Back to the Scene of the Crime…

We really enjoyed spending some quality time at Lockhart State Park with our grandkids and their parents as well :) The sites were large and comfortable there with great views of the golf course.  The kids most enjoyed hiking the trails and of course the nightly campfires complete with plenty of s'mores!  On our last day we planned to have Sharon drive our son’s car so I could let the whole family see how we break camp and allow them the opportunity to ride in the motorhome at least until we got to the designated point where we would say our goodbyes. Our grandson really wanted to ride in “Our Bus” so it was the only way I thought that he could. Funny how he refers to “The Bus” as “Our Bus...

Our next destination is College Station, Texas which is home to Texas A&M University and of course home to the latest Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Football. This is also the town we left nearly two years ago when we both retired from our jobs and left on March 3, 2010 2011 to embark upon our full time RV’ing lifestyle. We even stopped by my old place of employment to discover a commemorative brick that was placed in my honor…

We pulled into our home for the next three to four weeks at Holiday RV Park in College Station. We picked this park for its proximity to Texas A&M University but with the addition of recent overpass nearby there is a bit more road noise than I predicted. Thankfully we have double paned windows and since it is chilly outside they are shut. This along with the heater going makes the road noise a non-issue. The sites are closer together than we would like but we didn’t come here for the park just the location. Happily,once we settled in and sat down for lunch we were delighted to see the football stadium, Kyle Field in plain view outside the dining room window! Now if it will just warm up a little we anticipate enjoying the stadium view and the sunsets while perched outside in our chairs at Happy Hour.

One plan I have while we are here is to inspect the rent house we kept and approve any updates it may need. More importantly we look forward to reconnecting with the many friends we left behind once we began our travels. Hopefully the blog won't be too boring as we take you along on our reunions with friends and our revisiting of favorite haunts in and around Bryan/College Station .With springtime and better weather ahead we are both excited about leaving winter behind to travel far and wide once again. And with one of the first stops being New Orleans, Louisiana we feel sure we will have some more entertaining experiences to share here pretty soon!

Finger Licking Good BBQ in Lockhart, TX…

Although it was tough to leave Shiner and all that good beer the beautiful county courthouse and all that enticing BBQ smoke smell that greeted us upon our arrival in Lockhart got us fired up. You see Lockhart Texas has been dubbed the Barbecue Capital of Texas by the Texas State legislature. There are only four Barbecue establishments in this small town but according to a recent Texas Monthly Magazine three of them are in the top five Barbecue places in the entire state of Texas. The fourth one, Chisholm Trail BBQ, didn’t make the list but oddly enough it is rated the best in town by the locals in the annual “Best of” contest sponsored by the local newspaper. So what gives?

The only real way to find out in our opinion was to go ahead and try all four of them before leaving Lockhart. In our working lives we had eaten exclusively at Kreuz Barbecue when we had the hankering for great BBQ and really had no inclination to venture out to try any of the other highly rated establishments. However now that our  travels have taken us so far away from real Texas BBQ   we find ourselves now with an insatiable desire to devour all the smoky BBQ we can find. In retirement we also find ourselves with no time constraint so this makes it perfect for us to sample, savor and evaluate these culinary delights.

First on our list was Smitty’s Market at 208 S. Commerce street. As we drove up we found we had to search for an available parking space so given how many cars were in the lot we already knew we found a great BBQ spot. Walking in the door we could see and smell the big open fire pits framed by the blackened walls behind. We ordered up some brisket and a hot sausage link all wrapped in butcher paper with some white bread for which we paid cash as they accept NO PLASTIC (debit nor credit) as the signs so indicate. We sat down at a long table alongside military personnel from nearby Austin and as they did, we ordered up a nice Shiner Blonde to wash it all down. The sausage was nicely smoked although a little greasy yet very tasty. The Brisket was beatifulicious… and delectably smokiferous… Beyond our dreams good....just what we had been waiting for!

