By Georgia Osten
The beach crowds are thinning out, we had our first cool front, the grass growth is slowing down and the visitors are ceasing to show up at our front doors. Oops, wait a minute, this past weekend we had one of the biggest gangs we’ve had all year! The Dallas crowd made their way down to the beach to hang out for a long weekend. They usually wait until it’s a bit cooler, and boy did we oblige. The retired/un-retired family from Sugar Land joined us as well. On Friday night, we celebrated a birthday – our sweet Annie O’s “29th + 32.” On Saturday, more folks from Houston/Dallas showed up and we celebrated some more. The house was bulging, as it should.
One by one, group by group, they all left us and by Sunday morning, there only remained four of us. Best-fitting for our tourists, we decided to go taste the local flavor of the Gator Fest in Anahuac, just a short trek to the east. The car show was nostalgic, riding an air boat was a hoot – so was the sitting on the sidelines to get a picture as the air boats turn and swoop to spray all the onlookers, and soak my camera. My friend/cousin-in-law, Idgie, got to hold an alligator – “it’s squishy,” and she got to eat “gator on a stick.” She said it tastes like chicken and I told her it WAS chicken – she didn’t like that …
Our greatest thrill was seeing the BIGGEST gator caught during this festival. It was over 12 feet long, hanging up there by it’s neck. I posted it on FB and received a lot of great comments, but this one steels it, “Gator musta stole a horse.” We were in awe of Buck Medley, the Great Gator Hunter, as he strutted around his gator, what a showman!
If you’ve never ventured out the Anahuac way, make it a point to do so next September, ride in an airboat, hold a gator, and have some “chicken on a stick!”
GO’s Sand Bucket is only one beach bum’s journal of life at the beach, probably something each of you can relate to. Please feel free to email me with your thoughts, visions and/or feelings of just exactly what the beach means to you.
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