restaurants – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

02-13-2021 Three People Traveling in the MoHo

Once again we headed for a coast, but this time instead of the Oregon Coast our destination was the Northern California coast. For the first time in the 13 years we have been traveling in this MoHo (not counting the two prior years in the baby MoHo) we had a guest traveling with us.

My eldest daughter Deborah often visits on Sunday mornings. She only lives an hour away and comes to spend some time with us and with her son who lives across the street from us. Especially in this time of COVID she and her son are part of our “bubble” and the visits provide a sweet interlude. On one such visit, as we were talking about our upcoming travels, we came to a great idea. Deb has been working from home, has had her first vaccination, and has lots of leave accumulated that she needed to use. In moments, we decided that a joint trip in the MoHo would be a great way for her to use her leave.

It was in 2013, three years after purchasing the MoHo, that Mo and I had the large sofabed replaced with a comfy dining booth with seats that make down into a reasonably comfortable bed. In all that time, except for when it was first installed, we have never used the bed. Mo and I tested it before this trip to be sure we remembered how to convert the booth to a bed and packed a large cushy sleeping bag for Deborah.

On this Saturday morning we woke to rain, but we had been following the weather and knew this would be the case. Predictions for our six days on the road indicated rough weather for most of the trip. Undaunted, we didn’t even consider trying to reschedule. Changing dates is easy for us as retired folks, but not so easy for my working girl. Besides, we were all excited for the trip. Deborah works hard, has a partner who is disabled, so doesn’t get away very often.

The predictions for the weekend included rain and snow over some of the passes, including sections of Highway 199 that is our route to the coast from Grants Pass. The predictions were just a bit off, thank goodness, with temperatures on our route remaining in the low 40’s and no snow except on the mountains around us.

For Deborah, the winding road along the cliffs bordering the Smith River was thrilling, with waterfalls cascading down the mountainsides at every turn, and the Smith at the highest level we had seen yet in our years of traveling this route.

When we began the trip, I prayed to the travel angels to be with us and let it be a memorable time for Deborah with no glitches. The first day out lived up to every expectation in spite of the rain. As we approached Jedediah Smith State Park the rain stopped and there were a few moments of sunshine peeking through the clouds. It was Deborah’s first visit to the redwoods.

We parked the MoHo and took the Tracker on the park roads. The campground had recently opened and the day use area was easily accessible. The Smith River was running high and wild and people were fishing along the bank. The park road meanders beyond the river to a place where we know there is a very large tree and a little bit of a wide place in the road to park.

We stopped, the sun came out again, and we enjoyed taking photos of the huge tree that seems to draw us each time we visit this area. I have photos of Nickie and Jimmy and Erin and Mui at this same tree. I used the opportunity to teach Deborah how to do vertical panoramas with her phone the same way Erin taught me at exactly the same location.

Leaving the park, we continued on the Redwood Highway toward Crescent City, with the mist making the redwoods even more mysterious.

Once again the travel angels were with us, bringing out a bit of sunshine and letting up on the rain as we parked at our favorite Chart Room to order fish and chips to go. The dining room was open for inside dining, since numbers in Del Norte county are down. Deb and I looked inside and it felt claustrophobic even though people were spaced well.

Sticking to our “to go” plan, we ordered our fish and took it back to the comfy warm MoHo for a perfectly fabulous lunch. The servings are huge and we knew that there would be plenty for our early lunch and for dinner once again when we got settled into our park in Eureka.

Leaving Crescent City, we traveled along the coastal highway 101 through misty rain. At a location about 20 miles south of town there was a traffic stop due to a huge slide that was being repaired.

As we were parked waiting for our turn to pass, we saw large amounts of mountainside continuing to slide toward the road. UhOh. We were lucky to get through, and learned later in the afternoon that Highway 101 had been closed at that slide after we passed. Thank you again, Travel Angels!!

