saving the day...

i left my place yesterday around noon. headed for Bolivar, by way of Winnie. it was a nice drive. the rain had mostly let up, but you could tell there had been quite a bit of it recently. i stopped at Stuckey's for a pit-stop and i love looking at all the kitschy souveniers. got back on the road, drove thru Winnie(which looks much as it did back in the 70's when i used to frenquent it), past the fruit & vegetable stands, thru High Island(one of the birding capitals of the world), past Gilcrest, on thru Rollover Pass. i didn't stop at any of the Bolivar beaches; as much as i wanted to, since i was traveling alone with no cell phone, and if i had gotten stuck in the sand, it would've been bad because no one knew where i was. i did make a circle thru my old neighborhood, over on the beach side where the old roadside grocery store used to be. there's only an abreviated rest stop there now. the only recognizable house is my former in-laws home and a couple of rent houses i had occupied back when i was married. then on towards the ferry landing. i stopped for a Dr. Pepper at the bait house in Siever's Cove. the bait house is nestled in a fairly large marina, next to a boat ramp.
there's a covered deck built above the place that offers quite a view of the surrounding area and you can watch the boats and barges pass by in the intercoastal waterway which is just adjacent to the marina. i was the only one there and had the whole deck to myself, which was great! very peaceful, very relaxing. the weather was unbelievably cool. i guess because of all the recent rain. the humidy was real low and there was a nice cool breeze. so pleasant. i finished my soda and continued toward the ferry. unfortunately, there were a lot of cars ahead of me in line. it took two ferries, it was like 4pm-ish. after an uneventful ferry ride, i drove on the seawall headed for the west end of the isle. by the time i made it, to the place i always go to on the west end, it was 5:30pm. i parked and made my way across the walkway over the dunes. i took a nice, long leisurely stroll. since the tide was down, i was able to find a lot of sharksteeth. something i haven't been able to do in awhile because usually every time i go, the tide is up. i also found a nice specimen of the angle wing shell. the weather was incredible for this time of year. it felt more like autumn. i felt as if i had died and gone to heaven. surely heaven is a beach! it would be for me. when i got back to my car, it was 7:30pm. i was pretty hungry by this time since the last time i had eaten was brunch(leftovers from El Gallo) at 11am. i really wanted to have supper at DiBella's. a fantastic Italian restaurant over on 31st St and Ave P that is mostly patronized by the locals. but since it was 8pm by this time, i wasn't exactly dressed correctly (really short and holey cut-off blue jean shorts and a tank top), and had no reservations, i decided to skip it. i was still in the mood for Italian so i decided to go to CiCi's. i know, what a letdown. but it is a good place to get cheap pizza and lots of it. besides you can order any kind you want, unlimited amounts and free refills on drinks. all for under $7. that's hard to beat, especially on a poor artist's salary. as i sat there devouring my veggie pizza with extra cheese, i got to see the most beautiful sunset. it was splendid, with lots of pinks, lavenders and violets. i finally hit the road and decided to chance it by taking I45. you see, the last time i took I45 down to Galveston for the Historic Homes Tour with Elaine, the gulf freeway was under construction and created a huge traffic jam. but thank God, there was no construction, no detour this time. but it's quite a way from the west end of Galveston to my humble abode in the Heights and i didn't get home till after 10pm. which i was pretty tired by this time and since i had to go to work in the morning, i brushed my teeth and went straight to bed. but all in all, quite a way to spend a sunday.
p.s. i did two new paintings Fri nite!