Month: November 2023

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Camping…ON The Beach

Since Betty & I enjoy being near water in many forms – by lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans, we often seek out campsites with easy access to such bodies. That has certainly been the case on this adventure, as we followed the mighty Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.

One more glorious Galveston Island sunset, with the Jamaica Beach water tower in the centre.

Our last post tells of the “beachside campground” we enjoyed at Galveston Island State Park. 

Betty & I took the coastal road south from Galveston Island, along the Gulf of Mexico, passing many fishing and camping spots along the way.

On our way now to Mustang Island State Park, near Corpus Christi, Texas, we were aware of opportunities for free camping ON the beach. The website “Freecampsites.net” helped identify spots on the side of the Gulf where we could stay overnight. But by using Google Maps, some of the access points seemed too sketchy for a class A motorhome. While many people posted that they had no problem getting on and off the beach in a 4 x 4, or even a small truck or rv, shifting sand conditions made it too much of a risk for full-timers in their 70’s to drive their home onto an isolated spot where AAA might refuse to send a tow truck. Then what!!!   Even if we could get on the beach, would there be enough room to turn our motorhome and toad around without getting stuck before the tide came in?

The entrance to a free beach camping area at Magnolia Beach, Texas, provides a list of courtesy do’s and don’ts to keep everyone happy. Despite it being free, the beach area is clean and well cared for.

We had often heard about Magnolia Beach, and had zoomed in on Google Maps to confirm that class A’s like ours could camp without being buried up to our axles in sand. But we had never stayed here before.

Campers are encouraged to park perpendicular to the water, leaving space for others to enjoy the beach.

When Betty & I arrived, we found that there is a large, flat, shell-covered beach very suitable for camping. In fact, a few RVs down from us is a large tag-axle diesel pusher – from Manitoba of all places! Maybe surprisingly (or not) many of those camping on the beach are Canadians, with a large Quebec contingency.  And it’s free!!

Arriving on a weekend, there was still at least 50′ between RVs.

We topped up our fresh water before leaving Galveston; lithium batteries and solar panels are meeting our energy needs; and we are a little more cautious about adding to our black and grey tanks. So we are self-sufficient enough to hopefully make it dry camping for a week before we head to Mustang Island.

Looking north from our undesignated site, RVs of all shapes and sizes make use of the wide beach.
A view from our spot to the south shows the wide, flat beach of crushed shells, making for easy manoeuvring.
Betty, Charlie & I were able to enjoy the quiet ripple of the waves. Although many clouds can be seen, the temperature is 27 degrees celsius, with a gentle breeze.
From inside our coach, we have a panoramic, unobstructed view of the Gulf, and any ships passing by.

This unique stop on our overlandish odyssey is a great discovery. (And you can’t beat the price. Lol) Here’s hoping you are also able to discover new, memorable (and affordable) places on your journey through life.

A young near-by family is able to enjoy the warm, stress-relieving waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
This message is on the bedroom wall of our motorhome.

Cheers!

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The Sweet Sounds of Heaven

“I hear the sweet, sweet sounds of Heaven
Fallin’ down, fallin’ down to this earth
I hear the sweet, sweetest sounds of Heaven
Driftin’ down, driftin’ down to this earth…”

The Rolling Stones, with Lady Gaga (2023)

One of the many magnificent sunsets, falling down to this earth.

While the latest Rolling Stones album “Hackney Diamonds” has been delightfully fallin’ down to my ears, Betty & I have been enjoying the sweet sounds of heaven along the Gulf coast. So we have decided to extend our stay at Galveston Island State Park for another week. Here are just some of the sweet sounds, tastes, and aromas that have been captivating our senses.

