On our way to Padre Island, we decided to go cross-country down secondary Hwy 183 so as to visit the historic Town of Goliad , an anagram for the Name Higaldo without the "H". The Highway took us down along some of the oldest cattle ranches in Texas. This highway actually goes along... you'd think I could remember the dang name of that old cattle drive trail...which used to run from Corpus Christi to Wichita, Kansas, as it was the closest access to the rail line. It's also close to the biggest ranch down here, the famous King ranch.
At Goliad, we camped out at the Goliad State Park. This campground incorporates the Mission Espiritu Santo de Zuniga, a restored mission by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) after the last WW and completed by the Texas parks system.
The historical importance if this mission, besides being one of the many established in the mid 1700s by the Spaniards was the fact that the priest who ran this mission had received 100 head of cattle from Spain, of which only two bulls survived years after. These were eventually bred with a selected cattle livestock from Mexico, and became the famous Texan longhorn cattle!
The mission was labelled a failure as it did not convert the local Indians as was planned, and so was destroyed in the early 1800s. The cattle were let go and they eventually multiplied into the thousands, and hence gave start to the hugely successful Texas cattle ranching in this area.
Another reason this mission was well known is the fact the Town was named
from an anagram derived from mission's priest's name
Higaldo...
hence Goliad, without the "h". The irony of this is that because this mission was
closed as a failure, the king had ordered the priest executed once he arrived
back in Mexico, and, due to an extremely smart play with letters by the priest,
which fooled the king's advisors, he unsuspectingly memorialized the priest's
name in the Town which still bears and anagram of his name today.... Goliad.
A few more interesting tid-bits about this mission... Take a look at the
picture above the side door. See the Skull & Cross Bones! This is the same
symbol used by the pirates of the Caribbean's. The rumour is that when the
Spanish forces came to shut down this mission and arrested
the priest, they destroyed the mission after seeing the Skull & Bones insignia
over the chapel door, thinking the chapel was cursed. In fact, the symbol was
placed over this door because this door was used as the entrance into and out of
the chapel for the corpses during the funerals.
The other unproven but interesting tid-bit about this mission is that it was most probably moved here from Matagorda bay, on the Gulf of Mexico, because the Karankawa Indians of the gulf coast were reported by a Priest, to be cannibals! And they could not be defeated nor converted, so, as not wanting to end up being lunch, the Spanish moved upstream the San Antonio river to Goliad. It is reported, the last of that tribe died in the early 1980's in a senior's home in Corpus Christi.!
And we have to thank Paul, an actual cousin of Freddie Fender, for a great tour of this mission.
Goliad is also famous because it is the location of a Spanish Presidio
(fort), named La Bahia, a military fort with a chapel, built to protect the mission
a mile down the road and the Eastern Territories; it was assumed the French were thought to be
encroaching on Spanish territory. This Presidio was taken by Texan independence fighters in the
1830s. The men were then ordered to leave the fort by general Houston but on their retreat, were surrounded, outnumbered and
were forced to surrender to the Mexican forces of General Santa Anna, the dictator. A week later Col Fannin and his 341 men were
marched out of this Presidio on palm Sunday in 1836,
divided into three groups, sent off in three directions away from the fort, and executed.
All this only a month or so after the massacre of the
Alamo! See the re-enacted painting at right.
This massacre being the worse of the two defeats, so angered Texans, that within a month the cry "Remember the Alamo, Remember La Bahia" brought down the Mexican army in a war that lasted 18 minutes!
It was also at this Presidio that in 1935, before the slaughter, that the first Texas constitution was
drawn up!
And if all of this was not enough for this little town of Goliad, add to
it, the
fact that this Presidio's chapel has been in use since it was built in 1749! It
is the only one that today, is privately owned... by the Catholic diocese. All others are
publicly owned. This happened because the Catholic church was returned the
chapel in the mid 1800,
since it was still being used by the local citizens for their services; But, the
contract included the whole of the Presidio property, which was in ruin then, so
the church ended up with the whole thing.
