Always Want To Go

Steve and I had a wonderful day exploring unexpected delights in Port Arthur, Texas. Hopefully, these Port Arthur discoveries will encourage me to be more open-minded about our travel destinations. Who knew Port Arthur held so many surprises?

Galveston Ferry / Lunch at Stingaree’s

1295 N. Stingaree Rd.
Crystal Beach, (409) 684-2731

We chose to go “the back way” through Galveston and across the ferry. After a nice little 15-minute nap in our car during the ferry trip, we stopped at Stingaree’s for lunch. This restaurant is our go-to restaurant whenever we are in the area in the car or in the boat.

They have great food, beautiful views, and friendly people working there. We ordered from the counter at the open-air DownUnder Bar and Grill. We took our lunch outside to the deck alongside the Intracoastal Waterway, where we could watch the barge traffic.

After a relaxed lunch, we continued for an hour or so longer on to Port Arthur.

Port Arthur – the town

Port Arthur, Texas, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the Houston area, is the center of an extensive oil refinery network. I’d recently spent some time reading about Port Arthur and came up with a shortlist of places to check out in this area, and that was the plan for the day.

All I knew about Port Arthur was that it had frequently been knocked back by hurricanes but continued to rebound and rebuild each time. Hurricanes Audrey, Rita, Umberto, Ike, and Harvey all caused extensive damage in the Port Arthur area.

Sabine Pass Battleground State Historical Park

6100 Dowling Rd.
Port Arthur, TX 77641
(512) 463-7948
sabine-pass-bg@thc.texas.gov
Daily 8 am–5 pm
Extended summer hours May 1–Aug. 31 8 am–8 pm

The Sabine Pass Battleground State Historical Park was our first stop in the Port Arthur area. I expected to see a small little park with maybe a historical marker and a picnic table. This park is quite large and right on the water with beautiful scenic views, despite being surrounded by a lot of commercial industry.

There are paved walkways throughout the park, informative plaques, and an interpretive pavilion. From your cell phone, you can call the number provided on the displays to hear a narrative of historical activities that occurred at this site.  

The park facility includes public restrooms (although closed due to Covid 19 at this time), picnic tables, and grills. Pets on a leash are welcome. You can try your hand at fishing during your visit too!

This park is where, in 1863, a mighty Civil War battle took place. Not many more than 40 soldiers under the leadership of Confederate Lt. “Dick” Dowling suppressed a Union attack at this location.

The less-than-hour-long battle resulted in the capture of two gunboats and almost 350 prisoners and prevented Union soldiers from capturing area ports or from reaching the interior of Texas.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine

3648 9th Avenue

Port Arthur, TX

(409) 962-6777

Free self-guided and guided tours are available. 

The Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe was founded in 1927, and its church was established. Throughout the years, the church had four locations. In 1976 the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe was moved to its new and current address in a procession on the shoulders of the parishioners.

This 17-foot bronze Lady of Guadalupe Shrine was dedicated on Jun. 3, 2000, and displays the Mexican American culture of this parish. The Shrine is outside in the open to visit anytime, and the Rose Chapel, also located here, is open until 8 pm.

The shrine sculptors are Miguel Angel Macias, from Mexico City, and Douglas Clark.

According to tradition, Mary appeared to Juan Diego, who was an Aztec convert to Christianity, on Dec. 9 and again on Dec. 12, 1531. During her first apparition she requested that a shrine to her be built on the spot where she appeared, Tepeyac Hill (now in a suburb of Mexico City). The bishop demanded a sign before he would approve construction of a church, however.

Mary then appeared a second time to Juan Diego and ordered him to collect roses. In a second audience with the bishop, Juan Diego opened his cloak, letting dozens of roses fall to the floor and revealing the image of Mary imprinted on the inside of the cloak—the image that is now venerated in the Basilica of Guadalupe.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Our-Lady-of-Guadalupe-patron-saint-of-Mexico

The rocks surrounding the Port Arthur Shrine came from the site in Mexico, where the visions occurred.  In 2001 the same artists sculpted a seven-foot statue of Juan Diego, and it is at the shrine site. Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego in 2002 and declared Our Lady of Guadalupe the patroness of the Americas.

Museum of the Gulf Coast

700 Procter Street / Port Arthur, Texas  77640
9 am – 5 pm Mon-Sat / Closed Sundays and Holidays

This museum was the show stopper of the day, and we enjoyed meandering through the refreshing and varied collections. This unexpected gem of a museum includes an extraordinary quality of exhibits on two floors characterizing the rich and particular way of life in the southeastern Gulf Coast.

