Magnus in the Swamp, Day 7

 Wednesday Dec 10

Still at at Pickled Pelican. In the morning we took a drive to Sabine NWR. It seems to be an old place but they’re putting in new facilities. Where google maps showed the visitor center, there was only a brand-new, under construction bathroom. The workers were there still.

But the trails that took us in a big rectangle around and through the swamps were still usable, and there were shelters and an overlook. But none of the board walkways that I had been led to  believe were at the site. Strange.  No birds to speak of, except a possible rail that I didn’t get a good look at.

After lunch, Molly and I took a long walk on the beach. It was very pleasant—waves soothing, views calm. Boats on the far distant horizon. We saw only a few birds but we did see one rather large crab, peeking out of a hole by the edge of the wet sand. Cool! I looked for more crabs but didn’t see any.

The beach has lots of small shells but almost no larger ones.  And hardly any people at all, which is nice. When I returned, the northern Harrier saw me sitting don without my camera and took a meander  overhead—and then vanished. Darn her!  I did at least get the Osprey on the telephone pole.

It finally got warm enough that while sitting out at the cabana in the sun, I peeled off three layers. Coat then hoodie then sweatshirt.  Nice!

 

REVIEW: Pickled Pelican $75

Nice place and close to birding, but conflicting to me

I want to give this a really high review—the owner was very nice; she met us and helped us back into our site, then collected our money and told us to call her if we needed anything at all. But there were no written instructions handed out and no receipt offered. Which is kind of weird. I would have preferred to pay the entire balance by credit card but after the one-night’s deposit they took on credit card, the balance was required to be cash or check only.

The place appears to be pretty new and it’s laid out very well. The sites are close but no closer than usual for an RV park. There is a row of palm trees by the beach but no other plantings. It’s kind of bare but beautiful, of course, being right by the beach. There is a big building that might be a clubhouse, but she didn’t mention it and it didn’t appear to be open when we were there.

Our utilities worked fine. We had a choice between two sets of water and sewer, one midships and one at the back. Everything seemed fine. It wasn’t crowded at the time we were there (midweek in December). You can walk to the beach through a hole in the fence, which is nice.

My personal conflicts come from three issues:  proximity to the beach; street lights; scary flag. Being close to the beach means that they’re destroying beachfront that could have been left for the wildlife. But can I complain? I enjoyed the location, which makes me a hypocrite to complain.  The street lights mean that trying to sit outside to enjoy the night is pointless, although I guess I could have taken a chair down to the beach. During spring migration, or during turtle hatching season, I hope to think that they turn the lights off—but I doubt that they ever do. And the flag that bothered me was a weird design including a confederate flag, which makes me uneasy being around a person who would fly such a thing. I don’t want politics in my vacation locales. But it’s possible it was adjacent to the property, not on it.

It would be an okay place to go during swimming season, or during spring for access to the birding spots. If the things I mentioned above don’t bother you, then it will be great for you—I heartily recommend it otherwise.