Slight delay since I published Vol. 2. So, didn't go fishing that day. Still too foggy and the wind was blowing out of the west, which is not good for East Matagorda Bay. Did some shell hunting back on Surfside Beach. We ended up with a number of nice Lightning and Pearl Whelks, Lettered Olives, Angle Wings, Pen Shells and one Murex. Got online and ordered a shell id book from Amazon. We are going to start keeping a log, the same way we do with birds.
Fishing got rescheduled for Friday. Went to bed early Thursday night for a 4:30 a.m. wakeup call. Needed to be on the road by 5 a.m. So, Alyssa calls at 11 p.m. to check their directions. Then they brought Sherlock in and he barked for an hour. I tried putting a pillow over my head, but that dog has a penetrating bark!
Despite the short night, I got off to a good start Friday morning. Met Capt. Gene in Sargent. We loaded up and headed out. No fog, gorgeous weather. Stopped for live shrimp and some dead bait, too. Wind started picking up almost immediately and it continued to blow all day long. Kept the bay muddy and we had little success drifting over the oyster reefs. No trout and no keeper redfish.
To fill the ice chest we hit one of his honey holes. Caught 19 nice black drum, kept a limit of 5. Also caught about 9-10 sheepshead. Kept a limit of 5. They were the biggest sheepshead I have ever seen. The largest was almost 7 lbs. and the smallest was 5 lbs. Caught two on one line at the same time. Thought I had hooked a monster!! Also caught two stingrays and a number of hardhead catfish. Which are just a nuisance. Hooked and broke off two big fish. Never got them close enough to know what they were. That's one of the great things about saltwater fishing, never know what you might hook up on.
The rest of the weekend was all about food. Cooked some drum Friday night. Put on a dry rub and sauteed in a little olive oil, served with Matagorda Bay Sauce. (Our new secret recipe.) Saturday night we fried some of the sheepshead. Used a beer batter. Spencer did the frying when Tamie and I went to meet a real estate agent to look at a nearby beach house that was for sale. Hmmmm.
Beach was amazing on Saturday. No surf. You could have waterskiied out there easy. We did get out the camera and binoculars to watch a pod of dolphins go right by just outside the surf. We were able to watch them for almost 45 minutes.
Sunday morning we got up early. Packed up the cars and cleaned up the beach house. On the road by 10 am. This is a great beach house in a great location. If you want to stay on Galveston Island, call me and I'll put you in touch with the owners.
Still no pictures. Having trouble with the camera's memory card. Spencer is working on rescuing what can be rescued. Hopefully, we will have them all soon. My proof for my fishing story is on that card. Course, if Spencer can't save them, my story can get better and the fish can get BIGGER!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Spring Break 2010, Vol. 2
Writing this on Wednesday morning. So foggy this morning you could stand on the deck and not be able to see the sand on the beach. That's pretty foggy. Two hours later we can see about 100 yards.
We are about to leave for Lake Jackson. Mrs. Honea has a closing on her house at 10:30 and we are picking her up afterwards and taking her to lunch. If she wants to, we are going to bring her back here for the afternoon and take her home tonight. Have to see how that goes, stairs at the beach house could be a problem.
Yesterday was another lazy day. That's what the beach is for, right? We met Ayla at Gaido's and had a wonderful lunch. Ayla shared a dozen oysters on the half shell with me. Tamie and Avery declined the opportunity. They didn't even seemed troubled by having missed the experience. I'm sure Alyssa would have tried one! Not.
Spencer is coming down with Grander and Gramps this afternoon. They should be in around 5 p.m. Tomorrow is my day to go fishing in East Matagorda Bay with Capt. Gene Allen, Living Waters Guide Service. Alyssa and I spent a half-day with him last May and we caught lots of fish. We had speckled trout, redfish, whiting, sand trout, and a vermillion snapper in the ice box by the time we were done. He also cleaned, fileted and bagged all the fish. Hope tomorrow is that good, too.
