October 24, 2008
Year 13. Issue 322 Photo by Patrick Lewis
Around Port A It was a big weekend in Port A as the Pig Party at Shorty’s and the Harvest Moon Regatta brought all sorts of folks from out of town. The Island was shakin’ and quakin’ from the heavy metal thunder and the blow boats were everywhere. The sailors from up Galveston way report mucho flotsam and jetsam still making its way around the Gulf. In fact, they say there is an entire house out there with a boat still attached. The Harvest Mooners filled the pavilion park and had headed back to Galveston with many good stories to tell. Over at Shorty’s the barbeque started cooking in the wee hours Saturday and dinner was served at midday. Ms. Rose throws the party each year to honor our swiney friends and for cyclist use it as a good excuse to ride their bikes to The Island. The flounder have been active lately as they head shoreward in search of warmer water and offshore fisherpersons report a variety of catches. If pool is your game you might want to check out the goings on at the VFW. Monday night is the three ball tournament and Wednesday is eight ball. But be warned, be sure you bring your best stick as there are some fine shooters over there. If steak eating is your thing you might want to check out Neptune’s on Sunday. Joe will cook your steak on the pit outback and you might want to bring along your guitar or fiddle or even your squeezebox as there is an impromptu jam session that breaks out when the mood strikes. Last Sunday there was a good crowd. The beaches are mostly free of seaweed and tourists as well, although the weekends still find the beaches relatively full of tourists who know that October is the year’s best beach weather. We should have another five or six weeks at least before things turn off cold so now is the time to get out and enjoy your favorite outdoor stuff. The evening dolphin watch tours have been crowded on the weekends along with the head boats heading out of the jetties in Port A. We’re throwing more papers in Port A these days. Last issue readers grabbed almost twentyfive hundred copies from the stores and businesses around town. The IGA is the most popular place for getting The Moon but we are throwing in almost two dozen places now. Don’t forget about turkey bowling on the last weekend of the season at the Back Porch on the weekend of November 4th. We’ll see you there.
13th Annual Fall Back Festival The Port Aransas Fall Back Festival will provide wine and food tasting (from 15 local restaurants), rhythm and blues to rock and roll music (from 3 talented bands), prizes from drawings at a Chinese Auction and prizes for best costumes. This event on November 1, 2008, from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM will be in the outdoor courtyard of the shops by Pelican’s Landing Restaurant on Alister and Roberts Street in Port Aransas. This event welcomes the approach of the fall season and the upcoming change of Daylight Savings Time to Central Standard Time. All proceeds benefit the Port Aransas Community Theatre. Tickets are $30 per person and will be available starting October 25 at the Gratitude Gift Shop, 316 North Station Street. Tickets also can be purchased at the door the night of the event. Multiple wines will be offered for tasting by Glazier’s Liquor and Wine Distributors of Corpus Christi and S.A. Better Distributors of Texas of San Antonio. Nuttin’ But The Blues Band hosted by Dicky Neely will also include Guy LeRoux and Eddy Lee Skipwith. Sweet Potato Pie music will be by Rich and Dawn Segura, Antone Perez and Franz Schlievert. Also a surprised reunion of an old favorite band in this area, Silent Slim and the Locomotives will feature Antone Perez, Franz Schlievert, Rich Segura and Dicky Neely. The night air will be filled with music and fun. A Chinese Auction will have a variety of wonderful gifts provided by area local merchants available for a $1 ticket drawing. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes as Halloween fun is extended for one additional night. Madame Lu will be there to tell your fortune as you cross her palm with silver; and for a small cost, bring your own camera and you can get your photo taken with either Elvis Presley or Dolly Parton look-alikes. This year’s participating restaurants are Castaways, the Crazy Cajuns, Fins Grill & Icehouse, Hook’s Bar & Grill, IGA Sandwich Shop Deli, Island Café & Smokehouse, LaPlaya Mexican Grille, Pelican’s Landing Restaurant, the Phoenix Café, the Port A Pizzeria, Quizno’s, Sips Café, Thaiphoon Restaurant and Trout Street Bar and Grill. Taqueria San Juan is participating with a cash donation.
