LOOKING BACK

We like it here in Port Arthur at the American Legion so much, we stayed an extra day and just lazed around. I’m reading a Mary Higgins Clark mystery and played with picture files most of the day. I have to qualify my book. I enjoyed her early books and then at some point she got sloppy and so formulaic you could guess the ending in the first five chapters. I quit reading her books.Recently,  I picked up another, Night Time Is My Time and hey, she has redeemed herself. I get in the mood for mystery and true crime books. But, so far, Ann Rule is the best true crime writer. My recent favorite books? None are genre books. Night Whispers by Judith McNaught, Before Women Had Wings, by Connie May Fowler, Fortune’s Rocks, by Anita Shreve.

Looking back at pictures over the past few weeks, I’ll just post them willy- nilly. But first, let me warn you :

I KNOW YOU wouldn’t.

A beautiful sculpture of a local hero at Rockport.

Jim taking pictures on the streets of Galveston.

Remember the Naked Mermaid store?  Well, they weren’t ALL naked.

I think this mermaid is drunk. I call her the floozie mermaid.

Getting ready for Mardi Gras in Galveston.

Quite a catch. These were caught with a rod and reel, when sport fishing was really a sport. It isn’t against the law here in Texas to pull your pick-up truck next to the river, turn on a big spotlight and shine it into the water, and net the fish up that are attracted to the light. Night fishing or frogging in every state I’ve lived in is not allowed, it puts the critter at such a disadvantage. Can’t call it sportsman-like. It is slaughter.

Another photo of the great Miss Joplin from The Gulf Coast Museum.

And exquisite glass pieces too.

Beautiful, aren’t they?

The way I look at it is this:   I can’t afford beautiful glass like this. But, I can collect pictures of beautiful objects and keep them forever to look at and enjoy again and again.

I have a hard time to fathom the skill and technique it must take to create these pieces. There is a need for those of us who can only appreciate such beauty.

These tiny birds are not magnificent long-billed water birds, but cute little common street birds. I think I must like all birds, even the pesty jays, woodpeckers and crows.

Indelible impressions of the Texas Gulf Coast are the many boats at many marinas. The shimmering shadows in water, the blue, white, and gray colors.  Lovely.

The black gold that put Texas on forefront of the economy.

This is a common practice to honor an artist who has died. Her paint brushes in the back of a turtle sculpture.

So, this is Texas. This morning, the Commander of the American Legion Post we are about to leave, invited us in for omelets with he and his wife and dog. Bar none. The friendliest post we’ve ever been to. What a way to end our stay here. Unforgettable. We will unload in Louisiana by the end of the day. Goodbye Texas, for now.

MUSEUM OF THE GULF COAST

Every town museum we’ve visited on the gulf has photos of hurricane or flood damage. I couldn’t let Port Arthur slide without including the requisite disaster photo. This one from 1915.

There is prehistory, Native Americans, discovery, explorers, natural history, documents, in one section. I chose this drawing of a wooly buffalo because it was drawn from a description. As was the horse in the upper right corner kicking up its heels. Kind of reminded me of the snub nosed Chinese lions, also drawn from descriptions. What a hoot!

Since we found two different types of jellyfish washed up on the beach, I was amazed to learn the numbers of them documented passing through  the channel at Port Aransas.

There is much to see here. A fantastic full wall mural that alone is worth the price of admissiion. ($4 adults, $3 seniors.) A shell collection and identification guide, a glass gallery, history of petroleum, and the usual things you expect in a  museum. But, the exhibits on legendary people who hail from the gulf eclipsed everything else, mainly because there are so many of them. Robert Rauschenberg, artist, Cricchio, famous photograher.  There are writers, designers, actors, actresses, dancers, directors, football players, coaches an Olympian, but their music legends are far and away a phenomenal group. I counted 67 musicians or groups and don’t know if I got them all. Jimmy Clanton, Lonnie Brooks, Joe Barry, Clifton Chenier, ZZTop, Lee Hazlewood, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Barbara Lynn, Ivory Joe Hunter, BB King, Wayne Toups, Clay Walker, Jerry LaCroix. I’m not going to name them all, but the most famous was Janis Joplin, and J.P. Richardson known best as the Big Bee Bopper.

