Living Our Dream

Blue Bell Creamery

Blue Bell Creamery is located about 60 miles northeast of Houston in the town of Brenham, TX. Margery found out they had tours, but it was almost two hours from where we were staying in Dickinson, TX, so we weren't sure we wanted to go that far.

Margery recently made contact with a couple who were old high school friends who are now married and live in the northeastern Houston suburb of Tomball. When they heard we were coming to the Houston area, they invited us to dinner. Since they lived north of the city, we decided visiting the creamery earlier in the afternoon would put us on the northern side of Houston so we wouldn't have to drive through rush hour traffic to visit Margery's friends for dinner. You might have noticed we have an aversion to rush hour traffic, one of the perks of retirement.

Blue Bell Creamery started in 1907 when a group of farmers started Brenham Creamery Co. to make butter from cream brought in by local farmers. A few years later, they started making ice cream and delivered it to local residents by horse and wagon. In the early days, they only made a couple of gallons a day.

In 1930, the company name was changed to Blue Bell Creamery in honor of the Texas wildflower, the bluebell (not the blue bonnet). Today, Blue Bell ice cream is the third best-selling ice cream in the country behind Breyer's and Dryer's.

The headquarters for the creamery is located on the outskirts on the small town of Brenham. It was fairly crowded for a weekday, so we went inside and signed up for the next available tour. We had a little over half an hour to wait for our 2:15 tour, so we looked around the gift shop and the garden outside the building. The photo below shows Margery outside the gift shop.

 

The offices are behind the gift shop and the factory, shown in the next photo, is to the right.

Blue Bell has several other factories including one that makes ice cream novelties at the site of the original creamery in downtown Brenham.

There is a nice little garden area with a few benches and some bronze statues. The one in the photo below with the little girl leading a cow is part of their logo and appears on most of their packaging.

 

In 1919, the company was in financial trouble, and the board of directors hired E. F. Kruse to take over the company. Kruse, who turned the company around, is honored along with his two sons, Ed and Howard, with a statue in the garden. One of the things Kruse did was to abandon making butter and concentrate on ice cream.

On our way in for the tour, we just had time for Paul to stop and check out the creamery's first refrigerated ice cream truck outside the visitor center. The creamery still ships all its products by company-owned trucks with company employees driving them. They do not use commercial carriers because they want to have complete control to be sure the customer receives a quality product.

As with most factories, photography wasn't allowed in the plant. We saw the pasteurization machines where the milk is heated to a temperature just below boiling for a short period, then it is rapidly chilled. We saw the homogenization machines that pump the milk through narrow tubes at high pressure to break up fat globules to keep the cream from separating. We also learned it takes the milk from 50,000 cows every day to keep the plant in operation.

Milk is blended with sugar, corn syrup, flavorings and fresh fruit (we saw buckets of fresh strawberries being added), and is then frozen in a continuous process. The soft ice cream is delivered to machines that automatically fill the cartons. Lids are automatically sorted and placed on the cartons. The cartons then go to the freezer to harden the ice cream at -30 degrees. Blue Bell also bakes its own chocolate wafers for ice cream sandwiches, and the sandwiches are also assembled and wrapped automatically at this plant.

The factory was just starting to shut equipment down as they do every day around 2:30 PM for their clean up. They disassemble all the equipment, clean and sanitize it. If you're planning to go to Blue Bell for a tour, try to avoid the last tour of the day at 2:30 because some, if not most, of the ice cream making equipment may already be shut down.

There is a charge of $5 per person for the tours ($3 for children and seniors), but they give everybody a full scoop of ice cream as a sample at the end of the tour. In case you want to try other flavors, additional scoops only cost $1.

After we finished our ice cream sample, we had plenty of time to drive east to Tomball for our dinner visit with Margery's high school friends. We had a good time catching up on family, kids and everything else that has gone on over the years. It was a long drive back to the motor home, but it certainly was late enough that we missed rush hour. There was, however, still plenty of traffic around Houston for 10:00 at night.

After a good night's rest, we were ready for another busy day. We have more Texas history to tell you about in our next post.

Galveston, TX, Part II: Galveston and Hurricane Ike

From the Offshore Oil Drilling Museum, we drove south to the Galveston waterfront area. Galveston has been the target of several hurricanes in its past, the most devastating of which was one back in 1900. This storm, which was a Category 4 storm when it made landfall on September 8, 1900, killed over 6,000 people. There was a 15 foot storm surge that knocked buildings off their foundations and destroyed over 3,600 homes.