Now, you see the Statue in the cupola at the front of the chapel in the picture
above? It is the
statue of "Our Lady of Loreto", and it was placed there in 1749!
The Presidio itself was totally destroyed, but the Chapel has been
continuously used for services, and in the 1960s, a rich local benefactress,
donated 1.5 million dollars to restore the whole fort. Today, this Presidio
stands as the World's best restored Spanish fort and the only one with a chapel
that still has it's original roof. This Presidio is chock full of history
and in my opinion, it is just as important and event in the history of Texas, as
the "The
Alamo"; but you hardly hear of it!
Boy, this little town of Goliad is really something... and of course that last item to talk about, is Goliad itself. The downtown square hasn't changed in 100 years and it is soooooo Texan, Western and nostalgic, that it is simply a great little downtown to walk around in. Take a look at these shots....
And in this shot to the right, though you can't see it but the sign on the building to the right says, "The Hanging Tree Restaurant". Guess why? Tic...Toc...Tic...Toc... you loose....
It's because there is this huge tree growing out of the middle of a paved road which branches right off the Town Square and that was THE hanging tree. Yep! and rumour has it, the last hanging was a double hanging... done in error! Ooopps! let's move on....
And now we're moving to North Padre Island. We left after lunch because Padre Island is only about 60 miles away. Again the drive was really nice, on back roads two lane highway through mostly flat scrub rangeland now starting to get overtaken by various types of trees, because cattle farming on the range is not what it used to be.
We drove through the City of Corpus
Christi, directly to the coast and onto Padre Island National Park. Fifteen miles
south on the island gets us to the Malaquite Beach campsite. It does not have
hook-ups but has a water and dump station. There are the north and south beaches
which can be camped on for fee, but you're next to the water and
that's got to leave you with sleepless nights! This spot is right behind the
barrier sand dune
you see above, with great views from the trailer.
What a change in scenery! Salt air, warm breezes, and "take out the suntan
lotion type of weather", it's 84F today! Wow, it's hot. On our arrival, we get
invited to a fish-fry for supper. One of the campers, Gerry from Michigan, caught about 35 "whities"
(sea fish)
off the beach, and is feeding the gang. It's sort of "potluck" with other
campers bringing various dishes, salads and all, and sure 'nough, what does Velma
do, she brings
over MY "just bought" pecan sugar pie... Well, that went kinda fast!
Here's some pictures we took on the way in and off our beach and the great sunrise on our first morning. We'll be here a few days as this is my first real chance to relax and catch up on things!
November 25, 2008, To Padre Island, and Corpus Christi, TX
We're still here! After a week here, we've decided to cut out
Brownsville, TX and South Padre Island and spend a few more day here. It's been
hot (in the 80's) and cool (50's) but very enjoyable. South Padre, we're told is
similar to here but much farther to go still. We're on North Padre Island "
(named after the word priest), because one started to farm cattle here, many
many years ago. On North Padre Island, there are 4 spots to camp... South beach
(free), North beach (free), Bird Island Landing (free) and Malaquite beach
($8.00/day) and guess where we are? Ah...haaaa... were paying... of course.
Actually, you'd be crazy to pull a trailer on either south or north beach as
there is only 100' between the water and the sand dune, then, at Bird Island
landing which is on the Laguna Madre (Mother Lagoon), it has no beach... that's
why those are free!
But, with the surf only about 100' away, it's like being camped
on the beach. The beach walks are great as you can go for about 15 miles north
and 
50 miles south,
no obstructions, no piers, nothing but beach!
It's neat watching the Pelicans act like a squadron of fighters
in groups of 5 as they buzz the waves and disappear in behind a crest only to
reappear a bit farther, then you see one of them
do a barrel roll, double back and dive into the water for fish.
Yesterday we were treated by a small school of dolphins as they
chased a school of fish towards shore and gorged themselves, some jumping as
high as the trailer!
