Beaumont TX and the Gulf

We had planned to head northeast from here but the weather reports were calling for severe weather that way, so we took Hwy I-10 east. Got around San Antonio and Houston OK, since it was mid-day. Got to Beaumont near the Gulf around 4:30- checked in at Gulf Coast RV Park- nice newer park with large grassy pull-through sites and concrete roads and a nice pool and rec hall.  Went to Lloyd's for dinner- a local seafood place. Joe and Nancy had the 1# crawfish boil for $8.00, but Nancy didn't like how spicy they were so Joe ended up eating both.  Kirk had gumbo and I had grilled shrimp with creole rice.  Nice dinner- good prices.  We walked the dogs when we got back, it was 78 and humid at 8:00.  During the night I woke up to the sound of loud music.  Went outside, and could not hear where it was coming from.  Kirk went out and discovered it was coming from our portable radio that was stored under the camper! So weird that it took that long to turn itself on! He had to unpack the whole under-storage area to find it. 
On Thursday we drove down south through Port Arthur to the gulf.  We actually drove through an oil refinery to get there. Stopped at Sabine Pass Battleground (civil war battle), then went to Sea Rim State Park where there is 5 miles of nothing but grassland and beach.  We walked the boardwalk they had set up in a marshy area- saw one alligator and one snake.  The beach was filthy with washed up garbage, and the water was brown. You could not make me go in there! We also saw several jellyfish washed up on shore, along with a dead alligator carcass.  Nasty.  Drove back and had lunch at Tony's BBQ place in Port Arthur, good and cheap.  When we got back Joe and Nancy took a drive while Kirk and I went to the pool.  Ended up staying there talking to people. The water was cool but the air was so warm I didn't mind.

Alligator on the grass in the middle

Boat lift at Port Arthur

Second snake spotting on our trip!