Clary’s

Last night we asked the woman at the desk here in the RV park to recommend a nice restaurant for us to go to to celebrate our 41st Anniversary. She told us about Clary’s. Clary had been the head chef for one of the more expensive places in town and headed out on his own many years ago and opened Clary’s. It was completely destroyed by Hurricane Ike but they had rebuilt it and it was as good as ever.

We stopped by in the afternoon to have a look at the menu and to scout it out. It is nothing to look at from the outside and even the inside is not all that posh. The sign said they opened at 5:00 and it was only 4:00 but we were shown a menu. Tons of seafood, not cheap but reasonable. As we were reading, Clary himself came over and showed us around the place. He was very proud of the restaurant and had obviously spent a long time in the business. We told him we would be back.

At about 7:00 we showed up and got a table overlooking the bayou. We ordered a glass of wine and Mike, the waiter came to introduce himself. He said he was Clary’s nephew and had been there from the start. He brought along a small bowl with six large shrimp in it “just to whet your appetite”. He came back to take our order. He explained the house salad dressing, a base of Blue Cheese with a drizzle of Italian made with balsamic vinegar over it. He said it was very good as the Italian sweetened the taste of the Blue Cheese. “Of course it would not work unless it was made with balsamic vinegar”. When he brought the salad he said Clary had told him that we had been there earlier and to do something nice for us so he also brought a complimentary appetizer of Oriental Fish Fingers. By the time we finished the huge salads, a loaf of bread and the two appetizers, we were ready to call it a night. This is as much as we eat most nights! But, the dinner orders were in and it would have been rude to say goodnight now.

The dinners showed up in the regular American portion sizes – huge! I had the fresh Flounder and Norma had the Seafood Platter and we managed to struggle through them. We had told Mike to slow things down as we were in no hurry and did not have to be anywhere until May. He slowed things down nicely and dinner lasted until 9:00. When we were almost finished Clary came over and talked to us. A couple at the next table knew him well and joined in the conversation. They told of us of walking into the restaurant after the hurricane. The wine glasses hanging from the slotted rack over the bar were the only things that survived and they were perfect, not one of them broken. It seemed like it was a signal to rebuild. The rebuilding is not completely finished but everything works and the tables look great with linen tablecloths and silverware. The atmosphere was wonderful and soft jazz played from a CD player on one of the tables in the corner, another thing waiting to be finished.

We paid the bill and asked Clary and Mike to come and have their photo taken with us. It was a great evening!

She Was A Windy Night!

We are parked right on the Bayou here in downtown Galveston. The water is just across the road in front of us, maybe 25 feet away. The wind is blowing right into the front of the motorhome and has been all night. If it were hitting the side the rocking motion probably would have kept me awake most of the night.

We got home from dinner at about 9:00 and turned on the TV. We were watching CNN when suddenly it went blank. The dish had blown over (again)! It had the 20 pound rock tied to the base and also a construction block over the center pipe. I thought for sure this was the formula required to keep the thing on the ground. I will have to do some engineering in the summer. In the meantime, one of the legs of the tripod is slightly bent from the fall and I have not yet inspected the feed horn of the dish itself. It looks OK from out the window though. When we get back from our adventure today I may move it behind the rig and tie it to the car dolly. It has never blown over when I have done this.

The adventure today is a trip to the Johnson Space Center. I want to see Mission Control where the words, "Houston, we have a problem!" were heard. But first a stop at the Waffle House!

Victorian Homes

Up until 1910, Galveston was the largest city in Texas. It was the home of many very wealthy families. A section of downtown of about nine square blocks is totally preserved with the grand mansions of these people. Here are some of the nicest of them. The first is the grandest of all. It was built by a very wealthy family near the turn of the century at a cost of $250,000 back then. That would translate to millions today! When the family no longer needed it they donated it to the Church and it became the Bishop’s residence. It is named “The Bishop’s Palace” and is now open for tours.

Galveston Seawall

Hurricane Ike made landfall right on Galveston on September 12, 2008. It smashed into the seawall, destroying piers and buildings along the waterfront before washing over the flat surface of Galveston Island, submerging some areas by as much as eight feet. Little escaped damage and the rebuilding process is still taking place. Here is the remains of one large pier where repairs have not been started.

