How the man got lost at Buc-ee’s
I bet you’re thinking: “How irresponsible to let an easily confused oldster roam without supervision.” [Read more…]
Lost at Buc-ee’s | How weird family stories start
Port Aransas post Harvey
POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS- READ DISCLOSURE FOR INFO.
I drove south this past Wednesday with Joe Holley from the Houston Chronicle to see how Port Aransas post Harvey was faring.
Admittedly antsy as I rode the ferry, I worried about my friends and favorite places in this beloved Texas town. My anxiety ratcheted up when I heard from a very good friend who didn’t want me to post on social media that I was headed down there.
“Please delete your facebook post. The last thing the poor island needs right now is people down here who aren’t part of the clean up.” If I could have reversed direction in the ferry line, I might have done so but I am so glad I didn’t.
My friend’s frustrated reaction was completely understandable. I should know. My home in Houston flooded a few days before when Harvey paid us an unwelcome visit. But I was compelled to come down. Port A has always felt special. As Dan Solomon said on a recent Texas Monthly blog, “People from all over Texas have strong, tender feelings toward the town, and have long used the place as a getaway from their day-to-day reality. “
Lifetime of fun at National Parks
Attention, seasoned (62 and over) campers! Do not let this deal get away. Until August 28, the lifetime National Park senior pass will cost $10. After that, this lifetime pass increases to $80!
If you are not 62 yet but travel with a favorite grandparent or other qualifying family member, drive them to the nearest national forest, park or wildlife reserve to grab their pass. You benefit too because their companions can also enter for the parks for free when the per vehicle fee is waved.
If it is a park that charges per person, this National Park senior pass will get the pass owner and three adults get in free. Since kids under 16 are always free, this is an incredible amount of fun for not much money.
Free lifetime entry with National Park senior pass
Even at $80, the lifetime National Park senior pass is sweet. We’re talking free day entrance and sometimes even discounted camping fee to great national park areas all across the USA. Grand Canyon – free! Denali National Park in Alaska – free! Alcatraz, Sequoia National Park, Everglades National Park, Mount Rushmore, Zion National Park and more – all entrance fee free! [Read more…]
Port Aransas – Best Beach Town in Texas
Why do I say Port Aransas is a Texas version of Key West? Take the Conch Republic during Ernest Hemmingway’s era and relocate it to the Texas Gulf coast and you would have present-day Port Aransas. Small fish camp cottages still outnumber sprawling beach houses, but that advantage is shrinking. Cabins arranged like tourist courts from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s are holding their own against the few chain hotels which recently started appearing. A ferry from the mainland or a long drive through Corpus Christi buffers Port A’s complete transformation into a vacation-only destination.
Ernest Hemingway, Bra Saunders, and Waldo Peirce with fish aboard a boat near Key West, 1928. Photograph in the Ernest Hemingway Collection of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.
Cooling off in the Comal River
POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS- READ DISCLOSURE FOR INFO.
The Comal River in Texas is gentle, easily accessible and located in the picturesque German town of New Braunfels. On a hot summer day, it is a wonderful escape. I recently spent a quick weekend in San Antonio with a specific goal. We were making it a point to go beyond our usual itinerary – dinner at a crowded River Walk restaurant, a cursory visit to the Alamo and margaritas and shopping at El Mercado. There was so much more and now that my daughter was living there, she had a “live like a local” plan for our two days.
We had just finished a long morning bike ride along the expanded River Walk to visit the other four Spanish Missions and recharged with a stop at a local fruteria. The idea of soaking in a natural body of water was beckoning.
A Tiny Road Trip to a Tiny River
While Fiesta Texas or Schlitterbahn are both wonderful and I’m glad we visited often when our kids were young, neither fit the bill for this weekend.
Time for a tiny road trip to a tiny little river. We drove the 40 minutes north on I-35 to New Braunfels and the shortest river in Texas – the gentle, cool, Comal.
From Spanish San Antonio to German New Braunfels
Like all city parks with Comal access, Prince Solms Park was packed with locals when we got there around 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon. We decided to embrace the exuberant chaos! It cost $15 to park at a doctor’s office but overall, a Comal visit is a good deal. Lounging in the peaceful park and swimming in the river is free and tubing is just $2 per tube on Saturday/Sunday/Holidays. Also you can bring you own ice chest, chairs, tables and canopies.
How neighbors used to spend weekends
Dogs, kids, teens, grandparents, were all floating and swimming together in much the same configuration that’s probably been around since the residents were speaking German instead of English, Spanish and Spanglish. Large family clusters had set up canopies, tables and chairs and were barbecuing. Others stacked out a square of grass with a blanket. Old school buses were around to take you “up river” so you could float back or you could walk to the end of the park and jump in.
We were looking to chill after that morning’s long ride but you can add some exhilaration to your Comal visit if you are so inclined. The tube chute gives you a rush and you can have a river-eye view of the old and new Schlitterbahn as you float past. Click here for map of options for “rivering” in New Braunfels.
Watch for slippery steps
Algae from the Comal can and does make the wide steps into the river very slippery. Most kids and some adults seemed incapable of grasping that they are actually are at risk. The city has put up many signs warning about the slippery steps. Still we saw human after human doing the classic prat fall when they let go of the railing too quick. It was amazing, as if the signs actually encouraged the attempt to beat the odds. Like I said, the Comal is cheap entertainment.
“Too many Caucasians?”
After soaking for a while, my sore bike riding muscles started to ease. We sat along the steps, watching the spontaneous community that seems to arise when you are basically sitting together in a big, cool bathtub. There was a Mexican couple sharing the steps with us while playing with their granddaughter. I would imagine the little girl was about kindergarten age. At one point, she gave my long-haired son a hard look and then turned to her grandfather.
“There are just too many Caucasians here,” she told her abuelo, in a perfect imitation of a society matron dismayed at the riffraff. Her grandfather was speechless and chagrined. “I don’t know where she heard that,” he offered. We were surprised and then charmed.
Seems like immigration furor has ebbed and flowed in both directions for centuries. As a history buff, I realized her statement echoed sentiment in Texas before we became a republic. That complaint was probably heard frequently back in 1830, when the Law of April 6 decreed a severe restriction on Anglo immigration into what was then Mexico. What will the complaint be 150 years from now?
We soaked a little while longer while having another beer (open containers are only allowed in the river). In the early evening, we said a good- natured goodbye to our disapproving seat mate and her embarrassed family and headed back to San Antonio. It was time to think about eating again.