Campgrounds, Texas

We Join the Boy Scouts?

by Ingrid

After our rainy stay in San Antonio, the weather cleared just in time for us to hit the road.  It was a Friday morning (Nov. 7th) and we managed to skirt around San Antonio with very little traffic, much to our pleasant surprise.Goliad Texas

Three hours later we arrived at Goliad State Park….. along with a line of yellow school buses.  Turns out this particular weekend had a lot of happenings going on.  “Oh, joy!”  Actually it’s nice to see the younger generation being taught history with a hands on experience.  Goliad, Texas, is the perfect place for this hands on experience considering the historical sites in the area…. history abounds.

The park was filled with middle school children from the nearby town of Victoria.  That Friday and Saturday reenactors would be present at the onsite Mission Espiritu Santo to help display and reenact life as it was so many years ago.

Mission Espiritu Santo
Mission Espiritu Santo – located on the state park property

I had made an online reservation in the Jacales Camping Area which offers electric and water only.  The full hook-up sites in the Karankawa Camping Area were already all booked up.  Pity, because that is a lovely loop with well spaced sites that I would highly recommend.

Texas state parksUpon check-in, the gal gives us the perfect site (#33) in the Jacales Camping area which is pretty much a parking lot with back-in sites.  The gal says, “I think you’ll be happy with that site and not bothered by the boy scouts”.  Brain fart – comment doesn’t register!

I direct hubby to our campsite.  “Oh yes, what a nice site”.  Our door opens to a grassy area with a picnic table and fire ring.  There’s only one other trailer in the far opposite corner of this rather large square parking area.  “Ah, peace and quiet amongst trees and nature”.  Al and I grabbed showers at the ‘comfort station’ and are rewarded with lots of hot water.  For those of you unfamiliar with living in a RV, LONG HOT showers are a luxury and not the norm for our lifestyle.  A six gallon water heater does not a long hot shower make!

Oh, how I miss my Rinnai tankless water heater (which our last two sticks and bricks homes had) and yes they do make them for RV’s and yes one is on our wish list. Ah, I digress ….

So after our hot showers, we relaxed around camp thinking this is the life.  No sooner said, the first of many vehicles started pulling in followed by the hammering of tent stakes that continued long after sunset.  Campfires were seen in all directions with the occasional sounds of children at play.Boy Scouts of America

We’ve already established in earlier posts that hubby and I are both morning people and are usually enjoying coffee by 6 or 6:30 every morning.  That said, Saturday morning I gazed out the window as I poured my second cup of coffee.  It was 7 a.m. and dozens of little boys were running around the campground playing hide n go seek while their dads were gathered around campstoves cooking up breakfast.Boy Scouts of America

We were surrounded ….. surrounded by tents in all directions.  This wasn’t just a Boy Scout outing, this was a local mini Boy Scout Jamboree which included several scout chapters from southern Texas and we were in the center of it all.Texas State ParksThey were gathered here to enjoy the Rio! Rio! event and learn the history of the area.  We too enjoyed the event as we strolled around the Mission Espiritu Santo grounds and talked to the reenactors.

Do you know the difference between a Cobbler and a Cordwainer?

Rio Rio event
this guy is a ‘cordwainer’ and he was making a pair of boots for himself. Interesting stuff!

A cordwainer makes shoes and a cobbler repairs them.  As a side note; try Googling ‘cobbler’ and you’ll find some amazing recipes LOL.

The cordwainer reenactor was interesting to talk to as he shared the process of boot making.  Then we were on to the spinning wheel.  This gal was making yarn from some Alpaca wool. Her table was loaded with wool from sheep, alpaca, and bunny rabbit angora.  Loved this touchy, feely event!spinning wheel

All the reenactors were gracious and enthusiastic about sharing and being photographed.historical artifactsspinning wheels loomsThe mission itself houses some interesting historical artifacts ….  items used for everyday life.  This was definitely a fun find and the Rio! Rio! event helped bring to light life on a mission 200 years ago.Texas missionsNext, we explore downtown Goliad…..

Texas missions
Hubby receives some much needed enlightenment!

Slaughter at Goliad: The Mexican Massacre of 400 Texas Volunteers

Panasonic DMC-ZS40K Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)

45 thoughts on “We Join the Boy Scouts?”

  1. Both my husband and myself were scout leaders. We went on many outings with our troops and it is important for the children to learn the lesson of ‘respect for others’. I’m glad to hear you had some respectful scouts (except the late night auction) as neighbors.

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  2. We loved visiting all the missions around San Antonio when we were there a few years ago. I remember what Greenbelt Park in DC was like whenever the Boy Scouts descended. The park vibrated with their shouts and laughter. 🙂

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  3. Looks like the work they were doing on the mission is done. Being a girl scout and having a father as the boy scout master I spent plenty of time with both great groups 🙂 Learned lots of valuable lessons from both organizations. Hope you got to enjoy bike path into town, during our stay they had their monthly market and the town and park were lighted for the holidays. May have to stop there on our way north, such a great park.

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    1. Yes, it is a very nice park and one we’ll probably stop at again. Last year when we drove by the mission was closed for repairs. The work does seem to be complete. Great trails that allowed us to get in plenty of exercise.