The seawall has been replaced and the highway built on top of it. It stands 17 feet above the water level, waiting for the next hurricane.

Camera Gear

Doug asked what camera gear I use. It is a Nikon based System as Nikon is what I started with back in the 60's. I have many film bodies in storage at home. These are worth nothing now in the Digital Age..

My move into Digital came with the purchase of a Nikon D70S a couple of years ago. I used this for the first two trips to Mexico and it worked very well. The original "kit" lens became useless after it sucked in tons of dust with it's zoom action. I sent it to Nikon for cleaning and not only is this damage not covered by warranty, they wanted more than the price of a new lens to clean it. While I was searching eBay for a new lens, I decided to upgrade to a Nikon D200 body and this is what I am using now.

My lenses are:

1) Sigma 18-50 Digital Zoom (this is my "normal" lens. Takes nice shots but not expensive and may be replaced)
2) Nikon 70-300 Telephoto Digital Zoom (my "Bird" lens. A good deal on eBay last year)
3) Tokina 12-24 Wide Angle Digital Zoom (expensive lens that I thought I needed but do not use near enough)
4) Tamron 90mm "True" Macro Digital (very expensive "Flower" lens. My favorite purchase)

The D70S will probably get sold this summer on Craigslist with or without the Sigma 18-50 Zoom. If it is sold "with", I will replace the 18-50 Sigma with their new "OS" (Optically Stabilized) model. This is the scenario I am hoping for. I may also sell the wide angle Tokina as it is too much of an investment to just have sitting around unused. Anyone interested? Email me at croftsmexico(at)gmail(dot)com

Galveston!

We pulled in at 6:00 PM after Ms. GPS took us down several Farm Roads to get here. I will have to check the settings in the GPS as it is probably set for the shortest distance instead of fastest route. Sometimes they are not the same.

We arrived at the Bayou Shores RV Park just as the manager was locking up the office. He told us to park anywhere and see him in the morning. We chose a great site 20 feet from the ocean and as far away from the neighboring bar-restaurant as we could get!

The StarChoice setup was very easy once I got the settings from a file on the computer. It only took about five minutes of fine tuning and we ended up with 60, one of the best signal strengths we have ever had.

Next I tried my luck with WIFI. The laptop's built in antenna saw two sources, both password protected. I plugged in the Hawking dish and it picked up about ten sources, four of them open. I picked the strongest and connected. I am on line! Thanks Belkin 236, whoever you are! And thank you Hawking!

it is starting to get dark so our exploring will wait until tomorrow. It is a pleasant 78 degrees with just a little wind. It will be a good night.

And now for the really good news! The Canadian Loonie is worth the same as a US Greenback!

Bayou Shores RV Park:

Changing Plans

Our fluid plans are changing again! After looking at the weather map we have decided to head for El Paso and then head north using a more western route, maybe through Las Vegas. That way we will miss some of the cooler temperatures that are hanging around the Midwest. It is only the 6th and we do not have to cross the border until the 24th so we have lots of time. Galveston and Glen Campbell will have to wait for another year!

OK, after a coffee we have changed the Plan again. We will go to Galveston for a couple of nights then Dallas, TX, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque. NM (to get the transmission serviced) and then west and north. There is is settled and I will get to photograph some more Texas birds! Life is good!

Downtown Corpus Christi

Random Shots.

Tomorrow we are off to Galveston. We decided to check out Texas' sea coast while we are waiting for the weather to improve between here and home. Life is good!

Just Sayin.....

RANT ALERT!

A couple of shark attacks and parents stop letting their kids anywhere near the water. Thousands of kids are raped in the Church and parents keep sending their kids back to Church.

News flash to parents: There are millions more sharks than Priests, so your chances of finding a Priest that rapes are far greater than your chances of finding a shark that bites! Do your kids a favor and take them to the beach on Sunday.

Just sayin....

Birding

On the way out of Port Aransas we drove past a sign pointing to the city park and birding area. We instantly made a u-turn and went to see. I had my 400mm lens with me so I headed out along the short trail to the birding walk and platform. There were about fifteen people with cameras and binoculars. They are a very friendly, helpful group and I got told more names of bird species than I could possibly remember.