Photo by Mike Pisula
Lots of Bull On the Beach
No really. Bullriding coming to The Island! While we all know there has never been much of a shortage of bull on the beach in these parts now there are going to bull parts – actually entire bulls – at Padre Balli Park on Saturday, October 25. Rocking S Productions will set up bullpens and a bucking arena near the county building near Bob Hall Pier. More than sixty bulls will be brought to The Island for the event along with about fifty bullriders. The riders come from as far as Brazil and Costa Rica. There will be $9,000 in prize money along with a $1,500 shootout (we Moon Monkeys are not sure what a shootout is but we hope it doesn’t actually involve guns). Live entertainment will be provided by Brandon Jenkins, Brett Crenshaw and and Jason Southern. There will be plenty of concession stands with food and beer. A similar event drew more than 17,000 people at arena set up in front of the Alamo in San Antonio. There are plans for a two day event in Port Aransas near the jetties during Spring Break 2009. The kick off party will be held Friday night at Tsunami Bar & Grill with music by South Texas Destroyers. The after-party on Saturday night will be at the Pelican Lounge. Come help support this event which they hope to make an annual one. The event will run from noon-11 p.m. and admission is $15. For more information see the website at c4bulls.com.
The Harvest Moon Regatta sailed its way into Port A on the weekend of the 15th. More than one hundred and fifty boats sailed down from Galveston for a fun weekend on The Island. Photo by Patrick Lewis
Photo by Mary Craft
When we got a call that a Panamanian submarine had washed up on the beach south of Bob Hall Pier we had to go check it out. It turned out to be neither Panamanian nor a submarine. It is an escape pod from an offshore oil rig that had the name Panama painted on the side that had washed up during the high water from Hurricane Ike. It washed up about three miles south of Bob Hall Pier and was half buried in the sand upside down. Some enterprising salvagers managed to free it and flip it over with a piece of heavy equipment and remove an engine that was used to propel it. At last look it was still there.
Isle Of Padre To The Isle Of Capri by Mary Craft mkay51@aol.com My recent visit to Naples, Italy included a trip to the Isle of Capri. The ride on the hydro-jet boat with very comfortable inside seating took about 40 minutes. When we arrived in Capri there was a mass of people along the marina that had disembarked from ships. I told my friend Erlene that I had spotted a street that wasn’t as crowded as the others from the boat. It was just off the waterfront. We proceeded to leave the masses and go up that street. It turned out to be a dead-end but right before the end was a stairway with a sign “Central Capri.” Upon my suggestion we started walking up the curving stairway that was lined with ten-foot walls on either side. It was high noon and the sun was beating down on us our entire journey. At times, we were walking on steep ramps instead of stairs. There was the occasional gate leading to a private home
which we used as a rest stop. At one of our early stops we thought it a little peculiar that with all the tourists on the island we were the only ones on this stairway. When we stopped again we were out of breath and dripping with sweat. We kept thinking and hoping the next curve would bring us to an intown landing but that was not to be. Finally we heard a car and better yet, a jackhammer, which surprisingly was music to my ears! At the top we found no stairs but instead, a highspeed highway and nothing else. The climbing staircase continued on the other side of the highway. We continued to climb. It was not all gasping for breath. We kept breaking out into laughter over our predicament. Erlene says to me, “You think you’ve got it bad, I’m a smoker!” We were at the point of no return and had to forge ahead. We start seeing a trickle of people coming down. We asked a British couple CAPRI continued on Page B4
Presented by the Art Center for The Islands And The PA Chamber of Commerce The 2nd Annual Art Walk-about will be from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday the 25th of October. There are Art Walks in several Texas cities, Harlingen, Dallas, San Antonio, Abilene, Austin, Rockport, Port Isabel and more. Texas Commission on the Arts states it succinctly on their website- “Art Walks are encouraging local communities to learn more about the positive impact of the arts.” This art walk is planned to encourage and promote art and culture and let everyone know Port A is Port Arty! Starting in Old Town and winding out HWY 361, this is a self-guided tour of these arty locations and you can start your tour at any point and follow the map, which will be available at all locations. This is a great opportunity to get out and walk, bike, or take a cart, and learn more about the art culture in this community. These 11 different venues are all free and open to the public, meet a variety of folks, mingle, have
refreshments at each location and meet others who share a passion for art, or encourage a friend or neighbor to come along. Potters on Cotter -413 E. Cotter Larry Charles Studio- 604 E. Cotter A Mano-722 Tarpon Debra Wilbanks Williams Studio-118 W. White Popsicle Toes- 345 N. Alister Port A Gallery- 345 N. Alister Art Center for the Islands -323 N. Alister Susan Castor Collection- 106 E. Roberts Cita Resort Interiors- 129 N. Alister Donna Van Baalen Studio- 303 S. Station Mustang Island Art Gallery- 2222 Hwy 361 Art Center for the Islands is a 501 (C) (3) NonProfit Corp. Promoting Art & Culture Island Style since 1996 Inquiries 361-749-7334 email: artcenter@centurytel.net website: www. portaransasartcenter.org