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  8. Funny, when we stayed at South Llano River SP in TX two years ago the Little Princesses joined us. They are a father-daughter YMCA group, and there were cute little girls and tents all over the place. We almost left but they were very well behaved and we had fun watching their little parade with all of them dressed up in Native American costumes.
    We haven’t been to Goliad but it looks worthy of a stop.
    Gayle

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    1. I think you guys would really enjoy Goliad. You can hike or ride a bike from the state park into town and surrounding historical sites. Definitely worthy of a stop and some exploration 🙂

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  9. Goliad State Park is a great hidden gem of a stop in Texas. Hope you had a chance to mingle with the locals at The Hanging Tree Cafe on the square. There is a cool little winery (http://www.texassouthwind.com/) down the road towards Refugio. Brings memories of our weekend trios there when we lived in Corpus Christi and had our 1st RV.

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    1. Yes indeed – Goliad SP is a hidden gem. We loved our stay and although we didn’t eat at the Hanging Tree Café we did notice it. In my next post I’ll talk about the Hanging Tree itself.
      Our next stop is Corpus Christi…. well, more like Mustang Island State Park. Any tidbits on the area are much appreciated 🙂

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  10. Well we have something else in common….when we stayed at Goliad State Park, we had Boy Scouts all around us. But, I must give them tons of kudos, they were excellent. They never bother us or Bella. They were very well behaved. We actually sought out their leader and told him how much we appreciated the boy’s respect for our area.

    I think the Rio! Rio! event would have been a ton of fun to attend. What a bonus you two got to enjoy.

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    1. This group was also very well behaved. We were surprised though that their loud fundraising auction continued Saturday night until 11:00 p.m. But the Rio! Rio! event was definitely a bonus and made up for any annoyances.

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  11. While we are never real excited to see large groups of children (comes from years of teaching), it is nice to see kids outside doing something besides video games. Nice that you got to participate in the events, as well. I have never heard of a cordwainer. Thanks for the lesson:) I always enjoy any kind of reenactment. Hope Al is all enlighted now:)

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    1. Oh how I love your posts when you do encounter hoards of children. You guys say things I can only ‘think’ and can get away with it because you come from years of teaching.
      It’d take years of enlightenment for hubby to ‘see the light’ LOL

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  12. The historical reenactment looks like fun. The big group of Boy Scouts…well maybe not as much. Very cool State Park though. I’ve never heard of it before.
    Nina

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    1. Goliad is a fun hidden gem. I’m not sure why it never received the recognition similar to the Alamo as a lot of critical battles took place in this area 🙂

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  14. They use to have monthly rates at the campground there..not sure if they still do…I could spend a month there..We have been there when the Goliad County Fair was going on just across the road from the state park..that was fun. also, be sure and walk up the gravel path from beyond the bath house..It takes you up to the swimming pool, you can cross the highway and take one of the trails around the park, ending up right back at your camper…FYI, our Keystone Cougar had a small hot water heater..our Hiker has a 12 gallon one…No problem with long showers (well, not TOO LONG!)..Thanks for taking us back to Goliad with you!

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    1. You are so right about having plenty to see and do in and around Goliad. Just taking the trails around the state park is enjoyable in itself…. add in all the historical sites and we have a winner. This may become a regular stopping point for us in our eastern travels and all because of you 🙂

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  15. What a great stop…we shared a boy scout campout in KY last year. Scouts are the best…having been a girl scout with the best outdoor camp leader ever, I wish every child could experience it. Cobbler? Blackberry!!!

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    1. It was actually nice to see the family’s enjoying the weekend together. And Cobbler? apple or blueberry but blackberry sounds pretty yummy as well. I still can’t make a good crumb topping that’s ‘paleo’. Nothing better than the original 🙂

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  16. Surrounded by Boy Scouts! Well it sounds like you took it all in stride. I don’t think I had ever heard the term cordwainer. Learn something new every day!

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    1. I know – cordwainer…. who’d a thought? When we asked him if he was a cobbler he was quick to share the differences. Very interesting and nice chap. Well, I didn’t take it too well when the scouts had a loud live auction that lasted until 11:00 at night around their campfire. We remained mum as we understood it was all in good fun. The next morning we received an unsolicited apology which was nice.

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  17. What a bit of luck that you took your long, hot showers before the hoards of boy scouts arrived. It seems that your visit there was a lot of fun and very informative too. I also want to touch and feel the bunny rabbit angora. 🙂

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  18. I’d say it was fun waking up in the middle of a Boy Scout event. As a former scout and scoutmaster, this post brought back some fond memories.

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  19. It has been about 3 years since we last visited Texas and out daughter who lives just north of austin. We have visited Port Aransas and San Antonio But that has been a long time ago. We enjoy Your Blog and the places you have been and are going. We are hoping to get away sometime this winter.
    Mel

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    1. Thanks Mel. We’ll be heading to Port Aransas and then Rockport hoping to take in more of the Texas coastline. Hope you are able to hit the road soon 🙂

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  20. Haha, I laughed about being surrounded by Boy Scouts — that happens to us at least a couple of times during the summer on Lopez Island. We’re usually drinking our coffee while they’re playing reveille. Goliad looks so interesting — how fun that there was a historical reenactment that you could participate in! This is definitely going on our list.

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    1. We didn’t mind all the scouts but we were surprised by the large number. Definitely put Goliad State Park on your list. It’s right up your alley 🙂

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