Next up was Black’s Barbecue located on 215 N. Main Street. They claim to be the oldest family run BBQ business in the entire state of Texas as they were established in 1932. This may not be entirely true as Martin’s BBQ in Bryan,Texas has been around longer in the same family than Black’s. But that is not why we were here…we're here because we hear it is good...how good? Even President Lyndon Johnson had Black's BBQ cater for a Presidential affair in Washington D.C. We ordered some Brisket and a few ribs on the side…  the brisket was extremely moist and just right with the smoke and holy moly, the ribs were near perfect…

The third one we tried was one we knew well, Kreuz Barbeque found on 619 North Colorado Street and is pronounced 'Krites'. Like several of the best BBQ places we have visited Kreuz serves its BBQ on brown butcher paper. Again, some Brisket and a sausage link were ordered, inspected and sampled. We have always loved the BBQ here but on this particular day we must have had their BBQ on an off day. The brisket was tasty but was not only was it too salty it was also tough as a boot!!! No way you say!!! Yep, it was tougher than 10 penny nail. What a let down....maybe next time…

Our last stop was at Chisholm Trail Barbeque found on 1323 S. Colorado Street and is the newest (opened in 1978) of the four joints in Lockhart. It is said the owner had to sell his fishing boat to raise enough money to open the restaurant and even after he did he said he must be crazy opening up a BBQ joint next to all those other great ones.. He is not as highly rated by BBQ connoisseurs yet he is rated the best in town by the locals. Another order of Brisket and some sausage along with a whole chicken (we were feeding the grandkids). The brisket was succulent and moist and yummy indeed as was the sausage. The chicken was a bit dry but otherwise good, yes the locals may be on to something…

Lockhart will stand out as a really great time for us while in Texas not only for the BBQ but for the priceless time spent with the grandkids. But which BBQ place did we like the best? Smitty’s was the best by far in our opinion as that brisket was exquisite… yep at this particular time it was Smitty’s hands down! Chisholm Trail Barbeque was not too far behind…

What’s on tap in Shiner, Texas…

What’s on tap in Shiner, Texas? Why Shiner beer of course! A little over one hour north of Goliad State Park is a small inconspicuous little town one would hardly even notice were it not for Shiner Beer. Shiner Texas is home to the Spoetzl Brewery which produces one of the last remaining beers made exclusively in Texas.

We pulled into the only park we could find close by and it was called Green-Dickson Municipal Park. It was a little hard to find but what a gem it was! The 148-acre facility is located about one mile from the town center. The park is a massive city park considering the size of Shiner, Tx. It has nice, covered picnic tables,each with its own barbecue pit. There are playgrounds, lighted tennis and volleyball courts, a fishing pond, and even a baseball and softball complex.  However the best part were the hilltop spaces for overnight camping for RV's overlooking the pond and park below. These sites don’t have sewer and only have 30 amp service but they were nice sites with one exception. There are only 10 or 12 sites arranged in twos, side by side so if if we had a neighbor the accommodations would have been extremely close.  Luckily after reading the reviews it seems it is rare that many people stay here so we decided to chance it. As it turned out only three sites were occupied while we were there so all of us had the double sites to ourselves.

 

Once parked we headed into town and had a quick lunch before heading over to the Spoetzl Brewery, home of all Shiner beer.  I use to stop by this brewery in the late 70’s and early 80’s on the way to the coast so I have many fond memories of sampling Shiner beer at these detours. We had read that there are two tours each weekday during the non-summer months and we planned to take the last tour at 1:30 pm. We parked and entered into the gift shop where the tours start and more importantly where the sampling room is. Samplers need not take the tour to taste the beer as all one needs to do is walk up to a server, pick out a sample to try,and the server will pour a 7 oz. cup for you.  Better yet, your server will present you with an additional 3 tokens for three more samples. Shiner just may be the beervanah capital of Texas…