The steady rhythm of waves crashing against the shore is a most sweet, calming sound.
Betty & Charlie enjoy being washed in the waves, although the salty taste is never quite what Charlie expects.
During restful hours spent on the beach, Betty tried to entice me into some basic yoga. Apparently this pose is buddha konasana. lol.
The colourful, fragrant flowers growing in the sand added to a beautiful view and ambiance.
For a change of scenery, we drove up the shore into Galveston, past this amusement park that juts out into the Gulf.
On our way into Galveston, we also passed this unique home, whose renovation was recently featured on HGTV.
We pulled up to a fish market visited on previous trips, noting the pelicans are still in competition for the fresh catches.
Katie’s Seafood Market is full of the freshest possible catches, including these shrimp, which are brought in off the wharf at the back door.
We chose some red snapper and flounder that were resting on bins of ice.
The young lady in the centre of this pic filleted them for us, and packed them in ice for the trip back to our campsite.
Next door, Katie’s has a restaurant where we could sit outside, overlooking the harbour, as we ate fabulously fresh seafood. I would show the picture of mine, but I couldn’t resist trying it before taking the pic. lol.
Because we were outside, we had to watch for scavengers who kept their eyes on our meals…
Betty & I thoroughly enjoyed the sweet sights, sounds, and tastes of this bit of paradise.
Hope you can also find a place and time to experience the sweet sounds of heaven, fallin’ down to this earth!

Cheers!

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The Big Easy

At the end of our last post, Betty & I had reached the Gulf of Mexico, and enjoyed revisiting and relaxing at Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi. While a different state from New Orleans, the campground is an easy hour drive from The Big Easy. This pictorial post will catch you up on our overlandish odyssey to our current location.

We were finally back into the palm trees at Buccaneer State Park.
The homes along the Gulf coast are well elevated, and presumably hurricane proof!
Most have very long staircases, which provide a work-out on grocery day, if the elevator isn’t working… Many actually do appear to have elevators.
Betty, Charlie & I were a little more down to earth, spending another pleasant day at the beach.
From Mississippi, we took I10 across Lake Pontchartrain into Louisiana.
We love the architecture in the French Quarter, which was bustling with activity. However, because we had the Smart car, we were able to squeeze into a parking spot only a block away from our restaurant.
The narrow French Quarter streets where far more easy to navigate in our Smart than in our motorhome…
The wrought iron railings adorn many buildings in the French Quarter, including our chosen restaurant.
Betty & I had a pleasant seat outside Cafe Amelie, until our appointed reservation.
Many restaurants have enclosed courtyards for al fresco dining. We had previously dined at Cafe Amelie when it was a couple of doors down (at 912 Royal Street). It is currently at 900 Royal Street, but still very nice.
For our 49th anniversary dinner, Betty chose gulf shrimp and grits– old mill stone ground grits, corn andouille maque choux, blackened gulf shrimp.
And I chose catfish – a cornmeal crusted filet, old mill stone ground grits, lima beans, collard greens with bacon and pot likkor. Other than the lima beans, everything was a new taste adventure! An earlier menu included black-eyed peas instead of lima beans, which would have made it 100% original!
After dinner, we drove around a bit to soak up the atmosphere. Driving down Bourbon Street was a treat, until we realized we were the only car on the street! Time for a fast exit!!!
Our plan for the next day was to drive to the small community of Venice, Louisiana, were the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. There was a lot of construction on the road, and it looked like it would have involved another six hours of driving, so we cheated and caught some pics a little further north.
Just as previously noted, the river appears extremely low, as evidenced by the slant on this jetty.
Betty & I marked the end of our journey down the banks of the Mississippi River with a kiss. (Heart, heart)
From The Big Easy, we crossed over the Fred Hartman Bridge, en route to our next stop – Galveston, Texas.
As we drove onto Galveston Island, palm trees and sand greeted us.
We are now in the beachside campground at Galveston Island State Park.
Arriving a day before our reservation, we were able to stay in an unserviced site (#88) that was actually closer to the beach than our current site. This was our view through our front windshield.
Our current site (#2) has 50 amp service (which is nice as the a.c. is currently working hard to cool us down), water, a picnic table & shelter, and a level cement parking pad.
Betty is enjoying the shade from our motorhome and picnic shelter.
This is the Gulf view from our current site.
And here is where Betty, Charlie & I spent most of today. This portion of our journey so far could definitely be called The Big Easy!

Cheers!