Time to leave for Lake Jackson, more to come in Vol. 3!!
We are about to leave for Lake Jackson. Mrs. Honea has a closing on her house at 10:30 and we are picking her up afterwards and taking her to lunch. If she wants to, we are going to bring her back here for the afternoon and take her home tonight. Have to see how that goes, stairs at the beach house could be a problem.
Yesterday was another lazy day. That's what the beach is for, right? We met Ayla at Gaido's and had a wonderful lunch. Ayla shared a dozen oysters on the half shell with me. Tamie and Avery declined the opportunity. They didn't even seemed troubled by having missed the experience. I'm sure Alyssa would have tried one! Not.
Spencer is coming down with Grander and Gramps this afternoon. They should be in around 5 p.m. Tomorrow is my day to go fishing in East Matagorda Bay with Capt. Gene Allen, Living Waters Guide Service. Alyssa and I spent a half-day with him last May and we caught lots of fish. We had speckled trout, redfish, whiting, sand trout, and a vermillion snapper in the ice box by the time we were done. He also cleaned, fileted and bagged all the fish. Hope tomorrow is that good, too.
Time to leave for Lake Jackson, more to come in Vol. 3!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
SPRING BREAK 2010 - GALVESTON ISLAND
Tamie, Avery and I are sitting in a very nice beach house on the south end of Galveston Island. We are maybe five miles from San Luis Pass. It is 59F and drizzly this morning with a bit of a breeze, too. I would be sitting here watching the waves and drinking my second cup of coffee. (Starbucks House Blend) BUT Alyssa is at work and not very happy. Because she is at work and we are at the beach. Having a real job can be such a pain sometimes!!
We were supposed to leave Bryan around 4 pm. Avery forgot a book and had to double back to Baylor, so she was running late. I had a couple that needed to get wills signed before their trip next week and since I was going to be gone this week......ended up with a 3:30 pm appt. on Friday. We did finally get out of town about 7 pm. Missed the last turn to find the house on the first try, but blame that on the dark. Got unloaded and that was the end of Friday.
Saturday started off sunny and breezy, think it got up to 62F by lunch. Which is the first part of the day that Avery actually saw. I, of course, saw the beautiful sunrise at 6:15. Once we were all up and moving, we decided to go into town. Had to, actually. Someone forgot to pack ANY underwear. Won't name names, but it wasn't me and it wasn't Avery. Combined that trip with lunch and grocery shopping.
By the time we got out of Target (pronounced tar-zhay) we had three DVDs, new unmentionables for "she who must not be named" and Avery had a new dress! Not bad for a "this will just take a second" dash into the store.
By now it's 2 pm and we are more than ready for lunch. I had checked out options and picked out The Mosquito Cafe on 14th St. We ordered a pulled pork loin sandwich, a grilled shrimp sandwich and the turkey chili. All were good, but the chili was not very hot. (spicy or temp.) We did the usual Erratt pass the plates every 2 minutes so we all got a taste of every dish. We definitely advise you to check this place out if you ever get to Galveston. Nice wine selection, but no dark beer. Threw the lady when I asked about dark beers, found out Shiner Bock was it, and then ordered a diet Coke. One must have standards.
So, after getting lunch just in the nick of time to keep us from starvation, we headed to the grocery store. Stocked up on a few things and headed back to the beach. On the way we stopped at Alex's Seafood Shop in Jamaica Beach and picked up scallops, shrimp, clams and grouper for dinner. The rest of the day was spent napping and reading, which my two vacation partners do a lot!!
At Tamie's request, I made a white wine sauce and served it with the seafood. We had rolls to soak up the juice and it was HEAVENLY!! Outdid myself, I must admit. The grouper turned out to work very well. Saved a piece to cook later. Grill? Foil boat? Hhhhhmmmmm. The movie for the evening was 2012. And how stupid is it that the engines can't be started if one door isn't closed??? PLEASE!!!
