Rockport Texas- Rockport Ranch 3

 Rockport, Texas- Rockport Ranch 3

We decided to try something different this winter. Instead of travelling and relocating every week, we decided to spend a few months at one park in Texas. We picked this park because of the rates and the location. Rates are significantly cheaper if you get a snowbird rate versus paying nightly or weekly rates. We had spent some time in this area last year and liked it. We were eager to experience the snowbird community that forms within the group. There were nearly daily or nightly activities within the group we could participate in but still have time to explore the area. We really enjoyed the social aspect and time we spent with other couples playing cards, board games, sharing meals and playing pickleball.  The relationships we formed with other couples and all the things we were able to do made it a successful first snowbird winter.

We did go on a cruise out of Galveston during our time at Rockport.

This glorious sunrise greeted us in Galveston the morning we left for cruise. Sunrises like this are the gift we are given for getting out of bed and outside this early in the morning. I always feel a sense of hope and promise when my day starts with this kind of beauty. 

This lighthouse welcomed us to the shores of Puerto Playa from the balcony of our stateroom.

These performers are dressed in ancient Mayan regalia as a salute to their culture. We have been both amazed and fascinated by the extreme intelligence and ingenuity demonstrated by the Mayans in their architecture, astrology, social structure and construction. 

A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting when a collapse of limestone bedrock exposes groundwater. The term originated on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where the ancient Maya commonly used cenotes for water supplies, and occasionally for sacrificial offerings. The cenotes are common tourist attractions for swimming- many are underground. 

Lisa on her way back to the ship from a day in one of the ports.

This may have been one of the highlights of this trip. Neither of us had ever done a swim with the dolphins excursion before. One of the highlights was the 11 year old girl in front of us. Apparently, her entire world revolved around dolphins.  Her excitement and enthusiasm were contagious and off the Richter scale. It was worth the admission price just to witness the pure joy emanating from this child. 

This view of the moon was a great ending to our last day at sea.

We went to the WWII Pacific War Museum in Fredricksburg, TX for the dedication and unveiling of Mark's father's,  Sidney C Rivard's, memorial. We had gotten the idea last year when we visited the museum and set everything up.  We scheduled the dedication to be performed on his 103rd birthday. We invited the entire Rivard family to share this celebration of his life and service to our country with us. We were surprised to discover JFK's memorial is just a few markers down from his.

Ironically, Dad's memorial plaque was placed next to a submarine memorial. JFK's memorial is about the fourth memorial down to the left of his.

Goliad, Texas

Antelope and other exotic breeds are being bred and raised inside high fences.  This is lucrative, big business all over Texas. Hunters pay big money to go to one of these ranches that have these exotic breeds and "hunt" for them. For a premium price, you can be assured the trophies of your choice. Chance and skill seem to eliminated from the process of traditional hunting.

A memorial at the town square of Goliad for WWI military members that died in that war.

Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, was a Roman Catholic mission established by Spain in 1722 to convert native Karankawa Indians to Christianity. Together with its nearby military fortress, Presidio La Bahía, the mission upheld Spanish territorial claims in the New World against encroachment from France. The mission facilities inside the surrounding stone walls included rooms to house the priests and the Indian families, a granary, workrooms, and a separately located forge.

Fannin Monument

After “Remember the Alamo,” the Texas Revolution’s most potent battle cry was “Remember Goliad.” A charming community on the San Antonio River now sits where, in 1836, Mexican forces executed Col. James Fannin and his men. Some were killed along roads near Goliad’s historic Presidio La Bahía. Others, including Fannin, were executed inside the fort, which had been constructed in 1749 to protect the nearby Mission Espíritu Santo. Fannin and his troops are buried beneath the Fannin Memorial Monument, located next to the fort.

The dramatic Bloody Arm flag, which was designed by Captain Philip Dimmit, the same man who designed the 1824 flag two months earlier, was raised at the Presidio La Bahia in Goliad on December 20, 1835, in honor of the signing Goliad Declaration of Independence. This declaration, which stated that Texas was a "free, sovereign, and independent State," was signed two months before the General Convention officially declared independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos. The flag was permanently lowered on January 10, 1836, and was not present for either of the battles at Goliad.

The Bloody Arm flag represented a dramatic shift towards complete independence from Mexico, a position that was made permanent on March 2, 1836 when the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. Along with the Dodson flag, the Bloody Arm flag flew over Independence Hall when the Declaration was signed.

Founded in 1721 on the ruins of the failed French Fort Saint Louis, the presidio was moved to a location on the Guadalupe River in 1726. In 1747, the presidio and its mission were moved to their current location on the San Antonio River. By 1771, the presidio had been rebuilt in stone and had become "the only Spanish fortress for the entire Gulf Coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Mississippi River". The civilian settlement, later named Goliad, sprang up around the presidio in the late 18th century; the area was one of the three most important in Spanish Texas.

The presidio was captured by insurgents twice during the Mexican War of Independence, by the Republican Army of the North in 1813 and by the Long Expedition in 1821. Each time the insurgents were later defeated by Spanish troops. By the end of 1821, Texas became part of the newly formed United Mexican States. La Bahía was one of the two major garrisons in Mexican Texas and lay halfway between San Antonio de Béxar (the political center of Spanish Texas) and Copano, the then major port in Texas. In October 1835, days after the beginning of the Texas Revolution, a group of Texian insurgents marched on La Bahía. After a 30-minute battle, the Mexican garrison surrendered and the Texians gained control of the presidio, which they soon renamed Fort Defiance.

During the siege of the Alamo, Texian commander William B. Travis several times asked La Bahía commander James Fannin to bring reinforcements. Although Fannin and his men attempted a relief mission, they abandoned the attempt the following day. After the fall of the Alamo, General Sam Houston ordered Fannin to abandon La Bahía. He did so on March 19, 1836, but took a leisurely path. Following the Battle of Coleto, the La Bahía garrison was captured and imprisoned in the Presidio.

On March 27, 1836, the Texian captives were marched outside the presidio walls and executed, an event known as the Goliad massacre.

 Ignacio Zaragoza, at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th 1862, led his men to victory over the French.

This was the founding of the Cinco de Mayo celebration.