Checking the map, we decided to take a short alternate route south for about ten miles that meanders through the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. For reasons I cannot explain, in all our trips south on this route, Mo and I have never stopped at this state park. It was gorgeous with huge groves of trees that seemed even taller due to the steep slopes on either side of the road. We parked at the closed visitor center where Mo took Mattie for a walk in the meadows and Deborah and I ventured onto a short trail where dogs weren’t allowed.

For Deborah, it was even more fascinating to be up close to the big trees in the beautiful groves along the trail. I had the camera and the phone, but Deb was the one snapping away with her phone. I think she had more than 1000 photos when we returned at the end of the trip. It isn’t easy getting good shots in the dark woods, but between the two of us we managed a few good ones.

The rain held off again for our short hike, and only started up when we got back on the road. By the time we reached Eureka, the rain stopped long enough for us to enjoy an easy setup at Shoreline RV Park, right on the edge of town close to Highway 101.

I think Deborah got a kick out of watching Mo and I do the unhook/setup thing since she hadn’t experienced it before this trip. We take it for granted and are pretty quick at the shared process after so many years traveling together.

Mo and I have stayed at this park in the past. It is convenient and close to town for exploring areas around Eureka, but not particularly exciting, with sites spaced fairly close together. Still, it was for only 2 nights and the main purpose of staying at this park was to have close proximity to Eureka and Samoa.

The biggest surprise of the evening happened when Deb and I decided to take Mattie for a walk and after crossing under the highway on a paved pathway found ourselves on the beautiful Eureka Waterfront Trail. Completed in 2018 and meandering along the salt marshes of Humboldt Bay the trail was a complete surprise. Reading about the concept and construction of the trail was wonderful. The project is beautiful and a great accomplishment for the city of Eureka.

There were many interpretive signs along the paved path and long boardwalk. We also enjoyed the creative benches scattered along the way, although it was too dark to get good photos of any of them

We walked much farther than we planned and it was dark when we returned to the MoHo. Mo was getting a bit worried about what happened to us, and it hadn’t occurred to me to take a phone with me to explain why we were gone so long. After all, we were just taking the dog for a short potty break when we started out.

After our left-over fish dinner we settled in to watch a little bit of TV. Seems as though the park now uses some kind of cable box for TV that requires plugging in a bunch of stuff to the TV. Ours is installed behind the wall and we have no easy access to the back of the TV without removing screws and such. Instead we once again decided to try the mirror casting capability of the phone. That wasn’t very successful at this park because there were so many rigs so close to us that the phone kept trying to cast to several tv’s that weren’t ours. Funny stuff!

It only took a few minutes to shuffle things around a bit for Deborah to make down her bed. We settled in for the night listening to the rain on the roof of the rig, a wonderfully soothing sound for all of us.

3-08-2014 Fort Pickens Day

Current Location: Natchez State Park, Mississippi 62 F this evening with partly cloudy skies

This morning (Sunday) we are sleeping in, sort of. Daylight Savings time kicked off at 2am and it is now 7 and just barely light out. We thought an early departure would be in order, expecting to travel a bit over 300 miles or so northward today. Options are plentiful, and I am leaning toward the direct route from Mobile through Hattiesburg to Natchez.

I didn’t want to get on the road, however, before remembering the haunting experience of visiting the actual fort at Fort Pickens. Just another way of realizing how much can be learned from being on the road. I had never heard of Fort Pickens, other than bloggers posting now and then about camping here.

Until I visited the fort yesterday, I didn’t have a real grasp on what the Civil War meant in the state of Florida. We have seen many references to the war in other sites in Florida. Somehow I never realized how important Pensacola Bay was to the South, and to the Union trying to control the south by controlling its major ports.

As I have said in the past, I don’t attempt to be either a travelogue or a history book, as there are so many fine resources for this kind of information. However, if you are like me, being in a place triggers my imagination, and I found myself wanting to learn more and more about how this area was affected by the Civil War.