Sunday morning started out just like Saturday. The weather was cool and breezy and Avery slept until lunch. Lunch being my specially doctored clam chowder. Saute a little onion in some real butter until tender. Add store bought clam chowder, then add a can/pkg of additional clams. Salt and pepper to taste. Woohoo! Way better than the original. Trust me. Have a little left over for lunch today, thinking about adding some white wine to the mix.
Before Avery awoke, Tamie and I took a tour down the coast. Crossed the San Luis Pass bridge. (Which has a $2.00 toll both ways.) Went down on the beach and drove for quite a ways. Found one nice medium sized whelk shell. No hermit crab. Added it to the collection. Also found an intact pen shell which should be pretty when cleaned up. Took pics of all the shorebirds we saw for identification back home.
Late that afternoon, we loaded up again. This time we took the metal detector and went to find treasure on the tip of the Island, just north of San Luis Pass. Found a bottle cap and a washer near the water. Shifted to just seaward of the dunes and found a number of nails and wire. Also found what appeared to be a belt buckle. After cleaning, the buckle turned out to be the flat plate from a door lock. Anyone know what that piece is called? It's the part that goes on the door frame that the lock from the door goes into. FREE SEAFOOD DINNER FOR THE FIRST CORRECT ANSWER!
Got home about dark and tackled dinner. Grilled ribeye steaks. Seasoned with salt and pepper and then rubbed with Brownwood's cherry honey mustard. Once again, I amaze myself with my culinary skills!! The movie of the evening was The Italian Job, which I had never seen in its entirety. Great movie, especially when enjoyed with Avery's fresh out of the oven brownies.
So now it is 10 am on Monday morning. I am blogging, Tamie is on her laptop and Avery is snoring. Well asleep, anyhow. Can't actually hear any snoring because of the wind and rain. Expect today will consist mostly of napping and reading. Good thing we all brought 18 books each. (And if you don't know us, you probably think I'm exaggerating. NOT.)
Have to add pics later. It is taking way too long to download from camera to laptop. 8 pics of 350 during the time I worked on blog. Not good.
We were supposed to leave Bryan around 4 pm. Avery forgot a book and had to double back to Baylor, so she was running late. I had a couple that needed to get wills signed before their trip next week and since I was going to be gone this week......ended up with a 3:30 pm appt. on Friday. We did finally get out of town about 7 pm. Missed the last turn to find the house on the first try, but blame that on the dark. Got unloaded and that was the end of Friday.
Saturday started off sunny and breezy, think it got up to 62F by lunch. Which is the first part of the day that Avery actually saw. I, of course, saw the beautiful sunrise at 6:15. Once we were all up and moving, we decided to go into town. Had to, actually. Someone forgot to pack ANY underwear. Won't name names, but it wasn't me and it wasn't Avery. Combined that trip with lunch and grocery shopping.
By the time we got out of Target (pronounced tar-zhay) we had three DVDs, new unmentionables for "she who must not be named" and Avery had a new dress! Not bad for a "this will just take a second" dash into the store.
By now it's 2 pm and we are more than ready for lunch. I had checked out options and picked out The Mosquito Cafe on 14th St. We ordered a pulled pork loin sandwich, a grilled shrimp sandwich and the turkey chili. All were good, but the chili was not very hot. (spicy or temp.) We did the usual Erratt pass the plates every 2 minutes so we all got a taste of every dish. We definitely advise you to check this place out if you ever get to Galveston. Nice wine selection, but no dark beer. Threw the lady when I asked about dark beers, found out Shiner Bock was it, and then ordered a diet Coke. One must have standards.
So, after getting lunch just in the nick of time to keep us from starvation, we headed to the grocery store. Stocked up on a few things and headed back to the beach. On the way we stopped at Alex's Seafood Shop in Jamaica Beach and picked up scallops, shrimp, clams and grouper for dinner. The rest of the day was spent napping and reading, which my two vacation partners do a lot!!
