§ The Mission....

Before leaving our first stop at the presidio in Goliad, Texas, I took photos of the birthplace of General Ignacio Zaragoza. Zaragoza - a Texas/Mexican hero who defeated the French in 1862. The Battle of Puebla took place on 5 May 1862, near the city of Puebla during the French intervention in Mexico. The Mexican victory, of this particular battle, is celebrated yearly...its celebration is regional in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is celebrated as El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (English: The Day of the Battle of Puebla). There is some limited recognition of the holiday in other parts of the country [Old Mexico] although this holiday remains very popular in the United States where it is celebrated yearly as Cinco de Mayo.

Just down the highway a short distance from the presidio and Fannin Memorial area we stopped to visit the La Bahia Mission [also known as Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zuñiga] Considered today to be one of the most successful missions in Texas, converting many to the Christian faith, La Bahia Mission is a 'resurrected' mission from the 1700's original that went to decay. By rebuilding the mission, excavation allowed for many artifacts to be found, and original stone to be used in refurbishing the mission as you see it today. Tho rebuilt and not the 'first' mission on site, the mission received a listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

While Bud and Erik perused more of the artifacts and read the description of just about everything...I hightailed it out to the nature trail to view the San Antonio River. Last Spring the river flooded and did a lot of damage to the grounds, so, most of the river trail was still closed to the public. But the park warden pointed out which trail was still safe for me to walk! Taking only a few photos of birds [cardinal, bluebirds and  thrasher and vultures soaring silently high above] here are some photos of what else I saw along the trail:

When we met back at the parking lot, we decided to stop for lunch before heading to the old town and the courthouse. We knew the courthouse would be closed for the holiday so there really wasn't much hurry. Besides the threat of rain kinda put a damper on the afternoon.  We also wanted to make a stop at Refugio, Texas before heading home, and we had made reservations for dinner at a restaurant in Corpus for that night...

The Hanging Tree in front of the courthouse, the courthouse and part of old town Goliad

§ Mission Bells in Shadow

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SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY




This is the bell tower at San Juan Capistrano Mission in Orange County California. We flew into San Diego one year in mid March to rent a car and drive up there to witness the swallows arriving on St. Joseph's Day [March 19th]. I scanned this photo from our trips' album. circa 1990s


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SUNDAY'S SUMMARY

To be honest, I can't even remember Monday. LOL Tuesday, we walked the beaches and enjoyed the larger than normal whitecaps on the sea. A storm was brewing out there somewhere. I found a couple of goodies that I'll write about in a day or two when I have a bit more time...and AFTER I get them cleaned up for show n tell. Right now they're still covered with sand and seaweed. They're more 'mythical' than the sea beans I have readied to show. These that will be coming to a Hootin' Anni blog soon will be a bit on the 'oddities of the sea'. Along with more sea beans [drift seeds]. Okay, that covered the first two days of the week...now, on to Wednesday. I got several e-cards from blogging friends; thanks!! And e-cards and texts from Irene, Erik, and our grandsons. My sister called us and we talked over the speaker phone along with her hubby, Al, and Bud and me. Had quite a conversation. Of course Al...flattery will get your EVERYwhere with me y'know. Just before we all hung up he said "Anni, you have to be an angel to put up with Bud for all these years!". Bud agreed. Actually, I agreed too. roflmao. Bud took me out for lunch to Logans. It's more or less a steak house. And after being a little adventurous in my order, I ordered the steak with cheese and bacon. It was so tender and juicy I foundered!! Along with the two sides of house salad with a vinaigrette dressing, I ordered something I've never ever had before. I think it's more or less a 'southern item'....like grits...but the 2nd side with the steak was french fried SWEET POTATOES!! OMGoodness, were they ever heavenly. Crisp outside, moist and delectable texture inside. And they were topped with a drizzle of butter and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon! What a great compliment with the salty cheese covered steak! Of course, at Logans while waiting for the meal, we can dine on all the shelled peanuts we could ever think possible. They have buckets of them on each and every table. Later that evening we had champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. Bud had surprised me with a wonderful gift. I really don't want to tell you here, let's just say it goes around my neck. And something I've wanted ever since we moved here. That'll be all at the moment. I know it's kinda teasing, but I want to show you later. A very good day/evening. It rained Thursday afternoon, so nothing much got done. Friday...we were walking early 'til it got way too humid and the sun came up to melt us! We stayed home and read our books. Enjoying the A/C and along with that running...we had all the ceiling fans at high speed. Saturday, I spent all day catching up on laundry. Most of the week evenings, we watched baseball on MLB or Fox-Sports-Houston. Oh ya...I almost forgot, in the past several years, my favorite drama on TV [y'all know it's NCIS -Tuesday on CBS] 'killed off' one of my favorite characters...Mike Franks. But thing is, I've been sorely disappointed in this past season. Next week, this coming Tuesday, the season's finale will be aired. Who knows what'll come of it all. I hope NEXT season will be better.


After several months of drought conditions, Thursday afternoon and into the early evening hours we HAD A NICE RAIN STORM! All too quickly it left our area and blew out into the Gulf. I loved going outdoors afterward and drinking in the cool, fresh, fragrance of rain on such a parched soil! The grass is greening up again instead of the soil that was so deeply cracked from lack of moisture. We can water until the cows come home, but there is nothing like a good steady downpour to quench its thirst.

note: rain photo borrowed from our newspaper