Exploring South Texas Through Scrabble
Learning about Texas
Some of us writers did this challenge a couple of years ago where you randomly choose seven Scrabble tiles and write about your environment.
We sold literally everything we owned and moved into a motorhome full-time. The Scrabble game did not make the cut. So shame on me, but it ended up at the home of my daughter who has three kids. Hopefully, they will make good use of it.
I finally did what I always do and Googled “play Scrabble online for free” and used the seven tiles it randomly gave me.
Sadly, these are the tiles I got…
T, J, F, E, K, U, Y
Oh, brother. At first glance, I thought, crap.
But I love learning about the places we visit so here we go… TJFEKUY. Hope you enjoy the trip…
T = Tom & Jerry’s Bar & Grill. This is a restaurant on South Padre Island. We ate here one day when we visited the island.
We had chips and salsa for an appetizer. I had steak street tacos for my meal. It was a great place with great service, reasonable prices, and the food was delectable. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever on South Padre Island.
J = Jesus Christ of the Fisherman Statue. This statue stands about 25 feet tall including the base. This is also located on South Padre Island at the Isla Blanca State Park. The southern edge of the island is rocky at this point and a lot of people fish off the rocks. This beachside statue of Christ the Fisherman was built to honor all those lost at sea. With Jesus blessing all the fishermen, how could this not be a great place to fish?
This is also the area where we go to watch the SpaceX rocket launches.
F = Falfurrias is a small city in Texas with a population was 4,609 at the 2020 census. This town was named for founder Edward Cunningham Lasater’s ranch, La Mota de Falfurrias. We have been there a few times. This is where we went to visit the Don Pedrito Jaramillo Shrine.
E = Edinburg is a city in the county seat of Hidalgo County, Texas. The population was 100,243 at the 2020 census, and in 2022, its estimated population was 104,294, making it the second-largest city in Hidalgo County, and the third-largest city in the larger Rio Grande Valley region. Just a few miles north and 4 miles east of Edinburg on Highway 186 is where we visited La Sal del Rey.
K = Kingsville is a city in the southern region of Texas north of Edinburg. The population was 24,586 in 2023. This city was named in honor of Richard King and the adjacent King Ranch. We visited the King Ranch and Museum. After oil was discovered near the city and natural gas was discovered southeast of the town in 1921, Kingsville officially became a hub in its own right.
When we were here two years ago, Kingsville is where we went to shop at Walmart, Dollar General, and wash our vehicle at the Quick Quack Car Wash.
U = US Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol Checkpoints.
Whenever we drive south or north on Highway 77 or on Highway 281 we have to go through a Border Patrol checkpoint. This was a surprise to me when we first traveled into south Texas. I expected Border Patrol checkpoints at the border or even closer to the border. But we had not left Texas and still had to go through these checkpoints which are about 80 miles north of the actual border with Mexico.
The three main questions they ask are where have you been, where are you going, and are you both a US citizen. These agents are the nicest they could be. Since we have nothing to hide we aren’t worried and will go through them every day if we have to.
And finally the letter Y.
Y = Yucca. Texas has more than 30 species of Yucca plants and they are blooming all over the place right now.
I don’t know exactly what type of yucca plant this is but it satisfies the Y requirement for my challenge.
And there you have it. A little lesson about Texas through seven Scrabble tiles. Hope you enjoyed the trip.