Feb 7-13

Saturday, we left the Horses on the Beach just after 11 am on Padre Island, Tx. Our next destination was Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island. We soon where heading northeast and a causeway away we were on Mustang Island, where Port Aransas is located which is another tourist/summer resort. Due to the nature of the land in this area, causeways and ferries are a necessity. The ferries all run 24 hours a day and are free as they are part of their road system. Port Aransas was the first – only about 1/3 of a mile across an inlet.

We arrived around 5 pm (after 240 miles) at Jamaica Beach RV Resort and happened to miss a shuttle bus taking people to the Galveston Mardi Gras parade that evening. We would make up for that later – stay tuned!  It’s located about 12 miles from the city of Galveston and is about 80 miles south west of Houston. Once we hit the beach, it didn’t take long to realize this is one destination for some of the oil industry workers and executives to spend their weekends and summer. There were lots of beautiful and many large home on the beach. All homes in the area are built on stilts for hurricanes and potential flooding.

After a long day driving, time for a cold beer and some relaxation. Flank steak on the Q for dinner and a soak in their brand new spa. They actually had an infinity spa that was 12’ x 30’ – biggest “hottub” we have ever been in – all by ourselves! (see pic)

Sunday morning Jazz and I explored the park then headed over to the beach for a walk (and a run) – shorts and flip flops with lots of sun and mid 70’s. A perfect morning walk. After returning to the RV Kathy and I got the bikes out and headed back to the beach for a bike ride along the beach admiring all the beautiful and unique homes – again, on stilts. (see pics) For lunch we ended up at a small local diner for a cup of Gumbo each and split a Shrimp PoBoy.

Monday morning with warm sun and nice temps. , it was time for a long two hour walk on the beach returning home around 1 for lunch. Once again, being a Monday tourist is great as there are few people around. After lunch we packed up our beach chairs and books and headed back to the beach for some rays for a couple of hours.

Tuesday plan was to bike over to the bayside of Galveston Island called the West Bayou. It was only about 1.5 miles away. Once again, evidence of oil money over here with more nice homes and some inland “water streets” for their back yards. (See pics.) The beach side was breezy that day, so after the tour we decided to spend the afternoon sunning at the RV.

Wednesday, we left this area heading to Beaumont Tx. At the end of Galveston Island is the City of Galveston and their harbor. Another ferry ride was required to take us over to Port Bolivar. Today’s total drive was much shorter at around 80 miles. This area was primarily a stopover point and it’s nightly rate was 50% with our club membership. We weren’t too close to many things, but we were able on Thursday for lunch to bike about a mile or so to a Pappadeau Seafood Kitchen. This is primarily a Texas chain geared towards Cajun cooking. For lunch the place was big and it was packed. Kathy had some Blacked catfish and Shrimp etouffee. I went for the frogs legs – half deep fried, half sautéed as suggested by the waiter. Everything was real good. The manager found out this was our first time at their restaurant, so some King cake (mixed with cheese cake) was offered up complimentary. Yum, yum (see pic)

The Beaumont/Port Arthur area didn’t have much that we were interested in, so Friday morning we bid farewell to the State of Texas and headed east into Louisiana. As is normal practice, we didn’t take the direct, fast route to our next destination. We decided to take the Creole Nature Trail through the bayou’s and swamp lands. Most of the way, there wasn’t a lot to see but there was virtually no traffic either. Beyond the nature trail, the oil and gas industry was prevalent throughout the area. Oh and there was another short ferry ride required at Cameron La. Our lunch stop was in Lake Charles for some BBQ. We tried our first brisket with unlimited sides as we were newbies. (Dirty rice, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, baked beans) and toast. We split one “plate” at a cost of $10.50 and were full.

We got onto the freeway for the final leg of the day and it was noticeably busy with Mardi Gras traffic. (more on Mardi Gras in the next blog). With the congestion on the freeway, it was bound to happen and about 20 miles from our destination, traffic backed up and stopped with an obvious accident ahead. We decided to get off and take some back roads which turned out to be a good idea as we heard a few hours later that there were still problems in that area. We arrived at our site around 3pm – Cajun Palms RV Resort between Henderson and Breaux Bridge, LA. Of all the places we have stayed, this place is the closest to being a “resort” by definition. Over 300 sites, a couple of fishing ponds, two large pools a large waterpark, mini golf, cabin rentals, on and on….

Anyway, that’s all the squawking I have for today!