My first encounter with Poat A was way back in '64 while I was stationed in Charleston, SC. aboard one of our great warships, a guided missile destroyer escort....or something like that. USS Charles F. Adams DDG 2.
I had an old '56 Ford an' took off for south Texas on a 30 day vacation. Holy crap, what a trip. I pull over in "someplace", Mississippi for gas and here come Barney Fife, the local law enforcement officer. "Whare yer shoes boy"? (I was barefoot) I says..."right there on the front seat". He read me the riot act bout in Mississippi ya gotta have shoes on your feet while driv'n....thought for sure I was gonna go to jail. Finally make it to Texas an' make a mistake of ask'n directions. Nobody ain't never hear of Port Aransas....I were lost....stuck in Beaumont, Texas. Well I knowed it was on the coast by the name.....Port. So's I head on south down the coast highway, State Highway 35...for what seemed days. Texas is big ya know.
When I finally arrived my destination, there was a ferry boat wait for me. Paid my $1 for the short ride across the Corpus Christi ship channel and start hit'n bars. That's where my daddy spent most his time. I finally found him, not by sight, but by sound. He was sing'n "My Philippino Baby" at the top his lungs accompanied by the pounding of a out of tune piano played by "Bob", a screech'n fiddle and a wash tub base strum'ed by "Buttercup".
Now back in them days, Port A was a wide open town....a little fishing village with a population right bout 500 people. There was a bar on almost every street corner and most had a poker game go'n on in the back rooms. High dollar poker games. I fished. I drank. I cruised the beach. We partied. Holy crap, I done found paradise on the Texas gulf coast. Then my 30 day vacation was up. Back to Charleston, SC.
A year later, I was stationed on an old WWII destroyer (USS Haynesworth DD700) out of Galveston, Texas....only 200 hunnert mile from Port A. Many weekends were spent in Port A till I was know by everybody in town. Then I moved there in 1970.....to stay. Was gone a few years....Atlanta and West by God Virginia. Then back to the Island in 1986....to stay. Went to work for the University of Texas for the next 15 years, bought 5 years of military time and retired in Jan, 2002. Been "on the road again" for the last 10 years in "Alice" an' "Sally da house".
Now here I am, back in Port A. But things have changed. Big changes. It's no longer a little fishing village. They turned it into a tourist trap. Big souvenir shops poped up where once stood adult drink establishments. Condos line the once desolate highway leading into town. Gambling is no longer allowed. Public intoxication is no longer allowed....although it happen occasionally. Bon fires on the beach are no longer allowed and most of the best fish'n holes are closed to fish'n. It's a freak'n City now.
Ok...got things to do.....
Laters
I don’t like change either, but it is inevitable. I would like to go back to the sleepy towns that my grandparents lived in back when I was a young tad. I had the best childhood, ever!! Or at least I thought I did.
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to be back where your from. but you never told us where your staying? are you out at Butterbean's cuzzins place or what....How is the fishing and have you had your fill of those good Taco's yet
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you Mr Billy Bob.
See the post of 12-19-2011. It tells the location.
ReplyDeleteEven this little town has changed way too much too. and DD, I had the best childhood here too!
ReplyDeleteI love little towns, I remember what a great place Del Rio was when I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteI will always remember Port Aransas. We were trying to find a motel back in 1968 and we drove up to one when this very angry man started yelling at the manager or perhaps owner of the place.
He said "are you crazy, you want $25 a night for this dump just because it has a colored TV? You can stick it up ______ (you fill in the blanks).
Since we could not afford $25 a night either, we drove to a more affordable motel. We had such a great weekend in Port Aransas. It was the first and last time I was ever there.