The National Park Service had some great books at the fort Visitor Center, and I wanted to stand and read them all, and maybe even buy them, but managed to refrain. Instead, I found most of the information written by the park service is online, specifically, the role of Pensacola Bay and the four major forts in the area in the Civil War is summarized here. I was especially fascinated reading about the Battle of Santa Rosa Island, with troops losing their way in the dunes and scrub, among other human details.

At Pensacola Bay, there are four major forts and a bunch of batteries, most built long before the Civil War, fortified and rebuilt again in the early 1900’s around the time of the Spanish American War, and then rebuilt and refortified again for World War II.

Fort Pickens is a “real” fort, almost medieval in appearance, with bricks fired in the early 1800’s creating thick walls, much like those seen at our visit to the Dry Tortugas a few years ago. There is even a moat, albeit a “dry moat”.

A few cannons are on display, with information about the smooth bore cannons and rifled cannons, and 300 pound cannon balls made of iron. Geez.

A fascinating thought from the brochure about the Advanced Redoubt of Fort Barrancas across the bay, and also true of Fort Pickens: “This fort is a study in changes. The construction began with slave labor but was finished by free men. In an age of brick and stone, its walls were filled with cement. Although it was designed to last for centuries, it was outdated before the last brick was set.”

Sounds like some of our defense stuff from the current times, I would say. Evidence of this kind of shift in defense is displayed extremely well at Fort Pickens with the “fort within a fort”. Battery Pensacola (the dark walls in the photo) was constructed in 1898 to withstand the new heavier cannon power that the brick walls of the original fort could no longer handle.

Funniest oops of all was the accidental explosion of one of the powder magazines that blew out a big hole in the north side of the fort and was never repaired.

Another bit of information that was totally surprising to me was that Geronimo was incarcerated at Fort Pickens for a time. I had no clue, even though I knew that he was brought to Florida and never again saw his homeland. Somehow history becomes much more real when you are standing in the actual location. I am reminded again of moments standing at the scene of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on our trip in 2012.

We wandered around for along time, following along with the self-guided tour booklet an marveling at the fascinating story of the evolution of homeland defense for more than 100 years, all now obsolete with the advent of air power and missiles. Large forts no longer protect our harbors and bays, but Pensacola still houses a huge military presence.

With Abby safely napping in the MoHo while we toured, Mo and I took the time to go to the beach together for a bit and enjoy the gorgeous white sands and beautiful waters one last time. There was so much to do in the area, and we barely tapped the surface. In spite of our desire to visit Fort Barrancas and the Advanced Redoubt, (a fortification before the major fortification, built to slow down the attackers before they get to the real thing) the need to slow down and rest a bit before dinner won out.

We would have loved especially visiting the Naval Aviation Museum, the best in the country I have heard, and if we had been here a bit longer, we may have been treated to a practice performance by the Blue Angels. Yes, so very much to do.

Our last night in Florida was celebrated in true Pensacola style with a drive across the bridges from the island to the mainland for dinner at McGuire’s. On a Saturday evening the place was packed, and it is first come first served, no reservations. In spite of the giant crowds jammed at the door, in the bar, in the gift shop and everywhere we looked, within 20 minutes we were seated at a cozy table. We even managed a seat in the bar for pre dinner drinks!

McGuires is an amazing place, and with the huge jammed full parking lot, somehow the interior of the restaurant is designed such that it feels like a small rather intimate pub. I have no idea how they do that. We had one of the best waitresses ever, who treated us as if she had all the time in the world, and saw to our every need. Dinner was simple fish and chips, with those fabulous Rueben Egg Rolls for an appetizer. Mo loved them as much as I did!

I lugged the camera along, but took not a single photo, either of the pub, the people, or the food. It was just too much to try to take pictures while we were having fun and thoroughly enjoying the people watching.

Right across from us was a couple on the date from hell. The girl was adorable, and the guy was a dork, on his phone half the time, and you could tell they didn’t know each other very well. It was so obviously a first date and an awkward one at that.