This is the way I remember Janis Joplin from this photo. Her untimely, drug and alcohol induced death didn’t sit well with the locals and for awhile they didn’t want to be identified with her.

The Joplins were a church going family and I’m making a judgement here when I look at this picture of a very proper and pious looking mom and dad, a wholesome sister and brother, then Janis, physically pulling away from the rest. The wild one.

A replica of her hippy car. And, you may remember the words to that famous song of hers: “Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz? My friends all driver Porsches, I must make Amends…”

The Big Bee Bopper, died with Buddy Holly in a plane accident. They were such originals. Tragic deaths of such talented people.

Another tragic figure from Nederland, which borders Port Arthur, is Karen Silkwood.  She worked to expose Kerr-McGee’s falsified records of plant safety where she worked. It cost her her life. At least two books and a movie have been made about her life and her fight  of corporate abuse.

Other notables:   Tony Joe White.

Johnny Winter.

I saw Brown in Concert in Angels Camp in the 1980’s  and got his autograph on one of his albums.

 

The musical legends just call to you. They have places around the museum where you can hear their music and many cds in the gift store. This is a don’t miss museum  for this marvelous great musical legends section.

Port Arthur, Texas – Day 3

The motorhome is parked at American Legion Post #7 in Port Arthur, Texas. We expect to depart on Tuesday.

Note: Our Internet account starts a new cycle on February 5th, We are currently approaching our maximum allowable usage. Consequently we’ll be on a “photo diet”…posting fewer pictures than usual until then.

Yesterday we drove the Bronco the about four miles to the Museum of the Gulf Coast where we spent an enjoyable two hours. It was a much larger and nicer museum than I expected for a city with a population of only 53,000. As mentioned yesterday, Janis Joplin is the city’s most famous ex-citizen. The museum highlights many other famous area musicians, sports and political people. Here’s the official museum website link…
http://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/

Here are some photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

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Enjoying interesting area museums is another joy of the full-time RVing life style!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Texas. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…(look closely on the Texas coast right next to Louisiana…)

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Port Arthur, Texas – Day 2

The motorhome is parked at American Legion Post #7 in Port Arthur, Texas. We expect to depart on Tuesday.

Note: Our Internet account starts a new cycle on February 5th, We are currently approaching our maximum allowable usage. Consequently we’ll be on a “photo diet”…posting fewer pictures than usual until then.

The below Google Earth image shows the area. A is the American Legion Post where we are parked and L shows the location of Larry’s French Market and Cajun Restaurant which I’ll discuss in a moment. The other pins help me find things in Port Arthur which is less than 10 miles from Louisiana…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

First stop of the day was at the Texas Artists Museum where local artists show their skills. Here’s their website link…
http://www.texasartistmuseum.com/

Next we stopped at the childhood home of Port Arthur’s most famous ex-citizen…Janis Joplin. If you are unfamiliar with who she was, you can read all about her by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janis_Joplin

Next we went to Larry’s French Market and Cajun Restaurant as recommended by our new friends at the American Legion. We arrived about 2:30 PM which is when I took the below photos while a CD of beautiful Cajun Music played in the background. This was only a scouting trip as we returned at 5:00 PM so that Mary could have the Cajun buffet. I had the Boiled Shrimp Lovers Special…

Fortunately I took the above photos in mid-afternoon for when we returned at 5:00 PM the place was packed with people. The food was very good…

but unfortunately the band was terrible. They played rock music and very badly. When leaving I complained to the floor manager. He told me it was their first night and that they would not be back. ‘Nuff said. Here’s Larry’s website link…
http://www.larrysfrenchmarket.com/

Enjoying delicious area meals is another joy of the full-time RVing life style!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Texas. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…(look closely on the Texas coast right next to Louisiana…)

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust