Saturday night there was a lighted Christmas parade down Austin Street, the main thoroughfare through Rockport's Historical District. It was great! Just the right size parade, with lots of folks lining the streets on both sides. The floats were all lit up. There were fire trucks, boats (pulled on boat trailers, of course!), golf carts, flatbed trailers, and even a horse drawn carriage (complete with clean-up crew trotting along behind). Ninety percent of my photos had to be discarded, because, after all, it was dark. Taking pictures in low light with an iPad is tricky because it has a hard time focusing, and by the time the camera finally clicks (which can be as much as several seconds after you push the button), the moment has passed. So please keep that in mind and be forgiving as you view the less-than-crystal-clear pictures of Saturdy night's festivities.
We started off with some of the shiny fire equipment. Boy, can those trucks squawk!!
Then, of course, the color guard with the flags:
This little girl (below), riding on one of the floats, just seemed mesmerized by all the lights:
The stern of one of the speedboats in the parade:
The local high school football team:
Several floats had huge inflatable figures atop them. This was the only one that could be seen (sort of) in my photos:
A church choir, singing as they drove past.
One of the prettiest floats was from the City of Sinton, a nearby town. I thought it was so nice of them to go to the trouble to bring a float to our parade.
The End. Yes, they still say "Merry Christmas" in Rockport. Most folks around here acknowledge that "Jesus is the Reason for the Season."
Once the last float went by there was a mad dash; everyone ran for their cars. This being our first year here, we didn't know what the hurry was all about. Turns out it was to get a good spot from which to view the Christmas Tree Lighting and the fireworks over the Bay. We missed the tree lighting, but I'll catch a photo some eveing soon when we drive by it. However, we did find a great spot to watch the fireworks. It was one of the prettiest displays we've ever seen, with each firing being an artistic combination of colors and different shapes of starbursts. However, the different things happening at the same time REALLY confused my iPad, so it never did capture the beauty of the display. Guess you had to be here for that one. I'll show a few photos, but please realize that they look NOTHING like the real thing!
All in all, it was an action-packed day. But the weekend wasn't over. We still had the house tour to accomplish. So after church on Sunday, we started the rounds. I'll show you a few of our favorite places on the tour. These weren't designed to be grand, elegant places showcasing their decorating skills, but rather smaller cottages that were of historical significance to the community. Some were very modest (like our cottage) and some were a bit more upscale. All had a team of docents in vintage clothing who shared the history of the homes with the visitors. In all, our friend Phoebe figured that we had almost 400 people going through our house in the course of the weekend. The tour was a great success, adding a nice fund to the Historical Society's coffers.
Our first stop was the historic Fulton Schoolhouse.
This trio of siblings were the perfect ones to share the history. They all attended the school, as did their mother and her siblings (we even got to see their mother's and relatives' report cards). Les, the brother here, is also a former Mayor of Fulton.
Here's how the schoolhouse looked when they went to school here:
Next stop was the old Fulton Dance Hall. It's now a vacation home owned by a family, but it was very interesting hearing some of the dance hall stories!
These wonderfully dressed ladies shared all the information with us.
And I caught a shot of the "flapper" looking out the window. Looks like she's checking to see if one of her dance partners might be coming up the walk:
We also visited the local Historical Society, all decorated for the season. There are some wonderful displays of local history there, and we'll plan to return when we can spend more time reading all the interpretive signs.
here's one of the well-dressed docents along with a couple of former Board Chairmen of the Historical Society:
Their old-fashioned Christmas Room was beautifully decorated:
And a pretty neat old stained glass window on the way out:
Another house is so well tucked under the oak trees that we've passed it dozens of times without really seeing it. And when you do look right at it, nothing about it stands out. Just a brown house under the oaks.
It was built in the 60's and was recently remodeled into a gorgeous family vacation home. They have a very large extended family, so they've also added two lovely guest houses to accommodate the crowd when everyone shows up at once.
And here's the crowd, above the still-in-use player piano (notice the piano music rolls on top of the piano):
Here are our friendly docents who gave us a tour of the house:
(Check out those windows behind them overlooking the Bay!)
A couple more interior shots:
This shows one of the guest houses in the background:
Now, our very favorite house will have to wait for next time. I took so many photos that I want you to be rested and ready for what I have to show you. I'll give you a sneak peek of the outside. But be forewarned: you can't judge a book by its cover. So try to imagine what might be inside this cozy little 1930's cottage:
And then come back to see if you were anywhere close!
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