At Tamie's request, I made a white wine sauce and served it with the seafood. We had rolls to soak up the juice and it was HEAVENLY!! Outdid myself, I must admit. The grouper turned out to work very well. Saved a piece to cook later. Grill? Foil boat? Hhhhhmmmmm. The movie for the evening was 2012. And how stupid is it that the engines can't be started if one door isn't closed??? PLEASE!!!
Sunday morning started out just like Saturday. The weather was cool and breezy and Avery slept until lunch. Lunch being my specially doctored clam chowder. Saute a little onion in some real butter until tender. Add store bought clam chowder, then add a can/pkg of additional clams. Salt and pepper to taste. Woohoo! Way better than the original. Trust me. Have a little left over for lunch today, thinking about adding some white wine to the mix.
Before Avery awoke, Tamie and I took a tour down the coast. Crossed the San Luis Pass bridge. (Which has a $2.00 toll both ways.) Went down on the beach and drove for quite a ways. Found one nice medium sized whelk shell. No hermit crab. Added it to the collection. Also found an intact pen shell which should be pretty when cleaned up. Took pics of all the shorebirds we saw for identification back home.
Late that afternoon, we loaded up again. This time we took the metal detector and went to find treasure on the tip of the Island, just north of San Luis Pass. Found a bottle cap and a washer near the water. Shifted to just seaward of the dunes and found a number of nails and wire. Also found what appeared to be a belt buckle. After cleaning, the buckle turned out to be the flat plate from a door lock. Anyone know what that piece is called? It's the part that goes on the door frame that the lock from the door goes into. FREE SEAFOOD DINNER FOR THE FIRST CORRECT ANSWER!
Got home about dark and tackled dinner. Grilled ribeye steaks. Seasoned with salt and pepper and then rubbed with Brownwood's cherry honey mustard. Once again, I amaze myself with my culinary skills!! The movie of the evening was The Italian Job, which I had never seen in its entirety. Great movie, especially when enjoyed with Avery's fresh out of the oven brownies.
So now it is 10 am on Monday morning. I am blogging, Tamie is on her laptop and Avery is snoring. Well asleep, anyhow. Can't actually hear any snoring because of the wind and rain. Expect today will consist mostly of napping and reading. Good thing we all brought 18 books each. (And if you don't know us, you probably think I'm exaggerating. NOT.)
Have to add pics later. It is taking way too long to download from camera to laptop. 8 pics of 350 during the time I worked on blog. Not good.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Snow Day
Well, this is a little late, but I'm finally getting around to writing about our snow day. Better late than never!
So, on Tuesday of last week we had some snow in Waco, and I actually got half of the day off of work! It was a great break after many weeks without a holiday. We only ended up with about 3ish inches of snow, and it was all melted by the end of Wednesday, but it was fun while it lasted!
So, on Tuesday of last week we had some snow in Waco, and I actually got half of the day off of work! It was a great break after many weeks without a holiday. We only ended up with about 3ish inches of snow, and it was all melted by the end of Wednesday, but it was fun while it lasted!
(Drew's House)
If you drove down Austin Ave. on Tuesday, it was really entertaining, because almost every yard had a dirty snowman in it! The house next door built a large snowman that lasted for several days, just sitting in the green grass. We let Sherlock run all through the yard after we took a few pictures of the house, and he absolutely LOVED it!
(Looks like a black and white Polar Bear)
(So handsome)
(He loves to chase balls - even if they're made of snow!)
After we played in the snow for a while, Drew and Jonathan decided to prove their manliness (or insanity) by going to ride mountain bikes in the snow at Cameron Park.
(Mountain biking in the snow)
(Sherlock and I went along to document the outing)
(Muddy)
It's a little difficult to tell from this photo, but the boys came back extremely muddy. They primarily ended up riding through puddles and mud...and Sherlock was just as dirty as Jonathan and Drew. All in all though, it was a fun day, and it was a much-needed break in the middle of my work week. For now, it is back to the swing of things, and I am just ready for the ground not to be soaking wet for a change. A little warm weather might be appreciated as well...
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