Galveston's most recent hurricane was Hurricane Ike that made landfall in the wee hours of the morning of September 13, 2008. Damage from the storm surge was widespread. Businesses and tourist attractions suffered varying degrees of damage. Many of the businesses in the tourist area have reopened; but, unfortunately, others like the one in the photo below, didn't make it.

There were some condos near the beach that were still in the process of being torn down when we were there, and there were some empty lots where buildings had once stood. Another condo we saw was partially repaired. The storm surge apparently got to the bottom floor because it was boarded up; but there was porch furniture on the decks of the upper floors, and it looked like the upper floors were occupied.

There were also condos that have been rebuilt or repaired.

The beach at Galveston was made much narrower by Hurricane Ike, and it seemed narrowest around the tourist areas along Seawall Boulevard. However, the beach does get wider as you travel to the east or to the west.

The sand looked heavy and dense, not at all like the soft, white sand we saw along the Gulf in the panhandle of Florida. We were told one reason for that is because Galveston is close to the mouth of the muddy Mississippi.

As we drove west on the island, there were fewer hotels, condos, restaurants and tourist shops, and more beach houses. There were damaged beach houses and empty pilings where beach houses had once been. Yet, there were plenty of beach houses, large and small, that were rebuilt or repaired.

 

We also drove around the old downtown area of Galveston. It looked like most of the buildings here have been repaired following Ike. Galveston has several historic districts that include Victorian homes...

 

...and the 1894 Opera House.

The southern terminus of I-45 is adjacent to the downtown area, so after our short drive past some of the historic buildings we jumped on I-45 and headed back to the motor home. There are still quite of things for us to see in the Houston/Galveston area, so look for our next post.

Gavleston, TX, Part I: Offshore Oil Drilling Museum

For our next sightseeing outing we drove south from where we were staying in Dickenson, TX, to Galveston. Galveston Island sits at the entrance to Galveston Bay. The island is about 28 miles long and about 3 miles wide at the widest point, and the downtown area sits at the eastern end. The first European settlement dates back to about 1816. The Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by Mexico after they won their independence from Spain.

In the 1800s, Galveston became a large financial center and one of the largest ports in the United States. Today, the port remains an important part of the Texas economy with facilities to handle all types of cargo. Several cruise ships also call Galveston their home port.

Galveston serves as the home base of many oil drilling and exploration businesses. One of the main reasons we went to Galveston was to visit the Offshore Energy Center Drilling Rig and Museum. The museum is located in the Ocean Star, which is a retired offshore drilling rig that is anchored at Pier 19 along the Galveston waterfront.

The Ocean Star drilling platform was built in 1969 and retired in 1984. It is a type of drilling rig called a jack-up, and it can operate in up to 173 feet of water. A jack-up, which is one of many types of oil platforms, gets its name from the fact that legs resting on the sea floor are used as jacks to raised the platform high above the water level. Other types of offshore rigs include those that float, semi-submersibles and fixed platforms that are built right on the seabed. Some rigs, like the Ocean Star, are used for drilling, and some are used to extract the oil or natural gas.

As we walked along the gangway to the oil rig museum, we passed a brown pelican sitting on a piling.

 

Once we reached the museum, we watched a movie on offshore oil exploration and drilling. After the movie, we ventured out onto the main deck of the rig. The main deck is called the pipe deck because that's were large racks were located that stored lengths of pipe and casing that were used to do the drilling. Since the Ocean Star is retired, there was no pipe, but there were displays of various types of equipment found on and around the oil rigs. The next photo shows Margery checking out some of the machinery.

 

From the pipe deck you can also get a good look at the derrick towering over the oil platform.

The derrick is the heart of the drilling operation. It sits over the well bore and holds the equipment that turns the drill. It also provides a means to position new lengths of pipe that are added as the drill goes deeper and deeper. All these lengths of pipe fastened together along with the drill bit are known as the drill string. The derrick also provides a way to add new lengths of casing which line the bore hole to prevent the sides from collapsing in on themselves.

The museum has displays on three floors relating to oil exploration and drilling. They had an interesting video showing how various types of drill bits are used in different types of rock. The next photo shows examples of several types and sizes of drill bits.

Drills can actually be steered to drill laterally and to hit various oil deposits from one oil rig. The scale model in the next photo shows examples of this multi-directional drilling.

