Greetings from Beaumont, TX

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
The cool thing about travel is that pretty much every place has something to recommend it. It may be good for a week and not a month, but we haven't been to too many places that had absolutely nothing. My friend teased me about Des Moines, but we spent 3 busy and enjoyable weeks there.

You wouldn't think of Beaumont as a happening destination, but it's a small city in its own right and surrounded by charming little towns that are worth a few days of exploration. It's raining like a big dog here, and will be for the next few days, but Thursday should be sunny and dry and we'll go on walkabout to see what's what.

Our campground (Hidden Lake) is very basic, predominantly a temporary home for those working on the oil rigs and one-nighters on their way somewhere else. There is nothing for children: no pool, no basketball or playground. But there is an enormous fishing lake, which is why I chose it over the other campgrounds in the general area. It's clean, and well taken care of, and the bath houses are decent size singles, which is always a plus.

We'll probably go into downtown Beaumont and see their sights, and spend an afternoon seeing what's going on in Nederland, Port Arthur, and some of the surrounding towns. I got a big chip in my windshield on the way to Baton Rouge, so Saturday I have an appointment at Safelite in Beaumont to fix it.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Hidden Lake, huh? Reminds me of a disaster that the missus and I experienced in Missouri as we made out way across the US from Washington to Maryland. Saw the campground icon and pulled of a the exit. Nice little sign points us in the direction of "Bobber Lake Campground", with a cute little graphic that looks like Tom Sawyer fishing off a pond bank.

Gah. Turned out the "lake" was the catch pond for all the runoff from the large gravel and dirt parking lot behind the truck stop up the hill. You would have had to hack brush, think "African Queen" style, to even get to the edge of the "pond"..not that anyone would ever want to. The campsites had not been mowed in weeks and none of the electrical outlets worked...the "bath house" was so disgusting that we sacrificed towels to the floor to have something safe to walk in and out on.... The only utilities that seemed to be working were connected to the obviously semi-permanent camp resident living ina beat-up camper that did a brisk business selling a lot of "something" after dusk...and pretty much all night long.

Proof you should research all stops in advance of your travel..LOL.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Hidden Lake, huh? Reminds me of a disaster that the missus and I experienced in Missouri as we made out way across the US from Washington to Maryland. Saw the campground icon and pulled of a the exit. Nice little sign points us in the direction of "Bobber Lake Campground", with a cute little graphic that looks like Tom Sawyer fishing off a pond bank.

Gah. Turned out the "lake" was the catch pond for all the runoff from the large gravel and dirt parking lot behind the truck stop up the hill. You would have had to hack brush, think "African Queen" style, to even get to the edge of the "pond"..not that anyone would ever want to. The campsites had not been mowed in weeks and none of the electrical outlets worked...the "bath house" was so disgusting that we sacrificed towels to the floor to have something safe to walk in and out on.... The only utilities that seemed to be working were connected to the obviously semi-permanent camp resident living ina beat-up camper that did a brisk business selling a lot of "something" after dusk...and pretty much all night long.

Proof you should research all stops in advance of your travel..LOL.

Yeah, that story is why we go NOWHERE on the fly, and every campground is researched extensively. :lol:

I'm thinking they might also call this place Hidden Lake because it's been raining since we got here - yesterday, but it seems like longer. Today has been torrential all day long and we're getting flood alerts on our phones - there is something called a "gulf disturbance" going on. The motorhome is now in the middle of a lake. :jet: It looked nice yesterday, though, and I'm sure once the wrath of God decides to let up so Monello can fish (which is why I chose this particular campground) it will be great.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Scratch Beaumont off your "gotta see it" list. They do have a helluva visitor's guide, though. Very optimistic. The reality is that it's a one horse town surrounded by one horse towns. It's the Idaho Falls of Texas.

Which is too bad because I had this vision of a rustic cowtown with dusty walky streets and kolache joints; get you a beer and set a spell. Their downtown is trying with Crockett St, but they have a ways to go and clearly that's a recent inspiration.

We did find Tammy's, which is a roadhouse in Nederland that is members only because you can smoke in it. Remember when several SoMD bars tried to invoke the "private club" clause when the smoking ban took effect, only to have the MD legislature go, "Yeah, we's gonna close us that loophole, bitches"? Well Texas didn't close that loophole, so if you find yourself in the sticks and run across a members only bar, pay that buck or two if you want to smoke inside like a civilized person.

I want it on record that it was Monello's idea to become a member, and he doesn't smoke. He just really likes his smoking (hot) girlfriend. :diva:

Next stop was Patillo's BBQ. It was a sh*t shack that looked promising, and it was except they had gravy - beef gravy - on the smoked meat instead of tomato based BBQ sauce. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not what we expected. The dirty rice was super delicious.

So anyway, I want to love you, Beaumont. I expected to love you. But you're being difficult.
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
Scratch Beaumont off your "gotta see it" list. They do have a helluva visitor's guide, though. Very optimistic. The reality is that it's a one horse town surrounded by one horse towns. It's the Idaho Falls of Texas.

Which is too bad because I had this vision of a rustic cowtown with dusty walky streets and kolache joints; get you a beer and set a spell. Their downtown is trying with Crockett St, but they have a ways to go and clearly that's a recent inspiration.

We did find Tammy's, which is a roadhouse in Nederland that is members only because you can smoke in it. Remember when several SoMD bars tried to invoke the "private club" clause when the smoking ban took effect, only to have the MD legislature go, "Yeah, we's gonna close us that loophole, bitches"? Well Texas didn't close that loophole, so if you find yourself in the sticks and run across a members only bar, pay that buck or two if you want to smoke inside like a civilized person.

