In Junction, we filled our bellies’ with smoked ribs and put a 2 1/2 pound smoked pork chop in the cooler.
We then headed east on I-10 to a campground southwest of Port Arthur on the Gulf of Mexico -- Sea Rim SP. While all the news broadcasts proclaimed that Houston was flooded; east, west, south and north, we headed east. However I-10 was open. We left early Sunday morning anticipating traffic problems. None were encountered, but there was an awful lot of water on the ground beyond the road.
We arrived at Sea Rim in the afternoon with time to set the camper before dark. Sea Rim SP is located among the sand dunes on the Gulf of Mexico, west of Sabine Pass. The park was not crowded. There is a wooden walkway from the CG to the beach, maybe 100 yards. There were plenty of shorebirds on the beach (April) and a few people. West of the campground, one can drive to the beach, but high clearance is necessary. There are numerous small ponds near our campsite that gave us a loud chorus at night. We did not find any polluted water or oil residue that was discussed in some previous reviews. We would recommend this site if, you like to hear nature’s sound and the song of small waves on the beach.
As soon as the camper was set up, it was time to dash off for our first, long awaited, 5 pound tray of crawfish (Mudbugs) in Port Arthur. There are a number of good “crawdad” restaurants in Port Arthur, unfortunately we were able to try only three of them. In nearby Nederland there is another of our favorite area restaurants, Sartins. Sartins’ specialty is barbecued crab, a very tasty and a different way to cook Blue Crabs.
A beautiful statue of Our Lady OF Guadalupe sits on a mound on the church grounds in Port Arthur. The 17’ bronze statue in patina color was sculptured by artist Miguel Angel Macias, from Mexico City, and Douglas Clark. It is set directly on top of rocks brought to Port Arthur from the Mount Tepeyac in Mexico City, Mexico, where the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego. In November 2, 2001, a 7' bronze statue of St. Juan Diego, sculpted by the same artists, was placed on the shrine site.
Also, in downtown Port Arthur, there is a Buddhist Church and Garden. The garden is very peaceful and has at least two water features.
As we were breaking camp, on our way to heart of Acadiana, a weather front moved in. We had not folded up the ends of the camper and the wind blew so strong that we felt the camper pick and flap its ends like wings and move to the next site. I exaggerate somewhat but the wind event did make us grab a hold of something that was attached to the camper. By the time we had the ends folded up, the wind had passed.