Lily Pad Travels: On the road, Lighthouses and Historical Discoveries - Port Lavaca, Sabine Pass & Point Bolivar, Texas

Thursday January 22nd, 2015

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Julie. Hope it was a good one.

We got on the road heading towards Bryan's mom in Louisiana. We have planned tonight and tomorrow in Victoria, Texas and then two nights in Beaumont, Texas before we arrive in Livingston, Louisiana on Monday. The weather forecast for the next couple of days is not good and it rained most of the way to Victoria. We arrived safely at Gateway to the Gulf RV Park.
I stayed up late to watch Andy Murray win his 3rd round match against Joao Sousa in three sets. I have been fortunate so far in that his games have been scheduled early in Australia which means they are on here anytime from 9pm onwards. I managed to watch the first two rounds and get to bed in the early hours. This one was a little later but still ok although I think all the late nights are beginning to catch up on me. He is playing well though so that is good news.

Friday January 23rd, 2015

We decided to go for a drive and find Half Moon Reef Lighthouse at Port Lavaca. In the late 70's Bill Bauer donated the lighthouse and a trust fund for maintaining it to Calhoun County Historical Commission. The lighthouse was moved to his present location and restored as part of an Eagle Scout project.

We got our lighthouse stamp at the adjacent community center and then drove across the road to the Lighthouse Beach RV & City Park. We wanted to have a look at the RV park and do the walk through the wetland area that is there. By now the wind had got up and it was starting to rain a little, but we persevered although the wind made it very cold.

You can see the lighthouse in the distance on the left side

This is the small beach that is there

We went on the short semi circular walkway that goes through the marshland and borders the Gulf of Mexico.

It was cold, brrrrrr

A lonesome bird

We finished our walk and headed back to the car. We had wanted to go and see Matagorda Island Lighthouse but we were so cold and the GPS wouldn't recognize the coordinates I had for it so we headed back to the RV, albeit along a different route. We decided to stop at Olive Garden for dinner and to warm up. Yummy!!!

Saturday January 24th, 2015

It is a year ago today that we had to make the decision to put CoCo to sleep. It was the best for her but such a difficult decision. Still think of her often and have wonderful memories of her.

Wonder if they have met in Heaven yet???

We got on the road to Beaumont, it was an uneventful drive, although in Houston the on ramp to the I10 was closed and we had to take the ring road and meet up with 10 further along, so added a few miles. Got set up and relaxed. I went to bed early so I could get up at 3am to watch Andy play Dimitrov in round 4. Thankfully he won in 4 sets. I went back to bed at about 7am for a couple of hours.

Sunday January 25th, 2015

I got up at about 10am as we had planned on going to Port Arthur to see the Sabine Bank Lighthouse. Thankfully the weather was a lot better today. We found Lions Park at Sabine Pass where the lighthouse had been restored and moved to. The park was a little the worse for wear but was full of interesting historical monuments.

This old anchor was a memorial to military members from Sabine Pass who have lost their lives in service.

Here was a victim of recent conflicts

Here is Bryan by the restored lighthouse. The original fresnel lens is in a nearby museum which we didn't go to today.

This model of a lighthouse was opposite the park in front of a church. See the church bell at the top.

We drove back through the oil refinery part of Port Arthur. The stark contrast between Sabine Pass and the industrial part of Port Arthur is striking.

We decided to drive down toward Galveston and try and find Bolivar Point Lighthouse. It was over an hours drive but what the heck we haven't got anything better to do have we.

We drove through Winnie and thought of our dear friend "Winnie" from our RV park in Las Vegas.

Driving into Point Bolivar was beautiful.

We found the lighthouse. This was the closest we could get to it as it's privately owned now.

Nearly opposite this lighthouse was a county park and as I needed the restroom we stopped there. It had the remains of battery points of Fort Travis. We spent a long while walking around and learning the history of the site.

View of the lighthouse from the park

It was interesting looking at the tankers out in the bay and going into Galveston or Houston. There were plenty of picnic areas and even a camp site here.

This picture is of the back of Battery Davis Historical Bunker

Bryan at the rear of the bunker. He really wanted to get inside and investigate.

Here he is at the side trying to find a way in.

And with a sheepish look saying "You caught me but unfortunately I can't get in"!! I was soooo relieved.

Front & Side View of the Bunker

This was the view across to Galveston.

A wild flower in the grounds. Does anyone know what it is?

We walked across the park to the East side and remains of Battery Kimble. Reminded me of the series "The Fugitive" and Mr. Kimble and his search for the one armed man, just because of the name!!! Shows my age a bit, I guess. :)

Here are the remains of Battery Kimble and Bryan trying to find a way in, as usual……..

There were cacti growing on the roof.

Bryan investigating the side of the bunker and what I think was where one of the guns was mounted.

Serendipity had struck again as we discovered this place full of history purely by chance as we searched for a rest room. Sometimes getting older has it's advantages. ;)

We started on the journey home along the sea front. The houses are all on stilts and many varied seaside colors. I love these and if we had the money I'm sure we would buy one somewhere on the coast. We could park Lily under the house and when there was a hurricane warning we could just go inland. Not sure it would be here but we have found these stilt houses all along the Gulf and Pacific coasts. I would love it and at the moment it would be either Pensacola area or St. Augustine/Mayport area. Won't ever happen though but doesn't hurt to dream.