A Celebratory Week at the Texas Coast

In case you missed it, I didn’t write a column last week. That’s because I was at the coast with my family to celebrate my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.

My brother and I had planned to throw them a party at the KC Hall in Schulenburg. But when mom and dad found out, they nixed those plans.

“Let’s just take a trip somewhere,” they said.

They got no argument from us.

So last Monday we drove down to Corpus Christi, crossed the big bridge over the Intracoastal Canal, hung a left over the Packery Channel bridge, and arrived at our destination at one of the most beautiful places in Texas – Mustang Island.

The house we rented was on Mariners Drive, about halfway between Padre Island and Port Aransas.

It was the first time my brother and I spent the better part of a week together with our parents under the same roof in about 25 years. My wife Janessa was with us, and our two sons and our youngest son’s fiance joined us later in the week.

We hung out on the beach every day. The weather was great except for Tuesday morning. Just as we arrived at the beach, a squall came in out of the Gulf and nearly blew away our tent. We waited it out until it passed about 30 minutes later.

Dad and I fished on the beachfront. We caught a few fish while we were down there – a couple of whiting, a whole bunch of lady fish, and, of course, some hardhead catfish. I really wanted to catch a shark. My legs are still sore from wading out to the third sandbar dozens of times to cast out a big hook with a chunk of lady fish. My bait got taken a few times, but I never managed to hook one.

We ate good every night – grilled steaks, boiled shrimp, and a few crabs I caught in the bay.

Wednesday we went to Padre Island National Seashore and drove about 17 miles down the beach. We fished and swam in the blue-green water for a few hours, and watched birds chase bait.

Thursday afternoon while fishing the beachfront back on Mustang Island, I caught a big speckled trout on a doubledrop pompano rig with small hooks. It nearly straightened the hook by the time I reeled it to shore. No more than I saw it, I knew it was too big to keep. Janessa helped me land it with a net. It measured 23 inches, so it had to go back in the water.

Friday morning we loaded everything up and headed back to Fayette County. I always get a melancholy feeling when we leave the coast. Janessa wants to move there one day. Maybe one day. But we’ve got cows and chickens to tend to and a fall garden to plant. More on that next week.