Archive for October, 2009

Notable Omissions

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

It has been pointed out, by my mother, that in my recent blog entries related to my trip to Canada to visit her, failed to have her picture.  That’s the problem with dictating a blog long distance.  Something always gets lost in the message.  Well, here she is.

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It had been entirely too long between visits.  It was certainly wonderful to catch up.

On another note, borrowed from Kiri’s (our daughter-in-law) Facebook gallery, here is granddaughter Gracie, right, and her friend Peyton enjoying a recent Taylor Swift concert in Dallas.

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From all reports, they had a great time.

Port Mansfield, Texas

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Click for Port Mansfield, Texas Forecast

Our replacement camera went belly up so we’re back to using the camera that shows us about 25% of the screen.  So if things are off center or not focused, we’ll blame the camera.  Many of the photos in this article will enlarge if you click on them.

We decided to take a day trip to explore Port Mansfield, Texas.  Port Mansfield is located along the Texas coast across the bay from the jetty that separates Padre Island from South Padre Island.

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The town is pretty much out of the way unless it is your final destination.  There are two basic ways to get to the town.  One highway and by boat.

Fishing is the major pass time  for the residents here.  Nearly every house along the bay has a fishing pier that extends to the deeper water.

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From ground level, you can see how close together they appear.  A large percentage of the piers looked in very good condition.  I suspect that many were rebuilt after being visited by Hurricane Dolly last summer.

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Since the weather can be a little unpredictable, these piers aren’t designed to keep boats.  Residents can put their boats in at ramps or keep them at a local marina.

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Most coastal towns that we have visited have several housing communities that are built on canals.  It looks like Port Mansfield has one main canal that leads to the marina.  Some residences and rentals can be seen along the canal.

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On the opposite  side of the canal there is a gated community with some larger homes.

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South of town, we entered a subdivision that had a sign that said “No Hunting”.  Apparently the deer are quite literate in this area because we saw three groups of deer, that totaled more than 30, roaming the neighborhood.

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This group had at least two bucks.

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Here’s a cutie that was alongside the road.

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We ate lunch at the Windjammer Restaurant and Lounge.      The food was good, but the service was a little on the slow side.  We showed up at about 2:30 PM, which is an odd time for lunch, so that may have contributed to any delay we may have experienced.  The experience would be worth another try.