Nov. 18 – Port Lavaca, TX

History Lesson

We spent seven months and almost 4000 miles seeing the sites and learning the history of each area we visited, so we decided we should spend a little time reviewing the history of our county. Friday we played Calhoun County tourist. Our first stop was at the Calhoun County Museum. It is located in an add-on to the old county jail building which was built in1896; this building was also used as the county library at one time. We saw the plans for the new building that will be built close to Lighthouse Beach and the Halfmoon Reef Lighthouse. The decks of the building will be built to look like La Salle's ship, Belle, which sank in Matagorda Bay in 1686. Very impressive looking building...all they need now are the funds to build it. We enjoyed the exhibits and visiting with Mrs. Cox, who helps run the museum. She even had genealogical information on the Marshall family…some we didn't even know about. During our travels on The Pearl, I was a little disappointed that we didn’t seem to see a lot of birds…or at least what I thought were a lot of birds. I learned today why I felt that way. Our county has for several years held the record for the most birds spotted in the nation. I guess I am a little spoiled and maybe expected too much. Calhoun County is a premier bird watching spot and attracts lots of bird watchers each year.

After the museum we had lunch at Tropics, overlooking the harbor. Our next stop was Karankawa Bay, east of town. We wanted to check out a possible place to launch our kayaks, to do a little exploring. We found a good spot…all we need now is a pretty day. We also stopped at several little beach areas and did a little beach combing…found a little beach glass, but nothing too exciting. It was a nice day; we learned a little more about the Karankawa Indians, Indianola, and Port Lavaca and even got a little family history.

Calhoun Count Jail built in 1896 (photo courtesy of the internet)

Calhoun County Museum

Exhibit of arrowheads and stone tools collected and donated by Charles Husak

Lens and replica of the Halfmoon Reef Lighthouse

Picture of the Halfmoon Lighthouse when it sat in Matagorda Bay (photo courtesy of the internet)

The lighthouse now welcomes visitors to Port Lavaca, close to Lighthouse Beach

Port Lavaca harbor around 1900 (same area where our home marina is today)

Nautical Landings Marina (picture taken in 2010)

Nov. 6 – Life on Land in Port Lavaca

We've been home for a month and we are getting back into the routine of our land base life. October and November is a wonderful time of year to be in Texas, our weather has been fantastic. We've been busy cleaning up and getting things like our yard and pool back to some sense of normal…neither look like they used to, but they are better. The long hot very dry summer has made our little piece of paradise a sad place, but I’m glad we weren't here to put up with the heat. We have also been catching up with family and friends, having a lot of great meals with wonderful conversation. It has been great to catch up with everyone we missed so much while we were gone.

Stan loves fishing in the fall and has been spending a lot of mornings in his kayak catching redfish and trout. We are definitely enjoying the fresh fish. He has also been working on our sailboat…maybe to use a little and then sell…not sure yet. I have been playing with my photos from the trip…printing and framing a few and getting back into quilting. I spent a few days this week at the International Quilt Show in Houston with my sister in-law, Paula. We had a great time. The show is so large, crowded and has so much to see…it can be a little overwhelming. Anyone who enjoys sewing, creating things from material or appreciates beautiful fabric art should go to this event at least once. I have also started doing a little research on New York, the Erie Canal, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain and Canada…trying to figure out exactly where we want to spend next spring and summer. So many beautiful places to go and things to see….I’m getting excited already.

This is the way our pool looked a few years ago, before several dry summers and cold winters.

This is the way our pool looked when we came home in October...it does look a little better now, but the yard is still very dry.

A couple of visitors we had last week...they probably liked the pool better when it looked like a pond.

Fresh red fish