Tour Continued

Picking up where we left off last week, a drive along the south side of Hwy 35 and along the bay brings us to the marina. I haven't ever been in a sailboat, so I can only imagine how much fun it would be. We don't get a lot of visitors in from the water approach, I think, but we do get some. I love the way the marina looks, though, with its mysterious inhabitants and beautiful boats and sails.

Across from the marina is our very own local theater. Not only is it fun attending the wonderful small town productions, with all of their mishaps, occasional forgotten lines, and the ever popular use of someone's real name rather than the character's name in the production (always good for a chuckle from the audience), but attending theater productions is always just a really great way to interact with friends and neighbors. Many of the people who attend are those who "star" in other productions, but most are friends and family of the cast members (remember, in a small town, it would be surprising to attend a production and NOT know the actors). This is high on my list of things I've had to forgo in the last few years while pursuing my education that I want to bring back into my life. I love our little theater.

A short drive down the coast, I think it's about 9 miles south of town, is the small town of Indianola. Once the largest city in the area, it was wiped out by hurricanes and cholera and finally evolved into just the quaint small town that it is today. There is a lovely beach there, and we were surprised to see a huge increase in the number of beach side hookups available for all the snowbirds. The statue in this photo is of French explorer La Salle. It was late in the day when I took the photo, so the details of the statue are a bit lost in shadow. For a more detailed overview of this town and a better photo of the statue, check out this article titled "Indianola, Texas Ghost Town".

Just next to the statue is the bay itself. A boat ride 13 (or so) miles to the left (north) in the photo would take you to my house. The same ride to the right would take you closer and closer to the deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The wildflowers were in full bloom and it was an absolutely beautiful day to be standing bayside. I'll have to remember to take the grandkids to this area, called Magnolia beach, when they come for a visit in the summer. Of course, any of you that come for a visit can look forward to this little trip as well!

We enjoyed our little drive out and about town, but it was time to head back to the house at this point. Now we come to the part where I have to make a little admission. This is a photo of the Six Mile park, which is right next to our house. There is a small playground, a very small beach, a place to put boats in the water, and a wonderful lighted fishing pier. My admission is that for the last few years, Leo and I have this little ritual that we often perform. When we are approaching the drive to turn down toward our house the driver will say to the other, "Do you want to go to the pier?" and the other will answer, almost every time, "Sure, why not." Then we drive to the pier, circle around, and point the vehicle toward our house while we sit and look at it for a few minutes before heading back home. Over the years, it has been a wonderful way to mark our progress, our upgrades, and our changes from this vantage point. These last few years, it has been a wonderful way to bask in the satisfaction of having a home that we love. (Note: Standing in the direction shown in this photo, our home would be back over your left shoulder.)

Finally, our day trip was over and we arrived back at the house just as the shadows were beginning to deepen. We always take pleasure in this view of our house when returning home from being away. The house looks surprisingly small and plain from this direction. This really works in our favor since visitors walk through the front door unprepared for the view that opens up to them as they realize the back of the house, bayside, is almost entirely glass. The other thing we like about this view is that by placing the house on the very edge of the high ground, just before it drops off to the bay, our drive in makes it look like the house is "floating".

Whew! Tour over now, and my Risk homework still waits to be completed. Hope you enjoyed the trip. Feel free to visit any time as we love to show people around our little neck of the woods.