Countdown!

Ok - I wasn't "officially" going to begin the countdown to "The Beach" until July 1, but Inquiries touched a nerve so I'm starting today - - - only 64 days left till we leave on our annual beach vacation! I try to hold myself in check until at least July - too much anticipation and all.

We have been going to Crystal Beach, Texas for probably the last 21 years and I grew up going to the beach down around Sargent, Texas where my grandfather had a trailer house on the Intercoastal Waterway just 1/2 mile from the beachfront. The trailer was about 1/4 mile or so from a drawbridge that would lift up every time a barge and tugboat came down the canal and tooted its horn. My brothers and I would run out to the edge of the canal on the dock when we saw a barge coming and pump our arms up and down like kids do to make truck drivers honk their horns and the captains of the tugboats would normally toot their horns - kept us entertained and it never got old! We would swim in the canal but we had to be careful not to put our feet down because the crabs would pinch us! We spent the days crabbing and fishing and swimming and running around with our cousins who also lived in the same area and had a dune buggy! The trailer was also just a few docks down from the bait dock where boats would come and unload all kinds of marine life and the owner would also buy our meager catch of the day (now that I think about it - I don't think what he bought from us was actually edible most of the time!!!) from my brothers and me. I know we caught flounders and such, but mostly we caught "croakers" which make a croaking sound when you pull them out of the water - hence the name. One time, I caught a puffer fish! It was really neat. Then, one time a dolphin stayed in the canal for almost a whole week just swimming up and down. That was unusual - the dolphins usually didn't swim in the canal. I remember laying in the trailer which was hot and cramped and tiny and PERFECT every night listening to the waves lap along the shore and then I could hear the small rush of water from the barges coming through and the hum of the tug's motor and the sound of the crickets and the smell of the water and ..what memories!

Then, when Matt was born, my mom and dad started renting a beach house in Crystal Beach, Texas which is just east of Galveston Island on the Bolivar Penninsula. To get across the shipping channel you have to ride on the ferry boat. Crystal Beach is kind of like the beach equivalent of Red River and the mountains! It's fairly small and family oriented (most of the partying is over on Galveston) and very community minded. We stayed in the same house every year until a few years ago when we kind of outgrew it. The kids were all older and brought friends and we needed more bedrooms and bathrooms, etc. The kids thought the house was "our beach house" and didn't understand form many years that we just rented it every year! Now, we're in search of the "perfect" family house for the years to come. This year, we have one rented that has a pool table in a game room on a top story of the house! With a panoramic view, no less! I hope it is as nice as the pictures imply. We've gone through our share of "dud" house the last few years! We were spoiled in the "pink house" as the kids called it. Anyway, we'll see - looks promising!

Last year, we had the joy of introducing Antique Cowgirl (my precious daughter-in-law) to Crystal Beach! I was kind of nervous at first because Josh loves the beach and I was wondering how it was going to be if she didn't like it down there (believe it or not - some people don't!) but, the first day there, my fears were all washed away! She took to it like a fish to water and never looked back. It was such a joy and privilege to watch them play at the beach. Then Matt kept everyone entertained with his "driving skills" in the golf cart on the beach and Sarah and Becca serenaded us on the porch in the evenings. It was great. The house we stayed in was a dud, with the exception of the porch which was FANTASTIC, but everyone made the best of it and it just added to the memories.

This picture was taken on Crystal Beach around 1991 or 1992, before Becca was born. That's Josh in front and my mother (Mema) holding onto Matt in the water. No, the water is not blue or clear and the beach is kind of brown but I love it there!

AAH! I'm officially anticipating now.... I think I'll add more to this in the next post - it makes it all the sweeter!