I want it on record that it was Monello's idea to become a member, and he doesn't smoke. He just really likes his smoking (hot) girlfriend. :diva:

Next stop was Patillo's BBQ. It was a sh*t shack that looked promising, and it was except they had gravy - beef gravy - on the smoked meat instead of tomato based BBQ sauce. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not what we expected. The dirty rice was super delicious.

So anyway, I want to love you, Beaumont. I expected to love you. But you're being difficult.

:lol: Oh, well - good thing you only have a week!

The only thing I know about Beaumont is - my mom was born there! :dance: Her dad was Navy, so I'm not sure they were there very long - she had no real history there.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
:lol: Oh, well - good thing you only have a week!

It's annoying because Beverly Hills, FL was a wide spot, yet we loved it there. There were festivals and community things, and cute walky towns dotted around. Beaumont, I'm sorry to say, has nothing to recommend it.

I really did want to love it here.
 

Merlin99

Visualize whirled peas
PREMO Member
Scratch Beaumont off your "gotta see it" list. They do have a helluva visitor's guide, though. Very optimistic. The reality is that it's a one horse town surrounded by one horse towns. It's the Idaho Falls of Texas.

Which is too bad because I had this vision of a rustic cowtown with dusty walky streets and kolache joints; get you a beer and set a spell. Their downtown is trying with Crockett St, but they have a ways to go and clearly that's a recent inspiration.

We did find Tammy's, which is a roadhouse in Nederland that is members only because you can smoke in it. Remember when several SoMD bars tried to invoke the "private club" clause when the smoking ban took effect, only to have the MD legislature go, "Yeah, we's gonna close us that loophole, bitches"? Well Texas didn't close that loophole, so if you find yourself in the sticks and run across a members only bar, pay that buck or two if you want to smoke inside like a civilized person.

I want it on record that it was Monello's idea to become a member, and he doesn't smoke. He just really likes his smoking (hot) girlfriend. :diva:

Next stop was Patillo's BBQ. It was a sh*t shack that looked promising, and it was except they had gravy - beef gravy - on the smoked meat instead of tomato based BBQ sauce. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not what we expected. The dirty rice was super delicious.

So anyway, I want to love you, Beaumont. I expected to love you. But you're being difficult.

I thought you quit smoking?
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
If I had to describe Beaumont in 1 word, it would be gritty. With all the trucks on the roads here, you get the impression that a lot of people here work with their hands instead of sitting all day in an office.
 

Kyle

ULTRA-F###ING-MAGA!
PREMO Member
Yeah, so did I.

:lol:

I smoke three or four cigarettes a day, but on that rare occasion we find a watering hole that allows smoking I like to take advantage of it.
Somebody needs to invent a cigarette that doesn't disrupt my breathing or have any lasting effects so I can go back to enjoying my Marlboros.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
If I had to describe Beaumont in 1 word, it would be gritty. With all the trucks on the roads here, you get the impression that a lot of people here work with their hands instead of sitting all day in an office.

This would be an excellent relocation for someone who can't find employment where they are. With all the oil refineries and other industries here, I can't imagine it's too hard to make a living.
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Well it finally stopped raining. Rain seems to be 1 of those things that is bigger in Texas. The sound of their thunder also falls in that category. Up till now that hasn't been the rule as far as fish in the lake are concerned. I wet a line yesterday and caught 6 fish. A bluegill and 5 crappie. I was trying to catch bass but didn't have any luck. The biggest fish was 12 inches long. So much for the everything is bigger in Tejas.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
So anyway, Port Arthur = #### hole. Don't go. They did have a pretty cool museum of the Gulf Coast - a lot of blues musicians are from this area - but the rest of it is a bombed out ghetto with abandoned crumbling buildings and houses. We also went to the Spindletop museum in Beaumont, which is about the oil rush.

Yesterday in Beaumont we found Willy Burger, which was super good, and this morning we had breakfast at Bettie Jean's, which was also super good.

Monello calls this area "gritty", and that's a pretty good adjective for it. I try to be optimistic and see the good in places we go, even if they're #### holes, but Beaumont really doesn't have anything to recommend it.

Unfortunately my credit card was compromised somewhere along the way and now I'm on a cash basis until they send my new card to me at our next stop. SO annoying. The good news is that my cc company catches it right away and disallows the charge; the bad news is that it inconveniences me for a few days, plus I have to update all my auto bill pays.

Grrr.

Anyway, tomorrow we're outta here and on to Bastrop, which looks more promising.
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
So anyway, Port Arthur = #### hole. Don't go. They did have a pretty cool museum of the Gulf Coast - a lot of blues musicians are from this area - but the rest of it is a bombed out ghetto with abandoned crumbling buildings and houses. We also went to the Spindletop museum in Beaumont, which is about the oil rush.

Yesterday in Beaumont we found Willy Burger, which was super good, and this morning we had breakfast at Bettie Jean's, which was also super good.

Monello calls this area "gritty", and that's a pretty good adjective for it. I try to be optimistic and see the good in places we go, even if they're #### holes, but Beaumont really doesn't have anything to recommend it.

Unfortunately my credit card was compromised somewhere along the way and now I'm on a cash basis until they send my new card to me at our next stop. SO annoying. The good news is that my cc company catches it right away and disallows the charge; the bad news is that it inconveniences me for a few days, plus I have to update all my auto bill pays.

Grrr.

Anyway, tomorrow we're outta here and on to Bastrop, which looks more promising.


:getdown: On the road again!
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Some of the sights in Port Arthur.

port-arthur-3.jpg

port-arthur-5.jpg

baptista_pt_arthur_tx_hotel_sabine.jpg

And these were taken in the better part of town. Wowzer
 
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