The museum has quite a few excellent, very detailed models of different types of ships and different types of oil platforms. The platform in the photo below is about 6 feet long, excluding the crane booms that are sticking out.

On the upper floor of the museum, you can walk out to the base of the derrick. From this area you can get a good view of the pipe deck below.

At the base of the derrick is where new lengths of pipe are added to the drill string as the drill goes deeper and deeper. The red equipment to the left in the next photo are the power tongs that are used to hold the pipe while new sections are screwed on during the drilling process.

Before we left the museum, Paul had to try out the "Billy Pugh" basket. Workers' shifts on the rigs last 7 to 30 days, depending how far out to sea the rig is located. They arrive on the rig either by helicopter or boat. Those who arrive by boat climb aboard the basket and are hoisted 100 feet up to the deck of the rig by a crane. The basked is named for its inventor, Billy Pugh.

We found the museum to be very interesting. We wanted (and got) a good overview of the offshore drilling process, but the museum provides a lot of technical information on oil drilling and exploration if you want to dig into it (no pun intended).

The museum stressed all the safety procedures that are in place to protect the workers and the environment. Unfortunately, in spite of all the precautions, there was an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf off the coast of Louisiana the day after we visited the museum. Eleven crew members were lost, and there was a fairly significant oil spill. As of the date of this post, the exact cause was not determined. Our prayers went out to the crew members' co-workers, their friends and their families.

After the museum, we did some more exploring of Galveston Island. Stay tuned for our next post.

San Jacinto Historic Site

Although the weather was a little cloudy and threatening rain, we decided to go ahead and do some sightseeing after we dropped Janice and Dave off at their 5th wheel after lunch. We took a drive up the western side of Galveston Bay to San Jacinto State Historic Site, which is where Texas won its independence from Mexico back in 1836. San Jacinto is in La Porte, about half an hour north of where we were staying in Dickinson.

Janice and Dave mentioned a waterfront entertainment complex called the Kemah Boardwalk, which is located in the town of Kemah along Galveston Bay. Since Kemah was right on our way to San Jacinto, we decided to stop.

As we turned from the main road following the signs to Kemah Boardwalk, we saw Kemah Lighthouse at the end of the road, so we made a short detour to take a look. The lighthouse is fairly small, and we couldn't find out much about it. But, even with a cloudy sky, it was picturesque with the palm trees.

As we approached Kemah Boardwalk, the view was dominated by the wooden roller coaster, the Boardwalk Bullet. The roller coaster was just about the only ride not destroyed by the storm surge during Hurricane Ike that hit the Houston/Galveston area in September, 2008.

All but one of the rides have reportedly been replaced or repaired. In addition to the rides, there are about 10 restaurants, some souvenir/gift shops and a marina. There is also a 70-foot, open-deck speed boat called "Joe's Boardwalk Beast" that takes riders on a wild, wet ride out into Galveston Bay.

A lot of the shops seem to be closed on Mondays, which is the day we were there. It looked like most of the rides were operating, but with it being a cloudy day, the place was fairly empty. We enjoyed just walking around, especially since we almost had the place to ourselves.

Kemah Boardwalk has an unusual two-story merry-go-round. We saw a similar one last summer at San Francisco's Pier 39.

 

They even have a miniature railroad that runs all around the boardwalk.

The next photo shows one of the restaurants that was designed to look like a small-town movie theater.

After strolling around about an hour or so, we decided we'd better be on our way to San Jacinto.

As a side note, Margery was dismayed to learn AFTER we left the Houston/Galveston area that Kemah was home to T-Bone Tom's Steakhouse Restaurant which was featured on the Food Network program "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." Keeping track of things to see and do is only half the battle. You have to remember to check your research.

We learned about the events leading up to the battle at San Jacinto during our visit to San Antonio and the Alamo back in 2007. Click here to read about our visit to San Antonio.

Texas and all the land to the west of it was once claimed by Spain and later became part of Mexico following the Mexican Revolution. In 1924-5, Stephen F. Austin led 300 Americans to settle in Texas on land granted to his father. We'll have more about one of these 300 settlers in a future post. These were the first of many American settlers.

In 1835 internal strife in the Mexican government led to General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna abolishing the constitution and declaring himself dictator. These acts eventually led to the famous 13-day battle that took place from February 23 through March 6, 1836, where roughly 200 heroic Texans perished defending the Alamo against the overwhelming numbers of Santa Anna's Mexican army.

