Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): Nov. 18

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)