Category: Beaches

Some Things Old, Some Things New III

(Musings on our trip to the Bay State- Part III)

By Betty McCreary

We just came out of an insane election time and I hope this did not put a damper on your sharing a Thanksgiving table with family and/or friends. And if you were alone, I hope you treated yourself well and found some things to smile about.

My husband and I listened to the music from Hamilton while we prepared our big meal. Just us this year, but we made our homemade mashed potatoes and I made my special spicy cranberry sauce. While I am nostalgic for the Thanksgivings of years past at my grandma’s table and later my mother’s table, those days can not be recreated. Our holiday celebrations morph a bit each year. I am thankful for getting to spend the holiday with my husband. I am also thankful for calls and texts from family and friends we could not be with.

As I get older I am working on a daily gratitude practice, which simply calls me to find small joys each day and share them with others. This practice has really helped me get past the anger and sadness I felt at the election.

And I am so thankful for the big trip to Massachusetts that we took in July to visit our family members there.

Because of a resurgence of Covid, we tried to find things we could all do together outdoors. The whole group of 7 of us met at the New England Botanical Gardens at Tower Hill, west of Boston, at Boylston, Mass. We ate lunch at the little cafe there. It has an outdoor seating option. Then we hiked around the grounds. It was hot and humid trekking, but was fun being together and sharing the joys of this beautiful outdoor space. First we walked down a hill to a pond. There was a pavilion for sitting and looking for birds and pond critters. Then we continued on through tall trees until we came to several interesting structures and statues. Here is one of them:

Temple In The Woods

Then we headed up hill to the more landscaped part of the gardens.

Saw some plants I was familiar with like this milkweed:

Monarch On Milkweed

And some others that were new to me:

Anyone Know What These Are?

There were a couple more ponds:

Frog On Lily Pad

And some interesting landscape choices:

Plants Planted In A Pattern On A Vertical Wall

The next day we headed to another outdoor spot, minus one of our party. Mirror Lake is on the old grounds of Ft. Devens, north west of Boston. Ft. Devens was an old army base from 1917-1996. Part of it now serves as a training center for the Army reserve and National Guard. A small township has evolved there.

Mirror Lake

We parked and walked down a hill to the entrance station and paid our fee. After staking out a spot for our chairs, we all went swimming. The water was perfect for a hot day. My husband was experiencing a bit of nostalgia at being here. When he was in the Army, he did his Individual Advanced Training (AIT) at Ft. Devens. The 4 months he spent here training was in the winter and so he had not been swimming here before. This is a family friendly area with life guards and boat rentals. One of our group was a regular there this summer, getting his exercise after work. We splashed around and laughed and looked at fish in the clear water.

And then this happened:

On Our Youngest Member’s Finger

A little dragonfly took turns perching on our fingers. Dragonflies can be symbols of change and transformation. I think our family bonds changed a bit and got stronger on this trip. I am thankful for that.

I hope you enjoyed this little personal trip report and maybe will visit some of the places I did. And I hope you find some small joys each day.

For More On The New England Botanical Garden:

http://www.nebg.org

(Photos by Betty McCreary)

Beach Trip III

During the Covid lockdown I longed for a trip to the Texas coast. But, we didn’t go anywhere and I felt beach deprived. I am making up for it now. Our first post lockdown trip to the coast was described in my January blog post, where I wrote about our visit to the Rockport area and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Our second trip was this past week.

It is almost 252 miles from Austin to Port Aransas and usually takes us at least 4 -5 hours, depending on stops. We took our usual route from Austin down hi-way 183. But, instead of our usual bypassing of Gonzales, we decided to check out the Gonzales memorial Museum.

Gonzales Memorial Museum

It is a small museum with stories on the early and later pioneers of this area. But, the main attraction is a small cannon. This cannon was given to the settlers of Gonzales by the Mexican government for protection in case of attack by the indigenous people of the area. A few years later, in 1835, the Mexican government wanted it back. The people of Gonzales refused to give it back and voiced one of our iconic Texas slogans, “Come and take it.” In the Fall of that year, the little cannon fired the first shot of the Texas Revolution. I had never visited this museum before and was surprised how small the cannon is.

Then we headed on down the road to our usual stop in Goliad for lunch. We picked up burgers and fries at Whataburger and headed down the road to Goliad State Park. This is always a nice break to eat, stretch our legs, and do a little nature viewing. There are also several historic sites to visit. This trip we just ate and sat in the park.

Butterfly on Bloom, Goliad State Park

Continuing on, we arrived in Aransas pass and boarded the ferry to Port Aransas.

We picked up supplies of food and drink at the local grocery and headed a few miles down the road to our vacation rental. We spent three nights there. Here are several views from our balcony.

We walked on the beach, but the water was a bit cool. We didn’t go in past our calves.

I love the sound of the Gulf surf and the cry of the laughing gulls. I love the feel of moist, salt spray on my face, the soft grit of sand between my toes, and the rush of waves over my ankles.

Sea Foam

Oyster Shell My Husband Found…Looks Like A Fish Head

We took a dolphin watching cruise of the channel on The Scarlet Lady.

Dolphin Pod

Along our route was the oldest working lighthouse in Texas. It is privately owned.

Lydia Ann Lighthouse

I highly recommend this dolphin watching cruise. We saw lots of dolphins, birds, ships, and history.

Another highlight of our trip was visiting the various nature trails and birdwatching spots in Port Aransas. A particular favorite is the boardwalk at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center. On our last visit it was closed due to being destroyed during a hurricane. They have rebuilt and it is better than ever. Besides birds, one critter we look for is a large alligator. We don’t always spot it, but we were lucky this trip.

American Alligator

We decided to return to Austin via a slightly different route. We headed down the island to Corpus Christi. I wanted to visit the Selena Memorial at the Corpus Christi Bayfront Seawall.

Texas Historic Plaque honoring the 1966 Farmworkers March. The farmworkers were pressing for better wages and working conditions. They left Rio Grande City, Texas on July 5th and marched 380 miles to the state capitol in Austin. They passed through Corpus Christi on the way and arrived in Austin on Labor day where possibly 10,000 people rallied for the cause.

The memorial to Selena Quintanilla-Perez is not far from the farmworker plaque. There is a statue of her that is made of bronze and a plaque with words honoring her and a sculpture of a white rose, which was her favorite flower. The words “Mirador de la Flor” (Overlook of the Flower) are on the memorial.

This was our final goal and we headed north out of Corpus Christi, exited east and went through Beeville, Kenedy* and Nixon before rejoining hi-way 183 in Luling. We got back to Austin about one hour before a major thunderstorm hit. Good timing.

I am so grateful for a wonderful trip to my beloved Texas coast and for a wonderful traveling companion.

Gulf Morning

Photos taken by B. McCreary

*We stopped for lunch on the way back at a wonderful city park in Kenedy, Texas. Picnic tables, shade, playscape, clean restrooms. Saw an Eastern Bluebird there, mirroring my happiness.

Check out:

http://www.gonzales.Texas.gov

https://TPWD.Texas.gov>state-parks>goliad

https://Scarletladydolphincruise.com