Just a short time later, on April 21, 1836, the Texas rebels under the command of General Sam Houston, led a surprise attack against a Santa Anna's larger Mexican force. In less than 20 minutes, the Texans had control of the Mexican camp. Santa Anna's capture the following day enabled Houston to negotiate independence for Texas.

The dominant feature of the battleground is a 570-foot high monument to the men who fought for Texas independence. The monument is built from steel-reinforced concrete and faced with fossilized Cordova cream shell stone which is a limestone from Texas that contains the imprints of millions of seashells. The tower is 15 feet taller than the Washington Monument, and is the tallest masonry structure in the world.

The monument is topped by a single star, the symbol of Texas.

Inside the base of the monument is a small museum where we watched a 30-minute movie giving the story of the battle and the history leading up to it. The museum has a number of paintings, weapons and other artifacts pertaining to the Texas battle for independence, as well as artifacts relating to other periods of Texas history. There is also a bust of Sam Houston...

...and a painting of Santa Anna. Santa Anna fancied himself "the Napoleon of the West," and his portrait certainly looks like he believed it.

There is an observation deck at the top of the monument, but since it was so cloudy and hazy the day we were there, we decided to skip it since it was extra cost. Not only that, but it was getting late, so we decided to head back to the motor home. For our next adventure, we'll be heading in a different direction, so stay tuned.

Heading West From New Orleans

We left New Orleans, drove west on I-10 and made an overnight stop at A+ Motel and RV Park in Sulphur, LA, located just south of Lake Charles, LA. The A+ RV Park is only a couple of years old and has paved roads, pads and patios with grass between the sites. They have full hook-ups with 30/50 amp electric, free cable and free Wi-Fi. Most of the sites are extra-long pull-throughs, and the site width isn't too bad for a private campground. The photo below shows our site at A+ RV Park.

The next photo is the view looking down the road from our site.

The Lake Charles area is a center for the petro-chemical industry. Unfortunately, there is a chemical plant located on the other side of the trees behind the campground that emits a constant hum/whine that is noticeable in the campground when you have your windows open or when everything else quiets down at night.

We got a relatively early start the next morning since we didn't have to hook up the toad. Our next stop was at Green Caye RV Park in Dickinson, TX, between Houston and Galveston. Green Caye RV is part of Green Caye Village, which is a rental community that includes houses, townhouses, duplexes and mobile homes. The village also has a 9-hole, par-3 golf course.

The RV park has paved roads and pads, full hook-ups and Wi-Fi. We had 50 amp electric, and this is one of only two campgrounds where we have stayed that a 50 amp site didn't also have a 30 amp receptacle in the box. Maybe our site was an oddball; but they do have 30 amp sites, so if that's what you need, make sure you ask. The photo below shows our site at Green Caye.

And the next photo is looking down the road past our site. Some of the rental housing is on the other side of the white fence to the right, and the golf course is located behind the motor home.

Margery has been corresponding by email with Janice, whom she met through our blog. Janice and her husband Dave are full-timers who are originally from the Houston area, We learned about Green Caye RV from Janice's blog. It also turned out that Janice and Dave were staying at Green Caye for part of the time we were going to be there. We stopped by to visit with them, then made plans to go to lunch with them the following day.

Janice and Dave suggested La Brisa (The Breeze) Mexican Grill in nearby Bacliff, TX.

La Brisa has excellent Mexican food at reasonable prices. Portions are gigantic. We started off with baskets of hot, crispy corn chips and bowls of tomato salsa (spicy, but not too hot) and bowls of green salsa made with tomatillas that was mixed with sour cream. We've never had the green salsa mixed with sour cream before, and we both liked it a lot.

Margery had a chili relleno that she said was the best she's ever had, and Paul had a beef burrito grande. Prices for lunches ranged from about $6 to $8, and dinners were about $9 to $15.

La Brisa also has a large outdoor seating area complete with some nice murals that evoke a festive, seaside atmosphere reminiscent of Cozumel.

We enjoyed our lunch at La Brisa and spending time with Janice and Dave to get to know them better. We look forward to seeing them down the road in our travels.

After lunch, we dropped Janice and Dave off at their 5th wheel where they were going to wait for some work to be completed on their truck, and we took off to do some sightseeing. We'll tell you all about it in our next post.