Then we noticed a lot of guys dining together, most of them with very spiffy military haircuts, and even a group of incredibly well pressed Marines sat down next to us. Whew….there must be a LOT of loose guys running around in this town on a Saturday night. Now, of course, I wish I had taken some photos to illustrate all this interesting humanity, but you will just have to use your imagination.

In spite of the no photos problem, I couldn’t resist stealing a few from the internet, just to give you a bit of a feel for the place. They even have their own Irish Piping Band, and a St Paddy’s Day run, their own double decker busses and who knows what else. I guess it is a bit like Irish Disneyland. Fake but fun. And terrific food!

We both thought it quite fitting that we started our sojourn into Florida with dinner at McGuire’s in Destin, and ended it with dinner at McGuire’s in Pensacola.

02-06-2014 Cold Rainy Day in Destin

Current temperature 36 F Partly clear and the high to day up to a balmy 53!

I guess 53F is a lot better than 43F which was the high temperature here yesterday. With rain. No sun, not a speck of sunshine. We are leaving today and heading east toward St Joe Peninsula State Park….I think we need to follow the rain. Weatherunderground says that by Sunday the rainy weather will have passed this part of the Emerald Coast with sunshine predicted in Destin and clouds and rain for points farther east.

I guess this is the most frustrating part of traveling with reservations, we just don’t have a lot of flexibility to follow the weather. The whole plan would fall like a stack of dominoes if we decided to try to go somewhere warm and sunny right now. The other problem, of course, is that there isn’t much warm and sunny in this half of the country and we would have to go a couple of thousand miles west. And by the time we got there, Winter Storm Orion might be doing some damage as well even out west.

Right now, Oregon is experiencing some severe winter weather on the west side of the mountains, and I am quite happy to be down here, relatively warm, not shoveling snow and slipping on icy roads. I will not complain one bit more about the cold weather here in Florida. I also know that if I could just get a little bit father south the predictions are for highs in the 80’s at Marathon Key. I need a Star Trek transporter to get us there before some weird weather thing turns it all cold again.

With Florida beaches off limits to dogs, we took Abby to the Four Paws doggy day care for our day on the beach. I would say that was a fairly loosely run business, but we saw where Abby was to spend the day, and it seemed clean enough. There was no outdoor space, but the owner said he walked the dogs every two hours or so. The hours are a bit limited and we had to return by 4PM to pick her up.

On a side note, I would highly recommend reading ALL the reviews for boarding facilities. A kennel recommended by the desk staff at the campground had some rather scary reviews. The kennel owner is threatening to sue the reviewers for slander, but a local vet confirmed that a small dog died from injuries sustained at the facility by a larger dog. If there are terrible reviews and then a bunch of glowing reviews with a later date, pay attention, those later reviews are probably fake.

We started our dog free morning with pastries and coffee at “The Donut Hole”, recommended by several bloggers and a recent commenter on our blog. Thanks, that was a good choice. The coffee was strong, the pastries superb, and the restaurant gave us a place to prepare for venturing out into the cold rain.

I wanted most of all to see Grayton Beach State Park, and had no problem paying the $5. entry fee to explore the campground, check out the dune lakes, and the famous white sands of the beach. Even with the gloomy skies, the pastel turquoise colors of the water and the pure white sands were wonderful.

We walked as long as we could manage in the cold. Even with a yellow flag out, for moderate conditions, the breezes made the 43 degree temperatures bone chilling. Still, I had to put my feet in that crystalline water. The Gulf was doing that gentle Gulf thing that I love, with soft, little waves…can I even call them waves?….lapping the shore and the dark clouds reflecting in the still water. I kept imagining how incredible it would feel to have my kayak out there on the wilderness of silky turquoise water and gray sky in all directions.