We chose to sample one beer while waiting for the tour to start then lingered for the other three after the tour. I won’t bore you with the details of the brewery and how they make beer but I must say the tour guide was very informative and entertaining.  There were seven different beers on tap for tasting on the day we visited and we tried five of them. Sharon’s favorite was the Shiner Blonde and mine was a tie between their Red Hare Pale Ale and a seasonal beer called FM966…yummy! It was fun returning to the Spoetzl Brewery after all these years and we even took a self portrait photo reflecting off the copper vats…

Next we were off to Lockhart, Texas where we are camped at Lockhart State Park for a few days of  eating some fantastic, famous BBQ  and camping with the grandkids…

Historical and Scenic Goliad, Texas…

Once we made the short drive from Rockport to Goliad State Park we set up camp and ate lunch. I helped in getting this park cleaned up long ago when it was turned over to the state of Texas so I was excited to see how it now looks. We planned to only stay  for a couple of days so we decided to hit the ground running to explore this historically significant part of Texas… After lunch we hopped into the CRV and drove the short distance into town…

The town centers around a magnificent Courthouse and Goliad’s town square is composed of storefronts dating back to the 1800's. It is even officially on the National Registry of Historic Places. The town square is typical for Texas in that it has an assortment of shops and restaurants yet it has retained its historic charm throughout the restoration and upkeep of the old storefronts.

The Courthouse was built on the site of Goliad’s second Courthouse and was completed in 1894. Many of the stones from the second Courthouse were used in the construction of the current one. The old "hanging tree" is on the grounds and has a historical marker beside it noting that many unfortunate souls had made use of this tree… 

Close to the town square is a city park that has a memorial sculpture,erected in 1885, and also a Texas Revolution cannon. The cannon bears the inscription, "Used by Col. Fannin and His Men on Fannin Battlefield in Goliad County in 1836."

In March of 1836 Col. Fannin surrendered to the Mexican forces at the Battle of Coleto Creek. After he surrendered to Mexican Gen. Santa Anna he and nearly 350 of his men were executed. The capture and execution of Col. Fannin and his men spurred on the Texas revolution and many shouted a new battle cry “Remember Goliad!”. The Fannin Battleground State Historic Site in Goliad memorializes these hardy souls where there is a monument and graveyard near the spot where Fannin surrendered.

       

Also adjacent to this site is a statue honoring a Mexican lady known as "The Angel of Goliad" who was said to have been responsible for saving many of Fannin’s troops who would have otherwise died in the slaughter. This was actually my favorite memorial in this area.

          

There are also a couple of missions near Goliad, one of which is in the state park and is called the Mission Espiritu Santo. It was originally founded in 1722 near Matagorda Bay but later moved here in 1749 on the San Antonio River. The mission and its compound were restored in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  We enjoyed strolling the picturesque grounds as well as meandering through the chapel and museum.

The other mission, Presidio La Bahía, is just south of Goliad State Park and it was established in 1749 and in 1967 it was designated a National Historic Landmark. This chapel apparently is still used as a community church.

While driving around town we also discovered a nine hole disc golf course within a community park.  Of course, we simply had to stop and play. It was a short but nice little course and was a fun unexpected distraction. In fact we made a point to play the course both days we were in Goliad. Also while playing disc golf and touring the area we noticed parts of a hike and bike trail. We later realized it was part of a 2-mile hike and bike trail connected to the state park. Much of the trail is built up on decking and platforms as it meanders along the San Antonio River. As it turns out Goliad State Park is near the center of the trail making it an easy bike ride not only to and from the town square but also extends the other direction to the memorials and other sights available in Goliad.We could actually have seen all the sights without using the car had we known. Another surprise I noticed and pointed out to Sharon as we biked along the trail was one lone Texas Bluebonnet starting to bloom showing us along with all the butterflies that spring is apparently making its way to this part of Texas …

Rockport Farewell Tour… and meeting bloggers before we left…

As our month stay in Rockport comes to a close we decided that on our last day that we should revisit all our favorite places. So what did we do?

