Fourth of July Weekend

A year ago on the Fourth, we were near the beginning of our 11,000 mile trip up and down the Eastern U.S. and Canada's Maritime Provinces. We had a wonderful, warm and hilarious family reunion with Curt's siblings and families at his brother Ross's house in Masachusetts.

This year it was quite different. Now we're settled on the Texas coast in the wonderful little town of Rockport. Generally things are pretty quiet in our little corner of the bay, because most days we're the only people at home on our part of the neighborhood. The other homes around us are either vacation homes or rental properties which are usually vacant.

Not this week! There have been house parties in almost every house around us. The noise hasn't been bothersome, though. It's really fun to see people having such a great time together. Reminds us of our family reunion last year!

We had our own quieter version of a house party. Our friends Clint and Brianne Rangel from Leakey, and Brianne's sister Laura and Laura's friend Josh came to stay for a nice long weekend. It was great to see them again, and Clint and Brianne were the first people to be able to stay in the fully functional guest room/art room/music studio. (See previous blog post.) They arrived late Thursday night after a long drive, so we got everyone settled in bed as quickly as possible and saved the catching up for the next day when everyone was a little fresher.

Friday included a driving tour of Rockport and Fulton to get everyone oriented, then breakfast and a shopping trip in the Historical District before the promised hordes of tourists arrived. Brianne found a Rockport souvenir...a wooden carved armadillo.

We took turns kayaking, bike riding, and cooling off in the pool. We enjoyed hanging out together, catching up on all that's happened with all of us since we last spent time together more than a year ago... Before our big trip. 

Saturday morning, the Fourth, Curt and I took our turn in the kayak. We paddled around the corner of the canal to start our celebration of the Fourth with a drink at George Strait's house. Okay, George wasn't there, and the drink was a gulp from my water bottle, but it WAS by George's house!

A Rockport tradition on the Fourth is for all the boat owners to gather in Little Bay to socialize and celebrate together. The boats all pull up next to each oh her, so that they form a flotilla. You can actually walk from one to another. And people are standing around in the chest deep water eating, drinking, talking and laughing. When we paddled by, the flotilla was just starting to form, but we've heard that there are hundreds of boats that gather for that every year, and they spend all day there. I bet there were a lot of sunburned, dehydrated people that night!!

All along the waterfront, houses were decorated with flags, bunting and patriotic signs. It was wonderful kayaking along and seeing all the festivities.

Here's Curt getting ready to dock our intrepid little kayak. Check out the bougainvillea that we get to enjoy every time we look off our balcony over the water.

On the evening of the Fourth, our guests drove to Corpus Christi to check out a parade and the sailboat races. Curt and I enjoyed a wonderful brisket barbecue at the home of our friends John and Ginger Gay. We met some great new friends, and had a rousing round of patriotic songs, accompanied by guitar and washtub bass.

On our way back home we watched the spectacular Rockport fireworks display. I was so awed by the terrific explosions that I totally forgot to take any photos! A great evening out on the porch followed, visiting with our house guests, and watching the parties continue around the neighborhood.

Here we are 10 days later, and the house party across the canal from us is STILL in full swing. Tonight as I'm writing this blog, they're celebrating someone's birthday. There are at least 25-30 people out on the balcony which wraps around the house. Many boats are tied up to the dock, and the party is in full swing. Being enthusiastic people watchers, it's so fun to watch families and friends enjoying themselves.