Historic Sights in Aransas County

After our morning coffee together, we were off to the History Center of Aransas County which focuses on the men and women who founded, settled, and developed the area starting with James Power who received a land grant from the Mexican government in 1825.

We thought we were off to a bad start for the day when the sign at the center said they were open Saturday and Sunday rather than Friday / Saturday and today was Friday. The website has been updated to the new hours now. One of the group knocked on the door since there was a car there and the woman working on a program for the next day graciously invited us in anyway so we had the place to ourselves.

The History Center is housed in the Bruhl-Paul-Johnson home....a Queen Anne Victorian cottage. .

A.H. Bruel, an early 1900s pharmacist and mayor of Rockport and Chester Johnson were among the most notable owners. Johnson offered a penny for the house to save it from demolition and it became known as the Penny House. It is interesting in it's own right

There are many displays inside the house.

Some early clothing items on display.

Information about the house has appeared in many different venues.

There are displays about other interesting homes in
/ the area and there was actually going to be a presentation on the historic buildings the next day/.

There are other interesting garden displays outside.

Many plants were on display for both us and the butterflies......

.........because this is a butterfly garden.

We finished a little early so decided to play with our schedule and head over to see the Big Blue Crab. This colorful crab is a symbol of tourism for Rockport. It started it's life as an advertisement on top of the Del Mar Grill in 1957. It finally deteriorated in 1976 after two hurricanes. But everyone missed the crab and a campaign was started to raise money to resurrect the crustacean. Originally built as a male crab, the first crab was repainted with female colors. When the new crab was designed, it was built with a combination of male and female colors. It was built with aluminum rods, tubing, resin, screens, and fiberglass. David Allgood, a native Rockport artist, was selected to build the new crab.

Also located on the peninsula are the Spirit Columns. Dedicated in 1998, the Spirit Columns was the first piece of public art in Rockport. National Medal of Arts recipient and Rockford native, Jesus Moroles donated his labor to create the piece.

Both of these unique symbols of Rockport are located before the entrance to the Rockport Beach.

Next, we were off to enjoy lunch at Charlotte Plummer's.

I drove today and it isn't always easy to park the big boy. My first spot left me hanging way out into the road but I managed to find parallel parking close by that fit.

Ratings are kind of mixed on this restaurant but a couple members of our group mentioned having to eat there as we were planning the GTG. The advice was get there early so you don't have to wait so long.

Happy to report that the service was good because we beat the crowd.

Birdie was already here once earlier this week with her brother and sister-in-law but she was eager to come back and enjoyed this meal as much as the earlier one.

I think everyone really enjoyed Charlotte Plummer's!   This was a great morning and we still have half the day left!

Tripping in Downtown Rockport and Fulton

The day started out with some line dancing lessons courtesy of the RV park. You can see some of our crew here. They did a great job!

Hoping this little video will work so you can take a peek at the fancy footwork. There was only one guy in the group.....who says men are the braver bunch???? 

By the time the line dancing lessons were done.....an hour and a half.....it was time to head to "downtown" Rockport. I got a few looks when I suggest the Daily Grind Coffee Shop for lunch. It is right downtown and so very convenient but that is not the only reason for going there.

It is a small shop and we had 10 in our party but we were able to fit just fine in two tables in a nice little alcove.

Most of us had the quiche and salad special but the sandwiches were good too. The quiche was the best I have ever had and the pieces were very generous plus they had about 5 different kinds to choose from. This place is definitely on my list whenever I'm in Rockport. 

There is a nice little artistic ambiance and it is a popular place.

Should have had this picture first as we were lined up to order or still looking at menus until we saw the quiche special. They took our orders quickly and the food was delivered to the table very quickly.

Then we headed out to check out some of the shops. Some wanted souvenirs and some still needed to find a prize for Pink FlaminGoes bingo.

Prices seemed pretty reasonable for most things and "beachy" was the theme of the day.

Some earlier buildings were only available to read about on the plaques where they sed to be.

Rockport still has lots of lodging but some of these grand hotels are no more.

This is the shoulder season between Winter Texans and Summer Visitors so we didn't have to fight the crowds.

A few shops are only open weekends right now.f

There were other pink flamingos on display besides our group.

 

 

After all that shopping, we had to make another stop on the way back to the park.

 

Once back at the park, there was lots of relaxing, visiting, and possibly even napping going on. Batteries need recharging you know and sometimes there are a few domestic chores needing effort.

Later on, the Boiling Pot was selected for dinner.

The menu was a bit of a surprise to some of us. The smallest portion was huge; however, the waitress told us that we could order 1/4 pound of shrimp and sausage with the corn and potatoes rather than the 1/2 pound of each which made it much more reasonable and was still enough to have leftovers.

This end of the table was really happy with their choices.

Drinks were very necessary as not all of us are used to the spicy food.....and it was really spicy even the potatoes and corn.

Sharon wasn't quite so happy with the oysters they shared.

This was the smallest serving on the menu until the waitresss told us we could do the half order.

Here are the wild bunch again. Maybe that beer helped!

 

Opinions on this restaurant were divided sort of like the reviews on Yelp. If you like spicy food, you will probably enjoy this. It was way too spicy for me.....even the corn and potatoes. It took a couple days for my lips to heal up. And I decided I would rather have my shrimp without the eyes on stocks looking at me and legs which all have to be removed. But at least half the group loved it and new experiences are the spice of life.