We first drove to Mustang Island State Park to enjoy the sunshine and the surf. I packed my fishing gear as.I wanted to do a bit more surf fishing but by the time we arrived at the shore the clouds began to roll in and the surf picked up.. It was low tide and the temperatures were hovering around the mid sixties with winds blowing at 20 mph making for horrid fishing conditions.. Knowing it would be quite some time before I'd have the opportunity again, I decided to fish despite the challenges. I  fished for a little over an hour and although I had no bites at all I enjoyed myself anyway..

We left the park and took the scenic route back along the shoreline through Port Aransas (cars can drive along the beach in tis part of Texas) for about 6 miles.  We savored the sites and sounds of the beach. Next we passed through Port Aransas and took the free ferry across the bay to Aransas Pass.Happily some dolphins made an appearance for our enjoyment as we queued up for the ferry. Not too far down highway 35 we entered the town of Rockport to take our favorite bay drive to revisit “our ducks” and to see the Rockport Harbor.

Sharon loves the harbors here so we also wanted to go a little further north along the coastline to enable us to watch the oyster boats roll in one last time at the Fulton Harbor. We thought about having one last happy hour at the Sugar Shack but today's happy hour we had already planned to try to meet up with another blogger we had yet to meet.

I read yesterday that George and Susie Yates of Our Awesome Travels had just rolled into the town of Rockport so I left a message suggesting we try to meet up before our departure. They agreed so our last stop was at their park for happy hour. We were excited to meet the two of them as we have followed their travels through reading their blog posts. As with many bloggers we meet for the first time we found it quite easy to converse as it often feels as though we have already known them for quite some time.The time flew and I feel sure our paths will cross again whereupon we can meet at another happy hour. to pick up where we left off.

After our farewell trip to all our favorite sites we are off to Goliad State Park for a few days then maybe a one night stay in Shiner, Texas to visit the Spoetzl Brewery. Next up will be a trip to the bar-b-que capital of Texas in Lockhart where our son,his wife and and of course the grandkids will come to stay the weekend with us…

One last home made “freshly plucked from the sea” Oyster Po'boy wouldn’t hurt either…

Shucks! Did you say Oysters?

We received news that friends from our old home town in College Station, Texas wanted to come down to the Rockport area for a visit. We have known these people for quite some time as they are also our oldest son’s godparents. But before I go on about this visit we also visited with another renowned blogger… none other than Barney who pens the blog Old Fat Man Adventures. Having the opportunity to sit down and have a chat with one of Rockport’s better known bloggers was fun.  Chatting with Barney gave us the chance to really get to know him better and he is as cheerful a fellow in person as he is in the blog. Now when we read his blog we will enjoy the posts even more after having the chance to know him a bit more…

Now back to our friends… We decided to take our friends to many of our favorite places here in Rockport. We began with what we feel is one of the neatest things to do and that is to stroll the Fulton Harbor to watch the oyster boats come in with their daily haul. Most of today’s pictures are from the Fulton Harbor. This part of Texas is loaded with oysters and as a result the commercial oyster business is thriving in these shallow bays. If you want fresh oysters this is the place to come as even parking lots are paved with oyster shells…

Oyster boats typically dredge the shallow mud flats with a heavy oyster rake towed behind a boat. A piece of chain link fencing is affixed to the back end of the rack to allow the sediment to wash off while the oysters are trapped within the rack. The oysters are then hauled aboard and sacked into burlap bags (80 to 100 in each sack). Watching the oyster boats come in is a treat as the heavily loaded boats are floating just above the water giving the appearance that the boats might be dangerously low in water. It is entertaining to watch then as they offload their daily catch and the forklifts carry 10-15 sacks of oysters away to load on the idling semi trucks nearby. One fellow who looked to be a big shot at the harbor was managing the offloading of the boats. His duct tape repaired shorts were a hoot to see as well… Of course, before leaving we had to buy a pint of freshly shucked oysters at the nearby seafood market to make up some tasty Oyster Poor Boys for that night’s dinner.

