After five days in Fredericksburg we were a little behind schedule, so a plan was hatched to drive a big day all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The great WiFi at OakWood allowed us to make phone bookings and we knew we would need two nights to recover. Our choice was the island location of Surfside Beach, South of Freeport in the Brazosport county of Tx. After some intense searching we found the only Hotel/RV park truly 'on the beach'. Breeze Hotel and RV Park. It has no resort amenities like hot tubs and laundry, not even an indoor bathhouse or cable TV, BUT IT IS ON THE BEACH ON THE GULF OF MEXICO!!!The drive turned ultra ugly once we got close to FreePort. Not because of the roads, it was the scenery It turns out this is one of the homes of Dow Chemicals,plus hundreds more chemical refineries, oil refineries, and acres and acres of....just looks bad. The companies have built sprawling masses of cheap apartments/condos for their workers to rent/own. We were so shocked with the visual we forgot to take a picture. Imagine the worst cement factory/oil refinery you have ever seen and then multiply it by 50. Once we crossed over the high rise bridge to the island, the ugliness was left behind and the ocean appeared. The houses and cottages are all built on stilts (pilings) and many are abandoned or in ruins from the last big storm in 2009.
After a quick check-in and set-up, Kyle was dragging us towards the beach. The signs were still up for the Surfside Marathon that had just finished right in front of our location. Porta Potties were stretched out down the beach and the '26' mile sign was still stuck in the sand. Kyle looked up and just started to quiver as I reached to undo his leash...hesitation and then..explode. All the memories of Huntington Beach flooded his head. Man and dog walking together. Priceless. Nope, Kyle, Gone.
To us, the breeze was warm but everyone else was covered up like snow was coming. And in fact it was according to the news we listened too later. We immediately noticed that there were Christmas Trees laid bottom to top and tied together all along the upper sand line of the beach. Miles of them? We even found a sign that stated the penalty for taking them apart and using them for firewood on the beach? Not sure what they are really for but they make great garbage blockers from the wind.
You may drive on the beach, have fires and there are garbage cans every 100 yards or so. They make it easy to enjoy that which belongs to the public. And public access is every few hundred yards.
In the morning we hit the beach with Kyle for another long walk. I shot some video and took pictures of the multicoloured homes/cottages on stilts. There seems to be a competition to see who can build the longest walkway to the beach. There is no river, no snake infested grassland or even a road to cross. They just like building walkways from 'their' decks to the sand on the beach. Good on em!
Many of these units are rentals and only a few appear to be lived in full time. I asked the owner of the RV Park about flooding and all the homes being built on stilts. Insurance is non existent. In 2009 this area suffered moderate damage but just North of here they were wiped out completely. We will drive through that area on our way to Galveston. One area or another gets wiped out every twenty years or so. Cost of living on the ocean!
Cooking suppers on the BBQ, next to the beach, brought back bad memories of Manitoba... Mosquitoes!!! Slower than molasses but their bite has left Kaye with giant welts that even chlor-tripolon didn't help...Did I mention that I was the chef and she was inside watching TV! Inch thick pork chops, bone in, were to die for. Just sayin.
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