Christi Shipping Channel to the Gulf of Mexico;
the current jetties were built between 1906 and 1911.
One of the biggest draws to
the jetties is fishing. Among the different species you’ll find there are tarpon, king mackerel, shark, redfish, trout, and
species of snapper, flounder, sheephead, gaftop, an occasional snook and other
species. In the winter months generally redfish, black drum, trout, and flounder
are caught. You may even snag a shark! As we were walking toward the
jetty we captured this sight: a father and son were returning to their car with
this black drum—good eating!
We headed to the pirate ship,
arriving in time to watch the pre-cruise show. One of the pirates entertained us with juggling and jokes for about 20 minutes before we boarded.
The cruise took us through
the Lydia Ann Shipping Channel (adjacent to the Corpus Christi Shipping
Channel), for about an hour. We passed a marker for one of the sunken liberty
ships, as well as the Lydia Ann lighthouse.
The Lydia Ann Lighthouse was
built in the early 1850s thanks to Congress appropriating $12,500 for the
lighthouse. The brick lighthouse went into operation in 1858. Confederate
troops set off a charge inside the lighthouse on Christmas Day 1862 so Union
forces couldn’t use it. The charge destroyed the upper third of the 68-foot
high tower, as well as much of the interior. Following the war the light house
was repaired and returned to service. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1952, just
a few years shy of 100 years of service.
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| Clockwise from top: Lydia Ann Lighthouse, white pelicans, tug and barge, brown pelicans, and oil tankers passing in Corpus Christi Channel, and more white pelicans. |
As I mentioned, Atlantic bottlenose dolpins are prevalent in the channels. Dick videotaped some of them. Click here to see them!
Captain Silver Beard, along
with his crew (Sir Thomas Keeper of the Hooligans, Chinstrap Charlie,
Bridgewater Bradley, Bones McCracken,
and Lady Crimson) kept us entertained throughout the entire 2 hours we were
aboard the Red Dragon pirate ship. These scalawags incited (water) pistol
fights, made the prisoners (guests) swab the deck, and directed pirate bingo,
all the while telling stories of their conquests on the high seas, exchanging
light banter—and some not so light, telling jokes, and singing. It all made for
an entertaining afternoon as we traversed the waters of the Lydia Ann Shipping
Channel. Light snacks (chips, candy bars and pickles) as well as a full bar
were on board. Here's a clip of the pirates dancing.
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| Clockwise from top: Red Dragon Pirate Ship, boarding the ship, Lady Crimson the pirate, Bilgewater Bradley the pirate |
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| Clockwise: entertaining the guests, Sir Thomas keeper of the hooligans, 3 photos of face painting, Steve and Marty and Mary in the bow. |
After the cruise we needed
food, so 9 of us headed further out on Mustang Island to Kody’s Restaurant
& Bar for dinner, where we dined on fried and grilled shrimp and fish,
burgers and salads. Yum! That about did it for Monday.
The weather last week started
in the mid-50s, but by mid-afternoons had hit the mid-70s. Bright sunshine and
light breezes made the days perfect. So, Tuesday afternoon friends Sharon,
Karen, Marty, Mary, and a few others hit the resort’s pool at the Adult Club
House. Beautiful! Dick joined us after work for a quick dip. While there we met
Jerry and Lynn from Anacortes, Washington, who had just started full-timing.
Lynn said that since she was a photographer, she wanted to see all there was to
see and photograph everything. She’s well on her way! While sitting poolside, I
noticed a little green friend also sunning itself along the fence.
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| Pool time at the Adult Club House, and one of the resident geckos. |
That evening we played Pegs
& Jokers with friends Alice, Lynda, Bob and Sharon, and Bill and Carole.
Women are still the stars! Women: 2, Men: 1. Woot-woot!
Wednesday
morning was time for laundry and a trip to the post office to send off some
gifts for our friend Ida, who is in Houston for a short stay. (Dick and I are
caring for her cat, Lucy, while she and her husband are away.) Friends Laura
contributed a squeaky toy that loudly gives off a wolf whistle, and Sue made
her a hat; I made her an endless circle vest to keep her warm and provide
“hugs.” Ida received the gifts by the end of the week, and loves them!
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| Betty and fresh fruit skewers |
That
evening we went to happy hour at 4 p.m., followed by dinner in the Family Club
House. Dinner, provided by Chef Betty, was “Give Quiche a Chance” (broccoli and
cheese), oven roasted potatoes, fresh fruit on skewers, banana muffins and mint
patties. YUM-YUM!
