| A
drive south from Austin on a hot summer weekend takes
road tripper Aaron Reed
on a journey home to Rockport and Port Aransas, on the
Gulf coast of Texas. Here he paddles his kayak, eats grilled
shrimp and tuna tacos, and has a chance encounter with
a giant blue land crab. It's one of the reasons he loves
this place so well -- there's no telling what will show
up. |
 |
|
 |
|
Tamara's
all-wheel-drive Subaru Baja is a workhorse and
still gets great gas mileage with two 16-foot
kayaks strapped to the roof racks. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Texas
pride is evident everywhere -- including old barns
like this one, north of Cuero on Highway 183. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A
mid-19th century stagecoach inn built of hand-quarried
limestone on Highway 183 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A
South Texas sunset turns the water into a molten
rainbow. |
|
|
|
|
|
It's got to be the easiest "long" drive in Texas:
south from Austin on U.S. Highway 183. Lockhart, Luling, Gonzales,
Cuero, Goliad, Tivoli … to Rockport. I've done it so often,
it's almost as if my truck is on rails. One of the reasons
I enjoy U.S. 183 so much is that it's not a very modern road,
not efficient in the Point-A-to-Point-B way our interstates
are. In fact, for much of its length in this part of the state
it follows the old stage route from Indianola to San Antonio,
winding and dipping, crossing rivers and creeks at natural
fords. If the verdant roadside landscape and gentle hills
aren't distraction enough, there are the Victorian courthouse
squares along the way.
Every one of those towns -- with the exception
of Tivoli -- has one. On July 4 weekend, Tamara and I headed
south -- me to do some coastal paddling, she to enjoy a well-earned
rest from a hectic work schedule, and both of us looking for
the "quality time" we sometimes miss during the busy work
week. Our chariot for this trip: Tamara's plucky, all-wheel-drive
Subaru Baja, the tiny truck bed loaded with gear and two touring
hulls lashed to the roof racks.
WBRS provided the soundtrack. OK, it's actually
KTXN, the "Texas Mix," at 98.7 on the FM dial. "WBRS" is my
own shorthand for "World's Best Radio Station." The 1,000-watt
Americana station comes in loud and clear for most of the
trip from Gonzales south. (The station streams, too. Check
it out here: KTXN.)
Highway 183 always means a trip home for me,
but it's also a trip into history. The first shots of the
Texas Revolution were fired near Gonzales, and in Goliad we
pass Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga on
the right (now a state park) and Presidio
la Bahia, established in 1749, on the left. The capilla,
or chapel (Our Lady of Loreto), has been in continuous use
as a church since about the time of the signing of the U.S.
Declaration of Independence.
I tip my cap as we drive past. It was at Goliad
that the Mexican Army, on the orders of Gen. Antonio López
de Santa Anna, massacred 342 captured Texas soldiers on Palm
Sunday in 1836. A monument marks their gravesite.
Here too, some seven years before the Goliad
massacre, Ignacio Seguín Zaragoza was born. Zaragoza would
go on to lead the Army of the East to victory over French
forces at the Battle of Puebla, Mexico, on May 5, 1862. Cinco
de Mayo, a national holiday in Mexico, is still celebrated
here. Tam and I make a note to come back and reserve the single
room available to travelers inside the presidio's stone walls.
Just past the presidio, it's a left on state
Highway 239, a half-hour drive along the San Antonio River
Valley and through the pastures and grain fields of O'Connor
Ranch to Tivoli.
Right on state Highway 35, a flat, straight reach
through cotton fields and rust-red acres of sorghum. To the
right, near a rest stop, stands a sabal palm, remnant of one
of just three native species of palm that once flourished
here. Farther ahead, to the left, is Aransas
National Wildlife Refuge, winter home to most of the world's
population of whooping cranes.
We cross the causeway at Lamar Point, and without
thinking I mutter a prayer under my breath: "Thank you for
letting me come home again."
Continued
on page 2>
