As we rolled into the new decade, our world seemed a little unsettled.  It is getting harder and harder to talk Dorothy into taking a trip, especially this year.  She recently sprained her ankle and fell, and had some other resulting injuries.  So, as I looked ahead to our 46th wedding anniversary on March 2nd, I was not optimistic that I could talk her into going anywhere.  I too, was not in the best of health, having endured a full blown case of the flu the last two weeks of February.  But the week before our anniversary, Dorothy committed to driving to the coast to spend a few days celebrating our 46th.  Here is my attempt to give you a little of the flavor of our trip; it turned out to be the perfect antidote for what was ailing us!

We loaded up and left the Lake at 10:00 a.m. on Monday morning, March 2, 2020, after exchanging modest anniversary gifts and cards.  I think even Bitsy (who is getting quite old, in dog years), was excited to be on the road.  We enjoyed a pleasant drive to the coast, arriving at Pop’s Tavern and Cafe in Lamar around 12:45 p.m.  Pop’s is just before the bridge over Copano Bay on IH 35, and is on the road to Goose Island State Park.  I had read that Pop’s had very good seafood, so we stopped and picked up a couple of fried shrimp baskets and a side of onion rings and drove over to the state park for a little picnic.  Although it was a cloudy day, it was comfortable, with mild temperatures and a pleasant breeze.  After lunch, we walked around a little, enjoying the pelicans fishing and fighting at the boat launch located near the picnic grounds.  We then drove over to The Big Tree to enjoy the majesty and beauty of the thousand-year-old oak tree and oak tree mott.  Before heading to Rockport, we stopped and walked around at the Schoenstatt Shrine and said a few prayers in the chapel there.  We checked into the LaQuinta Inn in Rockport/Fulton around 4:00 p.m. and rested a while before heading to Latitude 28°02′ for a wonderful anniversary seafood dinner.

Expecting inclement weather on Wednesday, we dedicated Tuesday to bird watching in general, with the specific goal of experiencing whooping cranes in the wild.  After a leisurely breakfast, we headed over to the Connie Hagar Cottage Sanctuary, where we enjoyed a short hike, bird watching, and learning about the history of this woman.  Connie Hagar moved to Rockport in 1934, and, for 35 years, she drove the same route each morning and each afternoon, visiting four birding sites in the Rockport area and recording the diverse bird activity and migration patterns.  Her friends and admirers purchased the site in 1994 and established the Sanctuary in her memory.  What a remarkable woman!  We next visited the Ivey Lane site for another hike to some nice birding locations.  Leaving Ivey, we visited Moore’s Pond and the Rattlesnake Point site before heading to the Smoke Shack for a quick Bar-B-Que lunch.

After our quick lunch at the Bar-B-Que joint, we swung back by the hotel, picked up Bitsy, and headed toward the Aransas Wildlife Refuge.  The day before, I ran into a man at the visitor center who told me he had seen a pair of whooping cranes at Goose Island State Park out near the Big Tree.  So, we stopped by there on the way to Aransas, and, sure enough, there was a pair of whooping cranes in front of a house across the road from the Big Tree.  Apparently, the owner has set up a feeder on his property, which is near a small lake, and, for the past several years, it has attracted a cohort of whooping cranes.  It was not exactly a natural setting, but it was a thrill for Tom to see his first whooping cranes!

We then drove to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and arrived at the main entrance and visitor center around 2:00 p.m.  The Refuge is large, covering 115,324 acres, in parts of three counties.  Without this protected habitat, the whooping cranes would have a difficult time finding a winter habitat.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a nice website that outlines their efforts to facilitate the growth of the whooping crane population, which was only 20 in the early 1900s (see:  https://www.fws.gov/refuge/aransas/ ; the website has a number of links to videos and survey reports relating to the whooping cranes at Aransas).  Thanks to the USFWS’ efforts, the whooping crane population has been above 500 for the last two years.  We stopped at the Visitor Center for a map, then set out along the 16 mile loop where the hiking trails, boardwalks, and observation towers are located.  Our first stop was the Heron Flats trail where we saw a pair of whooping cranes, many other birds, alligators, and an armadillo (which Bitsy wanted to attack).  We hiked the trail for almost an hour, enjoying the wildlife, especially the beautiful whooping cranes in the wild.