Temperatures on Thursday were in the low-70s—perfect
for being outdoors. An impromptu happy hour occurred at our place when Dick
returned from working in the office. Karen and Steve, and Bob and Sharon joined
us for almost an hour and a half. We laughed, talked, laughed, talked,
laughed…well, you get the picture. That evening we played Pegs & Jokers
with Bill and Carole, Marvin and Shirley: women again took 2 games to the guys’
1. Woot-woot!
Friday, after Dick went to the office, I baked a
couple batches of cookies: chocolate chip, and white chocolate chip with dried
cranberries. Shared some with friends in the neighborhood, and sent 3 dozen to
friends Bob and Nancy in Tacoma, Washington, (who had sent us some of his
freshly caught and home-canned tuna from the Pacific Ocean). We send Bob and
Nancy a huge thank you for this
wonderful treat from the Pacific Northwest!
A trip to the post office to send off the cookies to
Bob and Nancy, and to mail my watch to be repaired (hopefully) happened on
Saturday. Our first stop was to Caroline’s Turtle Bay Café for breakfast. Dick
had eggs and sausage with a fresh blueberry-topped HUGE pancake; I had my
usual—corned beef hash with eggs over medium and rye toast. YUM-YUM! We hadn’t
been there for quite a while, so this was the perfect start to our day.
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| Left: my corned beef hash, eggs over medium and rye toast toasted dark Right: Dick's HUGE pancake with fresh blueberries, scrambled eggs and sausage |
After our next stop at the post office we headed to
our favorite store—Walmart!—for a few items, then a stop at Tule Creek Park
just adjacent to Walmart for a walk through the nature preserve. This 1.08-mile
hiking and biking trail features a 10-foot wide concrete pathway that winds
through Live Oak Forest, running parallel to Tule Creek, ending at Enterprise
Boulevard near Memorial Park where a year-‘round heated pool and other
sports-related recreational areas are located. At the start of the trail is a
20 foot x 30 foot covered pavilion and viewing area; and, along the trail at
strategic locations overlooking Tule Creek are other viewing areas. It was a
lovely walk, although we didn’t see much wildlife along the way. There is an
8-foot side wooden bridge from near the pavilion over Tule Creek, which leads
to the sidewalk fronting a historic “shellcrete” site.
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| Tule Creek Hike and Bike Park |
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| Clockwise: Cormorant, Eared Grebe, and 3 photos of a Great White Egret |
 |
| Top 2 photos are of an Osprey; bottom: a flock of Ibis |
I had to do a bit of research on shellcrete.
Shellcrete is made primarily of oyster shells, used not only for aggregate, but
also as a binder because of their lime content. By slowly burning these shells over several days the calcium
carbonate in the shells was converted to calcium oxide, also known as
quicklime. This quicklime added to the strength of the mixture, forming a
simple concrete-like mortar when combined with sand, broken shells and water. Typically, shellcrete would be formed into
blocks, but can also be poured into forms. Once it’s allowed to cure, it can
last for hundreds of years, as is evident in the historic structures here in
this area that used it.
Upon returning to our site, I set
about making Mulligatawny, a curried chicken stew. It’s one of our favorites,
and perfect for the forecasted cooler evenings ahead. Dick and I “vegged” for
the remainder of the day, which was good as he had worked many hours this week
and needed the time to unwind.
Sunday we attended First Baptist
Church of Rockport. Pastor Jones continued his “Awakening” series, this week
focusing on prayer from Acts 4:23-31. The 3 points he made from this passage
were: 1) the church’s prayer focused on the identity and purposes of God (how
much of our knowledge of God shapes our prayer life; does it reflect the
purposes of God? 2) the apostles prayed for boldness
through their persecution, and for God to show his miraculous power as his
purposes unfolded and the gospel was proclaimed; and 3) God answered their
prayer; fresh filling of the Holy Spirit allowed them to witness boldly. The
question posed to us is, “Do we expect the same from God? Do we expect him to
give us boldness, or for him to just keep us safe from persecution? He quoted a prayer from adventurer Sir
Francis Drake as he departed the coast of Africa on one of his voyages; it
would do us good to take it to heart.
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
Here’s a
link to his message: http://fbcrockport.sermon.net/main/main/20303004
After church we stopped at Walmart, again,
and then headed for home for lunch. While I made Sloppy Joes for the evening’s
Super Bowl party Dick took the opportunity to walk along Fulton Beach Road
where he saw ducks, an egret and heron. Before the Super Bowl game at the
Family Club House we attended the ice cream social, followed by Pegs and Jokers
with Bob & Sharon, Bill & Carole, and Marvin & Shirley. Women, we
lost our mojo, losing 2 games to the guys. :-(
The Super Bowl Party was well-attended: about 60 people
showed up to eat and watch the game. Unfortunately, our beloved team, the
Seahawks, lost to the Patriots in the final play of the game, when we could’ve
won. (Pete Carroll says it’s his fault for calling the wrong play. Uh-huh…)
‘Nuff said. I am rather sick of all the hoopla and end-of-game coverage.
Anyway, this is a new week. We can start looking
forward to Major League Baseball! Oh, yeah, first there’s March Madness college
basketball. Play ball!
Love ‘n’ hugs,
RJ and Gail
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