Matagorda Bay History: Indianola

Saturday afternoon El Jefe, SIL, BIL and I took a tour of a couple of historic sites along Matagorda Bay.

We drove to Indianola, which the second largest port in Texas (after Galveston) between 1844-1875.

The large granite statue you see in the photo is located in a little pocket park on the bay there. It depicts the explorer LaSalle, whose French fleet sailed (way) off course and instead of landing in New Orleans, came ashore between Indian Point and Indianola, Texas in the year 1685.

The expedition established Fort St. Louis which was intended to be a temporary settlement while they searched for the mouth of the Mississippi River. Too bad they didn't have a GPS! Besiged by unfriendly natives, bugs and bad weather, the little colony struggled. LaSalle left to seek help in 1687 but was killed by Indians along the Trinity River. The settlement perished.

This statue was erected in his honor during the Texas Centennial celebrations in 1936 on the site where his expedition landed.

Indianola was founded in the days of the Republic of Texas. The area was the primary entry point for European immigrants and American colonists seeking to move west. The army even brought camels through the port in an experiment to replace horses and mules in the southwest.

Indianola was hit by a major hurricane causing extensive damage and loss of life in 1875 which was followed just 11 years later by a catastrophic hurricane that literally wiped the town from the face of the map. It was never rebuilt. Today all that remains are a few fishing shacks and historical monuments and memorials to its former days of importance.

Recreational Cooking

Getting Babs and my SIL together for a couple of days guarantees that you will get some really good food as they egg (pun intended) each other on in their favorite sport of Recreational Cooking.

Here's what they served up this weekend at the bay:

Elvis Presley's Favorite Pound Cake topped with fresh peaches and homemade vanilla ice cream. Just don't ask how much butter is in this! It took the two of them to complete all the batter beating the recipe specified. Recipe available here if you are interested.

Some kind of cheese type appetizer made with several types of cheese and cubed french bread. At first Babs feared it would come out like a "low rent cheese puff" but it was pronounced a keeper by the hungry throng when it came out of the oven. She served it with a marinara sauce, as suggested in the recipe, but we all agreed that it didn't need the sauce. Of course Babs added some dry mustard and nutmeg to the original recipe.

And there would be no family weekend gathering Chez QG without the beloved Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake, topped with more of SIL's fabulous home made ice cream. She's convinced the oven in our bay house produces a better TCSC than the one at her house. I'm not getting involved in that controversy, but will say the one she made this weekend was definitely one of the best ever!

Just Rattlin' Around the Bay

Ahem. Sometimes one can get TOO close to nature. Case in point: this weekend El Jefe was enjoying a cigar and a good book on the lawn of our bay house when he heard a weird rattling noise.

Looking up, he spied this large rattlesnake coming straight at him, poised to strike and rattling its tail in warning. Jumping up, he rushed to the garage, grabbing a fishing net and managed to scoop the snake into it without harm to himself.

Just then I came down the stairs to go to a neighbor's house and he hollered at me to get my BIL from inside to help him kill the snake since it took two hands to carry the net.

BIL ran to the rescue with a shovel and the two of them trapped the snake on the ground with the net and dispatched it, as you see. This was no baby--it was about 3 1/2 feet long.

~shudder~

Rattlesnakes are known to hatch in the spring, so we fear there is a nest around the bay house somewhere. A relative suggested that we strew the garage and yard with mothballs and said that would keep them away. If the stiff winds down there don't blow them away first!

All in all, more excitement than we bargained for this weekend!

Thanksgiving To-Do List, Checkin' It Twice

This afternoon we're off to the bay house to celebrate Thanksgiving with 17 to 20 people ( no one knows for sure) and 5 dogs.


So I'm making a list to be sure I get everything in the car I am responsible for contributing:

-meat, salad, bread for dinner tonight
-Olivia's allergy-free salmon/sweet potato chow (that's why she's called Shrimp Breath)
-ingredients for killer sweet potato casserole for T'Day
-wine and coffee and milk
-jackets
-dog beds, leashes and harnesses
-books to read
-better attitude (see below)

I'm looking for a better attitude to take along because in the midst of all this I have to get a set of keys to Portia's place to Babs so she can get Portia's mail. Portia should have taken care of this before she left for her in-laws, IMHO. This means getting the keys made and then a round-trip drive into Houston that I didn't need. But packages are getting stolen from behind her gate so we need to check on it.

Praying for help to set aside the petty irritations and enjoy the big picture,
QG

Sunrise Over Carancahua Bay This Morning

We spent the night at our bay house in Port Alto and I took these pictures this morning. Is it any wonder we hated to come back? The water was calm, the weather was cool-ish and the birds and fish were out.