Port Arthur, TX

Wednesday, 21 Nov

Last night, we reviewed where we were, and where we wanted to be by when, and decided to spend the morning visiting two more museums in the area.  Selected the first one in Port Arthur, 30 minutes away, as it open d at 9am.  Thinking we might sleep in, we set an alarm.  Turns out, we were both up well before the alarm.

Temperatures got down to 39 degrees - chilly, but no cause for concern regarding winterizing.  About 7:15, we wandered over to the group room where the continental breakfast was being served.  It was okay - maybe Holiday Inn Express equivalent.  Not much to get excited about other than it was included, and not crowded.

Nice drive in the sunshine to Port Arthur, TX to the Museum of the Gulf Coast, which had been recommended by the staff at the Spindletop/Gladys City Boomtown Museum yesterday.  Arriving early, we decided to just take a driving tour through the downtown area.  Very economically depressed area.  More like a ghost town.  Several multi-story building were vacant, and had been for a long time.  One in particular, which was boarded up at the ground floor, was missing most of the windows in the 4 or 5 stories.  And on the top floor, on the shouts side, there were trees growing inside the building, with limbs extending out the windows for sunlight.  We passed near part of the port, where we found a lot of activity of military vehicles arriving, lining up to be loaded out on a ship.  As we made our way back to the museum, we were stuck by the irony of a very depressed, nearly deserted part of the downtown area, and city workers installing holiday lights on each telephone pole.

When we entered the museum, we were greeted by the lady behind the desk who was very welcoming.  And the security guard, suggesting there was a need for a security guard.  

The Museum of the Gulf Coast (www.museumofthegulfcoast.org)was interesting.  Nice exhibits, lots of Texas historical info, and info on the oil history/business.  Upstairs, there were three Popular Culture galleries that featured notable personalities of the Gulf Coast:  Music Hall of Fame, Sports Legends Gallery; and Notable People Gallery.

Next we went back to the Clifton Steamboat Museum (www.cliftonsteamboatmuseum.com) in south Beaumont, which was actually only a couple of miles from the campground we stayed at.  But they did not open until 10am, so we decided to do it second on the day.  There were no full-size steamboats.  There were several very well done scale models of various steamships that had a prominent role in the history of the area, including the Civil War battle fought at Port Arthur.  The museum also had all kinds of non-steamboat collections which included interesting art pieces portraying native Americans, and personal artifacts of Port Arthur residents who served in World War I, World War II, and Korea.  After visiting the museum, I formed an impression that the building had been built around a vision of steamboats that was grander than the available artifacts, so faced with a large venue, added non-steamboat exhibits.

The only full-size boat exhibit was the 1938 tugboat “Hercules” near the entrance to the building.

After the Clifton Steamboat Museum visit, Sprinty headed west via blue highways for Atascocita, TX where he will take a break from traveling while Kris and Darrell spend the holiday with family.