After hiking and watching the whooping cranes at the Heron Flats Trail, we drove to the Observation Towers located just past the Big Tree Trail.  The Fish and Wildlife Service spared no expense in constructing these beautiful towers, and the view from them is outstanding.  I was very proud of Dorothy (and Bitsy) for climbing all the way to the top, in spite of her very sore ankle and feet!  Some years, you can see whooping cranes from here but we were told, for the last couple of years, they have stayed in an area too distant to see from the towers.

Leaving the Observation Towers, we continued on the 16-mile long “Auto Tour Loop”.  At 5.7 miles from the Observation Towers, there is an eagles’s nest.  We enjoyed the view, as, with the aide of binoculars, we could see an eagle sitting outside the nest, and the silhouette of a small eagle in the nest.

My darling right-wing, wing-nut wife insisted I take a picture of these flags at a ranch entrance on the road to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.  She loves Donald Trump!

I let Dorothy rest her ankle Wednesday morning as I headed to nearby Henderson Preserve for a little hiking and bird watching in the rain.  I then headed over to the Fulton Marina in search of another cup of coffee and enjoyed the thunderstorms over the bay and the festive atmosphere, as carnival workers were setting up rides for the Oysterfest Celebration, scheduled for the coming weekend.

I then went by the hotel and picked up Dorothy and we headed over to the Fulton Mansion for a tour.  What a beautiful and historic landmark!  If you are ever in the Rockport/Fulton area, we would highly recommend stopping by the mansion.

We finished touring the Fulton Mansion around noon and headed to Port Aransas and the beach on Mustang Island.  After the short ferry ride over to Port A, we stopped in for lunch at Moby Dick’s.  We also did a little shopping and bought Dorothy a new hat.  We then headed for the beach, stopping first to walk a little on the beach at the first beach access in Port A.  We then drove on down to Mustang Island State Park and walked a little on the beach there.  We headed back to the hotel and our last night in Rockport/Fulton.

We got up Thursday morning and headed home.  We decided to stop in Port Lavaca, where Dorothy grew up, so I could make some videos of her talking about the homes she lived in as a child and young adult.  We stopped first and made a short video at the 1316 W. Austin Street house, which her parents had built in 1952  and where Dorothy lived from age 2½ to almost age 13.  The property looked run-down and was missing some large trees that used to frame the house, no longer what it once was — a cute, white-shingled house with dark green trim, 2 large oak trees, and yellow day lilies across the front of the house.  We then went by the home her family built on the bay (at 1700 S. Virginia Street) and where Dorothy lived from December 1962 until she graduated from college in 1972.  The couple that now owns the home was kind enough to let us in and to take a few photos inside and outside of the home.  We were sad, however, to see that, in recent years, they had stopped maintaining the seawall that Dorothy’s dad designed and built in 1958.  Our final stop was at Dorothy’s father’s office (at 623 N. Virginia Street), which he also built in 1952.  She worked there during summers while in high school and college and has fond memories of that time in her life.  We made videos at each of these locations, and I will post them for the grandkids so that they will know a little something about their grandmother’s time growing up in Port Lavaca, Texas.

This little trip was a fitting way to celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary.  One of the things I love most about my wife is her down-to-earth manner and lack of any behavior that might be considered pretentious.  She does not require nor want a trip to Paris —  she is supremely happy with a modest hotel, fresh seafood, bird watching, walking on the beach, and happy memories of her past growing up on the Texas Coast.   I love you, Dorothy!  Thank you for 46 years of happiness and love.