Then there are the birds! All sorts but mostly sandpiper types and especially one with a very long beak, made specially for getting at the shrimps in the sand. You got your cranes, herons, and this idy bitty bird which looks like a hunchback, running every which way all the time with his back hunches as you see it there. We just can't figure out what he's eating, though he keeps pecking away at the beach!
You cannot believe how many shrimps there are on the beach. Gerry, (remember the guys from the fishfry), anyway...he comes here for the Winters and fishes. He's got this water pump device he pushes into the beach wherever there's a tiny, what looks like, miniature volcano erupting with water. When he pulls the plunger, out come these shrimp, and there's a volcano every 6 inches or so and it goes on for 65 miles! Talk about fresh bait and the price is right!
Then you got your regular beach road-kill like your man-of-war and jelly fish. This one on the right is a man-of-war. It does the blue balloon thing, still breathing, but also, still dangerous. They say their sting is about 75% as potent as a rattler's bite. Below is your typical dying jelly-fish. Blah.... it's like a blob and just lies there, no movement, but you can still see through it down to the sand real clear.
...and then there's these rare Red-beach_snappers to the left here and every now
and then you get a glimpse of the super fast see-through-Sail-fish! Hey, how'd
they get in there?
Actually, you can drive on the beach as far as you want or dare, but they recommend you use a 4-wheel drive truck as you are on your own if you do get stuck. For rookies not taking into consideration the sea tides, one gets caught driving up on the hard packed shoreline, until you head home too late and the tide forced you onto the soft sand... and guess what! Yep... Stuck in the sand... even with a 4 wheel drive. On the other side of the island, is what's called the Laguna Madre (Mother Lagoon), something like the Dead Sea being about 5-10 miles across and 100 miles long. With almost no connection to the Gulf, and evaporation over the years, this body of water is super salinated. it is also only on ave. 3 ft deep and considered to be one of the best surfboarding spots in America. Look it up on Google Earth!
Padre Island is a real treat. Not too crowded, warm and scenic and reasonable
camping. More on Padre Island later... We have to go touring downtown for
a bit...
In Corpus Christie, there are lots of things to see, if you got tons of money. We visited the USS Lexington CV16 Aircraft carrier. The longest lasting (it's still floating!), most decorated aircraft carrier in the US. Saw action in WWII, Korea, 'nam and retired in the 70's I believe. This ship reeks history and you can walk through it all and imagine they way it was. Set some time aside as it took me most of the day. From 9:00AM, I still hadn't seen it all, but Velma had enough and by 2:00 PM as we had to go next door to visit the South Texas Aquarium. Here's a quick rundown of a few of the pics...
To the left is the Captains seat or might that be
the Rear Admiral?
To the right is the Boss's seat, and we all know the ship goes where the boss
says it goes...
Those port holes you see on the right are to protect the steersmen's quarters and the navigation room in behind it... and in behind those rooms is the Captain's quarters. These areas are where the ship is actually run from and at all time when the ship is underway, the Captain is responsible, whether he is at the helm or not!
To the left is the view from the Captain's seat, then there's the view of the Captain's seat. Below from left to right numbered 1-2-3...
1) This is the actual control panel down below, for one of the 4 engines. you know when you blow in the pipe and yell, "Full Steam Ahead!", well, the two big wheels on the wall, as far as I can make out, control the steam flow to the "Hi_Pressure" turbine (about the size of a small car) and the "Low Pressure" turbine (about the size of 2 pick-up trucks) and both these steam turbines are connected to a huge transmission (about the size of a semi truck) that combines the power of the two, and turns the final propeller shaft. There are 4 of these units.
2) You guessed it, the pain maker's chair! There are two of these dental offices... as a matter of fact,. there are 5 barber chairs, a drug store, an eye doctor's office, an operating room, recovery room, a denture's office, and x-ray room, a sick-bay, a post office, and more... heck they even got, 3) a chapel! This is a floating City!