We then took our friends over the Copano Causeway to see the Whooping Cranes that reside in the area. We set up the spotting scope and delighted in watching those stately endangered crane species strut around in the fields feeding. We also took them to see the Big Tree and drove along the waterfront and stopped in few spots to check out the ducks and other waterfowl. It was really fun having our friends down for a visit and sharing our favorite sights here in Rockport/Fulton…

To end this blog I will leave you with a photo as Barney (TOFM) would and like him, ask the readers if they can identify this fragment of bone I found along the beach front. What do you think this possibly came from? I know the picture is a bit blurry but I surely one wouldn’t want to deal with those teeth. And as Barney would say..... this is the way Sharon and I chose to have too much fun in Rockport Texas…

Searching for Road Treats near Rockport, TX…

 

One thing we are always on the lookout for is a unique little spot to enjoy whether it be little hole in the wall dive bar, cool little pub or quaint restaurant. When we planned on staying in Rockport we figured we might stumble across a few such interesting places. After being here nearly a month we have finally concluded that there weren’t as many as we had hoped.

Every once and a while we feel the need to go out and have a cold adult beverage at one of the local watering holes. We identified several here that we thought were worth checking out. The first little restaurant/bar we visited was known for its oyster poor boys. After visiting Goose Island State Park we stopped in at Pop’s Place. My original plan was to first have a cold beer as a way to get to know the place then maybe get a poor boy. The place was deserted… except for one nice rough around the edges but friendly fellow. We struck up a conservation with him only to discover that he was the artist who created the interesting artwork in this establishment. Prominent in the restaurant are two large artistic murals created out of bottle caps, one of a red fish and the other a speckled trout. So happy was he to have an audience he also ushered us into the men’s room (I kid you not) to show us his bottle cap mural depicting the Texas flag..  He also showed us his collection of carved wooden fish replete with bottle can fins and explained he sells these for the modest price of $10.00 apiece. Although we enjoyed the chat the overall vibe did not inspire us to try the food.

Another neat little spot we found was the Pickled Pelican Sports Bar. Why did we stop here? Because every other Saturday they feature the Belt Sander Races. Another dive bar but with a full blown Belt Sander Race Track set up in its backyard. What fun! We ordered a couple of beverages and took a seat in the bleachers to partake in the afternoon races… After several “Stock” races where we watched non-modified belt sanders compete there was also several head to head matchups between Modified” belt sanders. Believe or not there actually is a Belt Sander Racing Association. We had too much fun watching the modified belt sanders take off and hit speeds of up to over 20 mph while racing down the 75 foot track. Adding to the race atmosphere was the colorful introductions of the racers, their type of "rig" and their race record.  The big screen TV in the middle of the track allowed the spectators to join in the action as the red, yellow and green lights ticked down the cue to the start

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One of our favorite little dive bar discoveries is called the Sugar Shack. It became our favorite little watering hole for a few reasons. One was that on our fist visit it had great energy and interesting people. Sharon especially enjoyed one of the patron's pet parrot who sang, "You are my Sunshine" . Our next visit proved more of the same. We also like it due to its proximity to the Fulton Harbor where we usually stroll around the harbor and enjoy the sights before finishing our walk by returning to this tavern for a cold beverage.

The only brew pub in the area is the Port Aransas Brewing Company. We stopped by there while passing through Port Aransas to sample their crafted beers. I ordered an Island Pale Ale and Sharon got a Pop Pilsner. I can truly say that these two beers may have been the worst crafted beers I have tasted since we have been retired…. Oh, how I miss Portland Oregon's nice selection… I will say however, that they have a great selection of other crafted bottled beers and their lunch must be great since every time we pass by this establishment it is crowded.

We haven’t had much luck finding really good food that fits within our budget here so we finally just gave up… We feel that none of the places we have eaten at here are worth writing about as they hve been simply average in taste and quality in our opinion. However, since we don’t usually visit places where most of the menu items start with entrees in the $15.00 and up range  I can’t comment on some of the more popular tourists spots here.

We have decided that probably the best place for us to have a nice cold beverage and some excellent tasting food is found right here in our park, at our home…