From Grayton Beach, there are some tall Florida condominiums visible in the distance, but nothing invasive. The State Park itself is definitely a place to camp for us, with several sites with paths leading directly to the dune lake and plenty of privacy. The newer part of the campground has 50 amp hookups and larger sites, but they are unprotected and open. We liked the older part better, nice thing about having a 30 amp, 26 foot rig.

After freezing at the beach, we jumped back in the Tracker turning the heat on full blast to try to dry out my jeans. Even with the cuffs rolled up I managed to get all wet. Continuing east on 30A, we traveled the short mile and a half from the park to the little storybook town of Seaside, Florida. Years ago, watching the movie “The Truman Show”, I fell in love with this town, as did many other people. Looking it up, I learned it was a planned community, one of the first that used the new Urban Design concept of creating a living space that was pedestrian friendly, with common areas, concentrated housing of varying sizes and types, and the ability to work and play and live all without having to use a car.

I don’t think many people who work in Seaside actually live there, since many of the houses now go for millions. It was still very cold, and by the time we got to Seaside it was also raining. The lovely town square was in the midst of major reconstruction and not quite lovely at this time. One of the local food wagon vendors told us they had trouble with drainage and the square was being redesigned to handle runoff more efficiently. He said it would be gorgeous again by March.

I had Mo take the obligatory photo of me at the tiny post office and then we walked the square a bit.

A store with proclaimed cottage style was rather elegant. I kept picturing all that fancy elegant cottage stuff in our real cottage back in Oregon. Maybe not, but it was luscious to look at, with linen woven slipcovers, big bowls of coffee beans on distressed wood tables, and beautiful linen napkins at $20. a piece. Let’s see…dinner for six and $120. for napkins? I love luxury and good quality, but this was even more than I would do.

The famous Modica Market was a nice stop, with tall shelves of everything imaginable that required library style ladders to stock. Again, even with a small bin of organic produce, this wasn’t exactly your weekly grocery shopping spot. The Seaside Transit Authority tent was worth a double take, however, with bicycles instead of busses as the city transportation system.

Still raining, I convinced Mo to walk at least a couple of blocks through the residential areas, with their white picket fences and porches bigger than my house. Just a short way down the block, we found a public pathway, a truly amazing little treat, that led between back yards, much like an alley, but not for cars. The path led to the main road where we got back in the car, grateful again for warmth.

It seems that March is the beginning of “the season” in Seaside, and many of the charming little boutiques on the beach side of the town square were still closed. Lucky for me, Pickles was open, and I managed an order of fried pickles…something I never tried before but sounded like fun. They were. I can see that Seaside could be a great place to visit on a warm sunny day on a bicycle. With a great bike trail between the town and the state park to the west, the perfect combination of quiet kayaking, beautiful beach, and cute busy town accessible by bike is pretty darn inviting. But not today in the cold rain.

Traveling back 20 miles or so to Destin, we found a WalMart…a tiny version of most WalMarts, hoping for some shelf liner, some propane, and some TUMS. Eating out so much isn’t that good for my tummy. I needed to be armed for the last dog free adventure of the day, hot Irish coffee at McGuire’s Irish Pub back in Destin. I have seen photos of this place on so many blogs recently, and read about how great it is for so long that I decided it was worth a try.

We weren’t disappointed, and Mo finally got fish and chips the way she has been wanting it for a month now. None of that greasy, thick doughy breading, but a nice light crispy coating on flaky light fish. I tried the rueben egg roll appetizers and they were great! McGuire’s is also a small craft brewery, and when I asked if any of their beer was bottled, the head brewmaster came over to our table to have a long conversation about crafted beer. I gave the rest of my Irish coffee to Mo and ordered a Millennial. Excellent beer, not too hoppy, but rich and creamy. In Florida, they do sell growlers of tap beer, but a growler is a gallon! Hard to fit that in a motorhome fridge, so I passed. It would take me a long time to drink a gallon of beer!

