Although the title is misleading from what this blog post pertains too, I did enjoy going to Whataburger and was disappointed when we did not stop at ones that were only a mere thirty-seven minutes away. There were some things that I did enjoy more than Whataburger, believe it or not, and I would have to pick going to Port O’Connor.
Every single day of the trip was very fun, eye opening, and educational. If I must pick a day that stands out the most to me, and I did since it’s the assignment, I would have to pick the first day we were out at Port O’Connor with Cooper (even typing his name is weird). It’s hard for me to remember full days of stuff that we did or what day we went there or here, but I recall memorable moments from most days, and I will do my best to paint you a picture of our time out on the island at Port O’Connor.
We arrived at Port O’Connor at around 3:00-4:00 p.m. if I remember correctly. I think it took us about an hour and a half to finish talking and unloading the trailer and figuring out how to get everything on the boat (Picture 1). Cooper was antsy to get out there so he said, “I need 6 people to get on the boat so we can go,” so Emily, Morgan, Dillon, Spencer, Casey, and myself jumped on and out we headed. It was about a 30-minute boat ride out to Matagorda Island, and we saw all sorts of things on the way out from porpoises, swirling redfish, and some birds. After we docked up Cooper told Dillon to grab the dock and so he did. But I don’t know if Dillon realized that boats don’t always stay where they are. As he was holding the dock, the boat started slipping away but Dillon kept holding on. Everyone was saying “pull us in, pull us in,” but as he tried to pull, he was actually pushing until he was stretched out to about 9 feet long before he finally let go and “SPLASH!” It was one of the funniest parts of the trip, except for Andre forgetting who Chris Evans was. Spencer was right behind Dillon and could have very easily held onto him. After that little fiasco, we got everything unloaded and Cooper went back for more people and more gear, and eventually everyone got out there and we were all settled in.
Picture 1. Cooper, Drew, and Chris bringing in more gear on his boat.
Some of us were excited just to get out there and relax, but I was ready to fish. I was very hesitant to go wade-fishing due to all the horror stories of gators ripping of limbs, stingrays stabbing you, or Jaws pulling you down to the deep. Despite my better judgement I braved the deep blue sea and ventured out. I managed to wade through a whopping 50 feet of shark infested water, unscathed, and got to my fishing spot (Picture 2). Like usual, I did not catch anything, but it was a beautiful evening to be out. Spencer came out to my super-secret spot and thought he should show me up by catching 15 trout, big woop.
Picture 2. Me fishing, just missed a 56-pound red drum.
After my long and perilous journey out at sea, I decided to go back and try fishing off the docks there. That turned out to be a little more productive than my first evening of wade fishing. I snuck a piece of shrimp from the cooler bag and ran over to the dock in hopes of catching some sheepshead or something else to eat with our pending shrimp boil. After a good 30 minutes of just sitting there I gave up and just dropped my rig behind me between the docks (Picture 3).
Picture 3. Sitting on the dock of the bay.
As soon as it hit the bottom, I felt a thump. I buckled down, set the hook, and fought the mighty beast for 10 seconds. I reeled it topside and it was a long squirmy snake looking fish. I had no idea what it was, so I took it to Cooper 2, and he said it was an American Eel (Picture 4). I was excited because I was the only one who caught one and it was a very cool looking fish. From what Casey and Cooper told me it is rare to catch one that time of year, because, if my memory is correct, they go way offshore to spawn, and then transition back inland once they are done.
Picture 4. American Eel caught out at Matagorda Island.
While everyone was out fishing or just exploring the island, Casey was working on our supper, which consisted of half of the shrimp in the ocean, 10 acres of corn, freshly picked potatoes (from Walmart), and of course, onions. This took probably a good 2-3 hours to complete, which in the meantime I was withering away to nothing. Finally, the boss man said it’s time to eat. I grabbed myself about a 2-pound plate, sat down, and slowly went to town. After that plate was finished, I grabbed another, only about a pounder this time, and proceeded to fill my belly. After eating all this food, I realized it was a bad idea because I needed the shovel and will leave it at that.
After everyone settled down, a few of use went herping, looking for reptiles and amphibians. Right away we found a toad, so I thought to myself, “Oh this is going to be awesome, we’re going to see so much stuff.” I was very, very, very wrong. The only other thing we saw on our trip was some jackelopes, deer, and spider eyes. It was cool, but not what we were trying to find. It was around 2:00 a.m. once we got back so we decided it was time to go to bed and rest up for the next day.
This trip was very fun because I described only half of a day in 5 pages. If I had to talk about the other days from the trip, I think I would need to sign on with a publishing company. I enjoyed almost every second of the trip from driving and jamming to tunes, sampling mussels, learning how to swim in the Frio River, eating at Whataburger (Picture 5), but not birding. I would like to thank my instructors and this university that gave me the opportunity to go on a trip like this, and especially for the other 10 people who joined me on this trip, because I know it is hard to deal with one Cooper for 9 days, let alone another Cooper!
Picture 5. The biennial trip to Whataburger.