Dave's Travel Adventures: Texas City Dike & Aero Force Park (Texas City, TX; September 2013 -- Part A)

DAY SIX – 13 SEPTEMBER 2013: SURPRISES IN THE CITY OF TEXAS CITY

Mum thought we were going to see lighthouses yesterday, and she’d worn her lighthouse shirt appropriately. (See, I’m not the only one who does shit like that.) I thought we might’ve hit another section that day, but what we found took up (in a good way) sufficient amounts of time. Looking on the road map, there seemed to be two lighthouses indicated in Texas City, so that seemed to be a good destination to start with. There was also a rum distillery in nearby San Leon that I wanted to check out, called Railean Rum, but tours were only for specific times and could only be scheduled via email (and not something we could do at the last minute). Something to know for later.

Considering there were refineries along Galveston Bay (where Texas City is located), and the La areas we were in yesterday looked pretty well, I figured this could be a nice area too. A quick exit off the Gulf Freeway brought us to a pretty average looking small city. We were headed directly for the park at the coast, but Mum noted a sign for a museum not far after we’d passed the convention center. There were no museums noted on my road map nor in the AAA Tour Book, so it may not be there any more, be brand new, or not that big. We’ll play that by ear, as after Texas City our plan was to head northward.

One of the lighthouses on the map wasn’t even present. In the course of looking around, we took a drive along the Texas City Dike, a long narrow artificial strip of land that stretches a couple miles out into the bay. When we looked off to the east, we could see Port Bolivar in the distance (and the lighthouse which was there). Well, not the ones we were looking for, but there’s one. To the south was the tip of Pelican Island (which was technically part of Galveston).

I’d seen what looked light the top of a lighthouse to our north right before going out on the dike, so I figured we could check that out. Since it was short, I figured it was probably a pavilion or something. Sure enough, it was a lighthouse.

Marked as Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse, this was a replica of the original lighthouse that stood in the late 1800’s, and had a lot of information about the area. The original lighthouse was destroyed in the 1900 Hurricane. One thing I found neat was how the Bay looked before the dike was built, and the changes of the landmasses in order to protect the cargo ships.

While we were standing there, I looked back towards the city, and noticed in the nearby park was a Saber jet just sitting there. Okay, that had my attention, as it seemed so out-of-place. That’s worth a drive over to investigate.

As we drove around towards it, it looked like there was a WWI-era biplane next to the jet (and their position was set like the antique was chasing the modern plane). Located in what is now Bay Street Park, and informational plaque let us know the significance of the area. This used to be an Army base back prior to WWI (created in partially in response to the actions of Poncho Villa), and in 1913 was where the first “Aero Squadron” was formed (which later become known as the Army Air Corps). Essentially, we stumbled upon the birthplace of the Air Force. Wow! What a find!

The replica bi-plane was a representative of one of the original planes assigned to the U.S. Army, which were located here. The idea was to use them as recon and communications. The Sabre jet was there to remember those who flew missions over

Vietnam

. The base remained here until a hurricane in 1915 showed that it was not practical to have a location so close to the coast (and subject to rather harsh weather affects). It sounded like the museum would be something worthwhile hunting down now.