The Texas Trip - part 4

Day 5

Day 5 began with a visit to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center

They take in injured sea turtles and nurse them back to health. I some cases they have to keep the turtles there for life as they cannot be put back in the wild.

After a visit to one of the numerous souvenir shops, we headed down to Brownsville and out to the Boca Chica Wildlife Refuge. While driving through the refuge and to Boca Chica beach, we learned that the last battle of the Civil War was fought in this area: The Battle of Palmito Ranch.

From Wikipedia: The Battle of Palmito Ranch, also known as the Battle of Palmito Hill and the Battle of Palmetto Ranch, was fought between Union Army and Confederate States Army forces on May 12–13, 1865 near Brownsville, Texas. It was the last land battle of any size or significance of the American Civil War.^[1] The battle was fought on the banks of the Rio Grande about 12 miles (19 km) east of Brownsville, Texas, and a few miles from the seaport of Los Brazos de Santiago, which was located on the present-day ship channel of the Port of Brownsville.

On the way to the beach, we passed several prickly pear cactus in bloom

Some of the birds we saw:

Laughing Gull

Cattle Egret

Blue Heron

Blue Bunting

 

 

While taking a break at a convenience store, we learned of a good lunch spot:



Dora's (Brownsville.) It was delicious Mexican food and very inexpensive.

We then began the drive up the border on US 281. We quickly noticed the border fence. It seemed to be intact from Brownsville to almost McAllen, but we noticed several spots after that where it was incomplete or missing altogether.

My friend, Laura Lee, sent a text to me and to a friend of hers saying that we should get together for a beer. Of course, she said I was in the Valley, which didn't exactly narrow it down. After calling her friend, I found she was in Mission, TX and we were heading to McAllen, which is next door. So all of the sudden, the Valley shrunk. We ended up meeting for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and then headed out to Sofie's S.S. Saloon for a nitecap.

Laura Lee should now be afraid as I have some good gossip on her!

We ended the day at a hotel in Edinburg.

Day 5 - 174 miles.

Day 6

We left Edinburg and headed to Kerrville via back roads. We had to stop for the second time on the trip for a border patrol inspection station. After stopping, all they asked is if we were US citizens. When we said yes, we were on our way. I guess we didn't look like smugglers.

We were back in the land of oil/gas fields and the many, many trucks. We stopped in Poteet for lunch and had DQ Dudes. This is a chicken fried steak sandwich, which seems to only be available in Texas. Poteet is known for its' strawberries and they have a big festival annually. We missed it by about 10 days.

After driving through celebrated Texas towns of Hondo and Bandera, we arrived in Kerrville. For dinner, we headed up to Waring, TX for Steak Nite. The Waring General Store holds this every Wednesday and offers a complete steak dinner for $25. The dinner includes appetizers, a 10-oz steak, potatoes, salad, and dessert. They also have live music each Steak Nite. Tonight's entertainment was the Texas Renegade band.

Back to Kerrville for the night

Day 6 - 388 miles