Whatever your specific interest related to the Gulf Coast and Port Arthur may be, you will find an exhibit here that covers it.

As we stepped into the museum, after paying the nominal required fee, the first sight we saw was the over 13-foot alligator shown above!

Since the museum did not have a crowd of visitors the very knowledgeable Brittany Delagarza, Education, and Tour Coordinator, graciously guided us through the first floor, pointing out information and facts that enhanced our visit. I expect she is brilliant with school student tours!

Brittany told us the tale of how this alligator, one of the largest taxidermied alligators, had been shot, believed to be dead, and dragged into the boat. It turned out the alligator was not dead, made it back into the water, and lived to be shot and captured another day, by the same person!

There are two floors of exhibits. On the first floor, you will find interpretative displays targeting the area’s history, including a magnificent mural covering an entire wall. The museum contains a Gulf Coast Hall of Fame that includes notables from the Port Arthur area.

I had no idea there were so many well-known, accomplished, and famous people from this small area. We were indeed surprised. On the second floor are exhibit displays for so many athletes (Bum Phillips) and musicians (George Jones) that called this part of the world home at one time or another.

Again, the list is very long. One notable exhibit we found especially interesting is the Janis Joplin display. I won’t detail the many exhibits in this museum; take a stroll through them for yourself. I promise it will be time well spent. We could have stayed here longer and hope to return to see this gem again.

I am embarrassed to tell y’all that I managed to set off an alarm at the John and Grace Snell Parlor exhibit when I moved in too close. No, I didn’t get sent to prison for my inappropriate museum behavior.

This, however, is the reason we were fortunate enough to meet Tom Neal, the museum director. He introduced us to some of the genuinely great exhibits upstairs. We were fascinated with the interactive music display and listened to some of the locally created music.

Pompeiian Villa

1953 Lakeshore Dr.
Port Arthur, TX 77640

We followed Brittany over to the Pompeiian Villa, a few blocks away. This Villa caught my eye when I researched Port Arthur attractions because we had recently been to Pompeii in Italy. It seemed logical that we should see Port Arthur’s version.

As you can see from the photo, the Villa is an actual copy of a Pompeiian residence from 74 AD, down to the pink exterior color. Now used for special events, this home is one of only a few remaining testaments to entrepreneur Arthur Stillwood’s “Dream City.”

This Villa, formerly owned by Isaac Ellwood (known as the “Barbed Wire King”), is beautiful inside and has what we found to be a fascinating history. I recommend taking a tour here as well as exploring the museum.

Although it did not appear unusual to me, Steve felt impractical for all the rooms to wrap around the courtyard without an inside hallway.

Sea Rim State Park

19335 State Hwy 87
Sabine Pass, TX 77655

Sea Rim State Park was closed the afternoon we attempted to visit. We’ll return to visit another day.

Pine Tree Lodge

3296 Pine Tree Rd
Beaumont, TX 77705

Steve and I happened at this restaurant/bar some years ago when we returned home with several friends after a weekend in Louisiana. As we were driving home from this day trip, we saw the Pine Tree Lodge sign along our route and decided to go take a look.

It turned out to be the re-opening night for The Pine Tree after being closed for almost two years. We learned from one of the managers, Sandy Miller, that their restaurant situated on Taylor Bayou flooded three times in the recent past. They decided to rebuild the structure, making it safer from floods.

The place is all shiny new and much more extensive now but still in its picturesque setting on Taylor Bayou. Although we did not have the required reservations, the hostess could find us an appropriately socially distanced table on the second floor.

The food was excellent, small fried shrimp and fries for me and a burger and fries for Steve. The outside decks were not quite finished, but a large performance stage is already in existence. I can foresee some good times with great music performances held here.

Although Pine Tree Lodge is off the beaten track a bit, we will make this a usual stop on our way to and from Louisiana in the future.

Ferry Home

By the time we finished our dinner, it was dark, and we began our drive home, back across the ferry again. It was a slightly rough crossing, and because our car was center front on the Galveston/Bolivar ferry, we had to wash it down with fresh water when we got home.

Saltwater is not a good thing to leave on your car overnight! Overall, it was a great day. We were both surprised by the sights we had seen in Port Arthur.

I would recommend taking a day trip there, having a picnic at one of the parks, visiting the museum and Pompeiian Villa, and meandering along on a lovely drive. Interstate 10 is the most direct route, but not at all the most scenic.

Stay tuned. It may not be Egypt or South America, but we’ll visit somewhere appropriate for the aged travelers next week!