Groundhogs and Goliad

Well, today is Groundhog day and I understand that from his sighting that we will have 6 more weeks of winter. Well, with that important decision made, we decided that we would take a day trip.

We traveled north about 60 miles to the little town of

Not only was this a quaint little town with a

beautiful court house located on the town square and some

cute little shops. But there were also some interesting

places to eat. By the way this restaurant was located directly across from the court house lawn and in full view of the

the hanging tree?

However, beyond the town square there is a lot of Texas history here. Just a few miles out of town is the location of

the Presidio La Bahia. This is a national landmark and is considered the world's finest example of a Spanish frontier fort. This is the most fought over fort in Texas history. It participated in six National Revolutions/Wars for independence. It was at this crossroad that every attempt was made to forcibly change the governmental order of Texas. And, it was on October 9, 1835, that a group of Texas citizens, lead by Capt Collinsworth, entered Goliad, attacked the Mexican garrison and was successful in taking possession of the fort. And then after completely cutting off the last remaining line of Mexican communication from San Antonio to Matamoros. And, the then first Declaration of Texas Independence was formally declared at the Presidio on December 20, 1835. I thought it was interesting to find out that twice as many lives were lost at Goliad than at the Battle of the Alamo.

This is also the location of Our Lady of Loreto Chapel and is one of the oldest churches in America and was the site of the signing of the First Declaration of Texas Independence.

From here we traveled on to

This was a nice little park with

a really nice loop for camping. This loop has water, sewer, and 50 amp service. They also take reservations. Lots of trails for biking and walking. Also located on the premises is the

Mission Espiritu Santo

this beautiful old wooden door was at the entrance to the chapel.

What a great day. We also managed to work in a few geocaches today. We arrived back at the park and quickly put together dinner of homemade pork tamales (purchased from Granny's) a lady who drives through the parks selling her homeade tamales. We added some chili, chips, and cheese and made a meal.

Tomorrow, we are planning on making a trip on the ferry over to Port A to do a little shopping. See you then.