It is very nearly impossible to get a photo of the interior of McGuire’s, since the place is mainly lit with dim red lights. The walls and ceiling are covered with dollar bills, all signed and named by folks who have visited. They call it the million dollar ceiling. I remember a ceiling like this along Interstate 90 west of Missoula, Montana somewhere near St Regis, but for the life of me can’t remember the name of the place. Then there was the great little trailer coffee shop on the dirt road track the the Denali Highway in Alaska…covered in dollar bills with pies that were $36 each. That dollar bill ceiling thing isn’t all that uncommon.

When we picked up Abby, she seemed happy and unstressed, so I assume her day was OK. Ours was OK as well, in spite of the rain and cold, and as I fell asleep last night I kept remembering the color of the water, not how cold my hands and feet were while walking on the beach.

1-14 to 1-19-2014 Coastal Corpus Christi

We discovered almost as soon as we parked in the NAS at Corpus Christi, that our short time here would only be enough to barely get a taste of all this area has to offer. Especially in winter, the south Texas coast draws many snowbirds from all over the country ready to experience the delights of a warm seacoast location for an extended stay.

For years, Mo had read about the draw to the South Texas Coast for retirees and wanted to see the area. Port Isabel, South Padre Island, and Brownsville destinations were originally on the list of places for us to go on this trip. Initially we actually planned to drive south for a long day trip to explore from our NAS location, but discovered that the trip to South Padre Island required a 400 mile round trip inland and back out to the southern end of the island which is no longer connected in any way to the northern end.

Visiting the National Seashore was much higher on our list than checking out giant high rise condos on South Padre Island, and it didn’t take many internet searches for us to make that decision. Instead, we stayed fairly close to our campground, taking each day to explore a different part of greater Corpus Christi.

The NAS is at point A on the google map, and other sites often required a bit of backtracking. We actually got pretty good at figuring out how to get in and out of the base and onto the network of one way roads that parallel the main freeway that crosses from Corpus Christi Bay to Padre Island.

On our first full day here, we decided to just try to get our bearings, do some driving, and attempt to understand a part of the world that was completely new to us. Driving….west? east?? (this place is still a directional challenge for me) oh yes…It was east and then north….we crossed the Laguna Madre, a large brackish water lagoon that extends the full length of Padre Island, the longest natural barrier island in the world, and lies between the island and the mainland.

These barrier islands are incredibly important on coastlines that are susceptible to hurricanes, stopping the major surge of water before it inundates the mainland with its full force. Mustang Island is north of Padre Island, an additional island in the chain of many such barrier islands. Mustang Island is home to a state park, some official paddling trails on the bay side, and a long, level open beach for strolling. The beach is also for driving, a new concept to me except for a moment in Daytona Beach.

Here the beach drive makes sense. The Gulf water is the mother of all, and tire tracks along the beach are obliterated with each movement of the water. There are access roads from the main island highway that enter the beach between the dunes at several intervals. 4 wheel drive isn’t required, but there are warnings about getting stuck in the sand, and we did see a few stuck cars.

What was surprising, though, was how open and empty the beach seemed, even with the option of driving. Cars and people were few and far between, punctuated rarely by a motorhome, and pickups with huge fishing poles mounted on their bumpers. I think fishing is the big draw in this part of this area. I had no idea what a sheepshead was but daughter Deborah caught one on this very beach. That is one scary looking ugly fish! those teeth!!

We drove the beach slowly, enjoying the gentle surf and birds, and then continued into Port Aransas to find the free ferry that crosses the bay in just a few minutes to Aransas Pass. It is amazing how efficiently the workers manage the load, and when we left town on Monday morning, they managed our motorhome and toad with as much ease as they had managed our previous trips with just the baby car.

