Adventures in
Migration
Tales from River's
End - Passport to Adventure
by Janice R.
Edwards
FOR San Bernard
Board Member/ P.R.
Greetings from River's
End.
If you
read my posts, you will know that I like to talk
about the Snow Geese who visit our fair river
this time of year. The last few rainy, cold days
a lot of our Snows spent the storm hunkered down
complaining about their accommodations on the
sand bar across the river directly opposite our
house. As you may or may not know, at River's
End (and most of southern
Brazoria
County),
we live right in the middle of the flight path
of many migrating birds. Seems like they, like
many people, come to the end of the river to
eat, drink and become refreshed before going
forward with life.
Thinking about the birds coming to the river
bringing with them their entourages makes me
think about people coming to the river. Part of
the title to this column is "Passport to
Adventure" and I think coming to the river has
always been an adventure. I can still remember
the first time I made that turn onto C.R. 2918
and traveled down the longest 9.3 miles I have
ever traveled to come to River's End. When you
cross the high bridge over the San Bernard and
make that turn onto 2918, there is a road sign
that says 'Dead End'. And you find yourself
thinking "What dead end? There is no end
to this road." That last leg of the journey is
miles of coastal marshland with fence posts
holding in scrub cattle, and tall grass rising
up to meet the boundless blue sky. If your mind
wanders, you can convince yourself that you are
the only human being on this road - until you
run into the
Intercoastal
Canal
and you have a rude awakening. And that's how it
is now. But it really was an adventure when
Barbara Churchill-Shindler and her family came
down here in the early '50's.
Once Maude Churchill got
her driver's license, she and Bo King - and
later, after the Kings moved away from the Erath
St. neighborhood in Houston - Donise McDonald
would often pack up all the kids, and some board
games in Maude's Henry J and come down to the
river when their husbands had to work. Well,
what I did not have room to tell you then, was
to describe just what an adventure it was.
Back then, the ladies
would load up all the kids (and there might be
as many as a dozen) in that Henry J (and later,
Maude's first station wagon) and drive down the
coast to the old swing bridge that crossed the
San Bernard. On the way down one time, Barbara
Churchill-Shindler remembers, on a standard
'rest break' at Johnny's One Stop, Maude
inadvertently left one of the kids behind. It
wasn't until one of the girls would not stop
crying (and several miles down the road) that
she found out about her errant child. She went
back for him and there he stood with Johnny, the
owner of Johnny's One Stop. Johnny greeted her
with, "From now on, Maude, before you leave
here, count heads!" So, another adventure story
was born.
But, the greatest
adventure when going to the end of the river was
crossing that old swing bridge. Barbara
remembers that in order to get safely across the
bridge when the tide was low, all the kids would
have to disembark from the station wagon, unload
it and walk across the bridge carrying their
gear, as her mother drove across. This kept the
car's tail pipe intact. Barbara was always
afraid that the bridge (which she thinks was
made from an old barge) would not support their
weight and they would have to swim for the other
side. It never happened, but the swing bridge
would always get their attention. But, the very
best thing about crossing the bridge (other than
surviving the experience) was getting across and
getting to buy a bottle of 'pop' from Elmer's
store. The store still stands on the banks of
the river and looks very much as it did back
then (sans the satellite dish). You can also
still see what's left of the landings for the
swing bridge. The drive over the San Bernard
high bridge at Churchill (sometimes referred to
as the Sportsman's Span) now is still an
adventure, but nothing like in the swing bridge
'50's.
Well, once you finished
having your 'pop' at Elmer's, according to
Barbara, you would drive down a one lane
partially shell-topped road through pasture land
inhabited by cows who were not impressed that
you were ready to get down to Laird's camp. If
it rained, you could not get down to the end of
the river at all. Barbara remembers praying for
rain at the end of the weekends after having fun
at the fish camps, so they could stay longer.
Then, there was the fishing and crabbing - but
that's another story.
I don't
think even Huck Finn had more adventures on the
mighty
Mississippi
than people have had, and still have on the San
Bernard. I know that my sister-in-law, Gwen
Zetttel and our neighbors, Henry Schuble and
Tommy King, have all caught some of the biggest
fish of their lives right off our docks. You
know, that shot of adrenaline, the heart
pounding, excitement of knowing something big is
pulling on the other end of the line - and
hoping you have what it takes to land it. Yeah,
true adventure. You, too, can experience that
adventure with just a bit of bait, a little
time, and a good fishing rod and with the rising
water, there's bound to be some big Catfish
looking for dinner. There's always that chance -
and after all, isn't that "chance" what
adventure is all about?
So, now what's happening
at the end of the river? Check back in a while
and I'll try to FINALLY recount some exciting
adventure about Jean Lafitte and Jim Bowie.
Here's wishing you no flood waters, a warm fire
in the fireplace, a full belly, a stretched
fishing line, a good story and your own
River's End.
1st
Saturday Breakfast
Feb. 3rd 8
am – 10 am
Dido’s Restaurant
and
Friends Of the River are teaming up for another
wonderful breakfast on the San Bernard.
This
month we have the pleasure to feature Erma and Larry Vacek.
Remember the wonderful briskets at the Clean Up event and
Christmas Boat Parade awards dinner? Well, master Bar-B-Quer
Larry Vacek is the main source for that awesome flavor.
That should give you some insight as to his abilities in the
kitchen. Ms. Erma is preparing her famous home-made
kolaches and cinnamon rolls for us. Also on the buffet will
be all the fixins to make your own breakfast taco.
You
know we’re going to have a feast and, of course, lots of fun
and fellowship! Please join us.
Cost
is $6 a head, kids 10 & under eat free.
If you are going to
join us for breakfast, please RSVP so we can get an
approximate head count.
RSVP Here
