A little solitude is good for what ails you. Thus, I sought the solitude of the beach last night. It was the first time I had been to the beach in some time, so I wasn’t about to let the cold, wind and rain keep me away.
As I expected and had hoped, the cold, wind and rain kept others away instead. McFaddin Beach is about 10 miles west of Sabine Pass, Texas, down an interrupted State Hwy. 87.
The road once was a straight shot from Port Arthur and points North to the Bolivar Ferry which goes to Galveston. Erosion from several hurricanes closed the highway between McFaddin Beach and High Island. I suppose if one had an all-terrain vehicle, the trip could be made between those two points. I don’t know that is a fact, however.
Those well-meaning souls who want Jefferson County to prosper and grow desire that Hwy. 87 be rebuilt where it is now shut off. It would be a closer, thus quicker, route to Galveston from Beaumont and Port Arthur. But it is exactly the desolation created by the closed highway that attracts me so to McFaddin Beach.
Holidays are about the only time when any substantial numbers of people are out there. And when it is 40 degrees with wind and rain as it was last evening, the numbers decline significantly. During the time I spent there — about 16 hours — I saw only one person. He was a Texas Parks and Wildlife warden who was making a pass up the beach. I stopped and asked him a couple of questions and let him know I was camping, not that I had to do so.
Also, I spotted exactly two other vehicles down there during the night. One car sat at the entrance to the beach for quite awhile then took off. It was great listening to the waves and gentle rain lapping the top of my pickup — and nothing else. Yes, I was too lazy to pitch a tent. And, I slept just fine although my neck aches a bit today.
The solitude didn’t cure all of my problems, but it did put them out of sight and out of mind for a little while. I wish I could patent solitude, I’d have more money than Trump, Gates and Buffett (Warren AND Jimmy) all put together.