I had heard from Erin that there were “whoopers” just outside Goose Island State Park, and armed with well written directions, we drove north through Fulton Beach, across the bridge and out beyond the state park to try to find the birds. At the time, I kept getting comments saying, “don’t miss the whoopers!”, so I figured I had better make the effort. After we found the pair, resting in a small draw on a large field of private land, I did some searching and discovered that I had a very fuzzy image of 2 of only 457 birds that are known to exist. Well. Alright then!. Being on private land, we were not able to walk close, and my lens just couldn’t quite get there. But with the rarity of these birds, I feel pretty lucky to have any photo at all.

We were just a short distance from the famous “Big Tree”, a live oak that is more than 1,000 years old. Folks have spent a huge amount of time and energy taking care of this tree. I can imagine Sherry trying to hug it, but she couldn’t get close enough with the protective fences. The stories of the hurricanes and development that this beautiful old tree has survived are uncountable.

Ambling back through Fulton Beach, we found a moderately recommended restaurant on the water for lunch. Alice Faye’s had not a sign of “fish and chips” on the menu, the main reason Mo and I were searching for a restaurant. Coastal locations set the mouth to watering for some real fish and chips. Instead, once again, we found lots of shrimp and oysters, and the catch of the day, fried or naked, was pollack, and was a bit pricey for a spontaneous lunch. Instead, I had some shrimp which was OK and Mo had a French dip which was actually pretty fantastic.

We were home early enough in the afternoon on that day that I could take full advantage of the free washers and dryers at the campground to once again freshen up all the rugs and blankets and anything else that might have a trace of kitty hair on it. Loved that most of all about that campground, I can tell you!

On another day we opted to go downtown to check out the city of Corpus Christi. There are some quirkie things about this city that are a bit hard to figure out. Some areas are truly gorgeous, and the seawall and beautiful kiosks provide wonderful photo ops with all the reflections.

The Art Museum and Science Museum are at the end of the Ocean Drive, and the area seems a bit deserted, especially on a Saturday.

It is worth seeking out the beautiful Watergarden falls on the grounds of the museum. The approach to the waterfall is a rippling stream with stone square blocks that create a small rapid. The sound is gentle and lovely. There is nothing quite like the roar of the falls down the steps within the circle of the cascading water. It is as wild and loud as many waterfalls I have experienced. The artist understood sound as a work of art as well as vision.

In that same area were large expanses that appeared to be devastated by a hurricane and nothing had been rebuilt. Felt a bit strange. The large bridge in the photo above is the Harbor Bridge that crosses Corpus Christi Bay northeast to Portland, Texas.

Looking up the history, the only really big hurricane was in 1919 and the areas we were seeing were all warehouse districts at that time. In the same vicinity is Heritage Park, a delightful project of 9 beautiful huge homes, relocated from various parts of the city to this little neighborhood. The craziest thing we saw was the old Nueces County Courthouse, built in 1914, with some pretty amazing historical moments in its past. Abandoned in 1977, the huge and beautiful building sits empty and rotting behind a chain link fence right near the downtown part of the city.

Best part of the day for us was a visit to the Railroad Seafood Station and Brewery downtown on Chaparral. The atmosphere was typical brewery, once an old warehouse, with lots of open industrial stuff on the ceiling, dark colors and wooden tables and booths. I tried one of their current brews, a blond something that was pretty hoppy, but just as our wonderful waiter told me, after three sips it was perfect. The menu was fabulous, but of course, no fish and chips. Mo opted instead for some kind of specialty onion rings, with a bit of sweetness and homemade tartar sauce with very finely chopped veggies.

I opted for the the specialty coconut shrimp and the two sides of veggies and potatoes I chose with a homemade sweet chili sauce were what Sean, our waiter, called the Holy Trinity of food in that restaurant. He wasn’t exaggerating. Those little red potatoes were buttery smooth, with edges crisped and roasted with perfectly caramelized onions. The fresh veggies were tender crisp and only lightly seasoned with herbs and lemon. The home made chili sauce was the perfect hotness for the best coconut shrimp ever to pass my lips. Remember, I ate coconut shrimp a few years ago in Key West!. I ended the meal with Sean’s own homemade key lime pie. Sean and I exchanged email addresses and he wants me to write to him when I get to Key West to let him know if their pie is any better than his.

