After visiting with Patrick, Kara and Duncan in Houston in late April, I made my way down to Port Arthur heading to Sabine Pass and then Sea Rim State Park. Everything I had read about Sea Rim was that it was a small park but most importantly, I should expect mosquitos. I felt prepared as I had bought some screening along with some magnets and just in case, I brought along some duct tape, for good measure. I was not terribly impressed with Port Arthur, in fact if I never go back there it would be too soon, but I had been warned. I drove through to Sabine Pass, which was kind of cute, reminded me of Belize a bit. I made a right turn at the only traffic light and headed down to Sea Rim. By the way, whenever I saw historical markers I would stop and read. More on that later.

I loved Sea Rim instantly. There are only 15 campsites and you can dry camp on the beach. There were only a few campers in the camping area. There was a nice breeze blowing off the Gulf and I got a really great eyebrow camping spot next to the marsh with a clear view to the Gulf.

I was only going to stay a couple of nights. I checked in and Stretch and I began to set up for the night. I cut my screening, but them set up in case I was barraged with mosquitos early. The only comfort station is a vault toilet (sort of like an outhouse). I had never encountered a vault toilet before so this was new to me. There are no inside showers with hot or cold running water. My site had electricity and water. There is a shower on the dune boardwalk which takes you to the beach, so if you want a cold shower, that will do.

As it turned out, there was a great gulf breeze and I never had to worry about mosquitos. I kept my screens on at night, cracked my windows about 8 inches and slept like a baby. I even spent one more night and would have stayed longer except they were all full for the rest of the weekend.

On the way out I took a drive through Sabine Pass I discovered the Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site which honors the Civil War battlefield where Confederate soldiers stopped Union forces from entering Texas in 1863. It is a beautiful setting along the Sabine River and they have quite a large site to explore and lots of information. As I was walking through and reading all the information I kept thinking, I wonder if school children are brought here on field trips. What a great spot to learn some history.