What is really neat, is you can sit and turn the cranks to move around the 3"
double barrelled, spring recoiled anti-aircraft guns... those that shoot 7 lbs
shells... just like in "Pearl Harbour. But mostly, the things to see on this
ship are the "workings" the mechanical of the various parts that make up this
aircraft carrier. Things like like the catapult that gets a 70,000 lbs plane up
to 150 miles per hour in 3 seconds: or the arresting cables that stop that same
plane in less than 150' in 2 seconds! or the huge elevators to move these planes
up and down from flight deck to storage, or even the anchor chain hoists, with
chains larger than my tires! and all that interesting stuff, that bores women to
death!
Speaking of which, we did have to dedicate a few hours to.... So off we went to the South Texas Aquarium... next door, and here's what we saw...
Yep, you pay good money to see the fishes and what you get is a mammal and bird show.... aha!!!
In actual fact, there were many interesting sea creatures from
the Gulf of Mexico, such as your beautiful jelly-fish and man-of-war types,
before they turn into road kill.
But this is my favourite picture at the Aquarium.. ;-).
Closing up Padre Island December 30th, 2008
Just before we left, we had the opportunity to meet the
elusive "Ghost Crab" on the beach. Look at this fearless fellow. I'll bet he'd
take a dog on. If you look at him from behind, his eyes actually pop up from his
head and turn right around to look at you square in the face.
I must say though... we need to better care for this earth. Padre Island beaches are showing what happens when we don't take charge of our environment. Every morning, on my 2-3 mile walks, I brought back the equivalent of about 2 bottles of glass, washed in from the night before. Add to this mountains of plastic we saw along the dunes, nylon rope, garbage cans, huge polyester containers, and of course the millions of plastic bottles. Sure, there are laws, but those who break them, need to ask themselves, if that's what they want to leave their grandchildren with...sliced up feet from playing on the beach!
We spent the last night camped out on Laguna Madre at Bird
Island Landing as it faces west and Velma wanted a sunset picture. It got really
windy that night, and the next morning, the whole rig and truck had a thick
coating of morning dew. Once ready to leave, I ran the wipers, and having gone
down the road a few miles, I saw this line of pure dry salt on the windshield
where the water was. WOW!!! Talk about salty water. First thing we did after
getting off the island was to wash down the truck and trailer top and bottom.
So long Padre, it was a pleasure.
The King Ranch, Dec 30, 2008
One of the last stops on our way to the Rio Grand Valley, was in Kingsville, TX, home of the King Ranch. Now, I know you don't know what it's famous for, but you will shortly. The King ranch is one of a few ranches you've heard of, which is as large as Texas. The type where you can ride a horse all day and still not be halfway to the other side.
The King ranch goes back to the times when Texas was part of Mexico, and huge land grants were awarded or sold to Mexican patriots. Back in the early 1800, a retired boat captain, named Richard King, bought two such grants on the Santa Gertrudis creek and founded the King ranch in 1853. Later on this ranch was made famous by producing the famous "Santa Gertrudis" breed of cattle and many fine quarter horses, one of which won the Triple Crown. The other claim to fame is the name of the ranch which is being used by Ford on their pickup trucks... The F150 King Ranch model. The leather seats in the pickups, are reported to be made from the hides produced from the King ranch! Here's a shot of the main house's barns, all designed after the facade of the Alamo... the last one being the repair shop for their vehicles, which are all Fords btw.
At one time, this Ranch had a total area of over 1 Million acres. Today it is reported to have somewhere over 800,000 acres, which is still an area larger than Rhode Island. The town of Kingsville is built on land originally donated by the King family and its existence is due to the ranch. When you drive south from Kingsville, towards the RGV, you drive through dozens of miles of barren ranch land, all of which is part of the King ranch. This guy to the right, is a Texas longhorn. There is a herd of these on the ranch, and it is being kept mostly for sentimental reasons, as these cattle are not economically viable anymore.
And finally we head for Donna, Texas and take our time, as we overnight at Wall Mart in Raymondville, Tx.