fairestmom's VirtualTourist Home Page

Travel? Me? Never!
I was born in the tiny Texas community of Austwell (Refugio County) which is right smack at sea level in the part of Texas referred to as the Gulf Coastal Plains. Refugio County is comprised of several small communities with Refugio being the county seat. All my early years were spent living in Refugio, a very small town in this south eastern part of Texas. My family did not travel much and I remember as a child in school the teacher would ask us every September to write a paragragh and tell about our vacation travels. Needless to say, I never had much to write about.

My big beautiful state has many faces--from the tropical tip of south Texas with its orchards and crops to the coastal plains with many beautiful beaches such as Padre Island National Seashore, the hill country in central Texas with rivers too numerous to count, the Northern flat plains, and mountains and canyons to the West. It can take up to 12 or 14 hours to drive out of Texas depending on your direction!

I never in my life entertained the idea I would someday travel to other places in this world of ours. But I have and the experiences have been so rewarding. I have had the pleasure of traveling with my daughter, husband and grand-daughter at various times and it has brought me such joy. My daughter and I can fill hours of conversation reliving and enjoying our travel experiences.

I still remember when I was very young how hard my father worked to provide food for our family--he and my mother had 7 kids to care for. Fishing has always been a very popular activity in Texas and I remember the many times my father would go fishing. Sometimes we would pile in the car with him and make the 20 minute drive to Bayside, a small fishing community.

During the 1950's and early sixties my father was always busy. He was an avid hunter and fisherman out of necessity. Everything he brought home we used--deer meat, wild boar, rabbit, fish, oysters, shrimp. Thinking back now I realize how good we really had it then. My father--always the provider.

Not many people have heard of Bayside but this small community played a big part in my life when I was very young. Bayside is one of several small communities in Refugio County. Most of the land in Refugio county is farm land with the main crops being cotton and sorghum grain. I can still picture in my mind all the cotton fields we saw as we drove through the country roads.

Bayside is fronted by Copano Bay and is right on the coast line of the Gulf of Mexico. Many local fishermen are still drawn to the area and the ones with small fishing boats like to launch their boats in the bay and do their fishing further out from shore. Bayside is about 25 miles from Corpus Christi, Texas a much larger town. Corpus Christi is referred to as 'the sparkling city by the bay' and this city played a big part in my life years later.