Yes, it was perfect. Soft yellow as key lime should be, with a crust thin enough that it didn’t overpower the pie, and without that fake cheesecake taste and texture you now get in some key lime pie recipes from various locations. Yes, it was a meal to remember, and it was a good thing I didn’t completely wear out my swooning abilities because our meal with Erin and Mui was the very next day!

If you click on my google photos link on the left side of the blog, there are a ton of photos there if you are interested.

Next up: Padre Island National Seashore and a morning kayak at Shamrock Cove

Ships Passing in the Night…errr….Evening

If some of these photos look a bit familiar to you, it might be because Mo and I decided to end our Desert Hot Springs trip with a visit to the Palm Springs Thursday Night Street Fair. Today while catching up on blogs as we drove north on I-5, I saw Rick’s post about attending the same street fair. In fact, he even took a photo of the restaurant where we were having dinner! Unlike Rick, I was too overwhelmed with the crowds and the shops and the booths and the smells to remember to take many photos. I can’t believe we didn’t run into each other there, but then again, there were a LOT of people, and lots of doggies as well.

Our trip was a whirlwind, spent mostly driving back desert roads, and we didn’t decide until yesterday that it might be a good idea to eat Mexican one more time before packing up the rig for our early morning departure today. I also wanted to see the Marilyn Monroe statue that has been highlighted on more than a few blogs lately. We parked and walked and finally found it, right downtown in the very middle of the street fair.

In the past, we have had great meals at two Mexican Restaurants on this main drag, so decided to try Macarena’s for something new. Even though we were told it would be a half hour wait, within minutes my phone rang and our outside table was ready. It was great having good food, a happy hour marguerita, and a good people watching spot in the middle of all the action.

In addition to all our desert drives, we managed a bit of relaxation while in the desert, and I swam and soaked in the pools every single day but one. Love those pools. We also walked the park, walked the surrounding desert a bit, and drove to La Quinta so that I could spend some time in a great quilt store, Monica’s Quilt. Of course, I came out with a bag of gorgeous fabric and some new patterns. I also got directions to the Quilter’s Faire in Palm Desert, hidden in an industrial area behind Wal-Mart and came away with another bag of fabric and a couple of good looking patterns. Ah, Stash! gotta love it.

We decided to just make a beeline for home with only a one night stay in Lodi at the Flag City RV Resort. This meant leaving this morning at 6:30 so that we could travel the lovely sunrise route north on Highway 247 to Barstow before turning east to cross the Tehachapis on Highway 58 to Bakersfield.

I was a bit bummed about not having time to stay one more night at the Orange Grove RV Park because I finished the last of my tree ripened oranges a few days ago. I decided to take a chance and call the park, and sure enough the owners were friendly and wonderful and said, “Sure, just come on in and get a picker and pick yourself a bag. No Charge”. How is that for good advertising! We pulled into the park and spent just half an hour picking another big bag of the incredibly sweet juicy oranges to take home with us. Ahhhh.

Driving into Bakersfield was dramatic as usual. Looking down on the smog line from the elevation of the pass was intense, and once down in the valley the smog didn’t let up, ever. We drove a good 250 miles through dingy smoggy air, all the way from Bakersfield to Lodi. I had to go digging for eye drops. I drove the first half of the trip through gorgeous, empty, clear desert, and Mo got the second half up the Five. I think I got the better end of that deal! We covered 496 miles today and settled into our spot here in Lodi just after five pm, in plenty of time to warm up the leftovers from last night’s great dinner at Macarena’s.

Tomorrow just under 400 miles and we will spend the night back in the Grants Pass Cottage. Both of us are excited to see the new roof that was completed while we were gone, but neither of us is particularly excited about returning to cold weather. It has been a great reprieve, and a wonderful two weeks of mostly warmth and sunshine. Lucky Us!