As I was praying this morning, while still laying in bed, I thanked the Lord for some of my many blessings. I don't do that nearly often enough.
We decided to go see Spindletop/Gladys City today. We saw a highly rated place called Hamburger Depot online. It was in the direction we wanted to go and Kathy was hankering for a burger so we decided to give it a try. We pulled into the parking lot at 11:30 and the lot was nearly full. We didn't have to stand in line to long before our order was taken but it then took 25 minutes to get our burgers. After ordering we got the last open table. The burgers were mediocre, at best. They were EXPENSIVE! We like Steak and Shake burgers. We could have gone to the Steak and Shake in Jeff 2 times and had plenty of money left for a nice tip. PS. The fries were good.
Then it was on to Spindletop/Gladys City. Spindletop is the name of the oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont. After several failed attempts to find oil on January 10, 1901 the Guffy Oil Company's Lucas Gusher/Geyser hit oil at 1,139'. It took 9 days to "cap" the well. During that time it is estimated that 4.2 million gallons of oil blew out of the well in a column as much as 150' high. By June there were 13 gushers at Spindletop.
Gladys City is a recreation of a city that sprang up during the boom. It was hoped that it would turn into a modern industrial city, it remained active until the 1950's.
After we returned home I took a 7 mile bike ride. I rode out of the campground and down a little side road to a large complex with Ford in the name on every building.
I had seen lights last night, heard the crack of bats and sounds of kids voices from what I assumed was a ball field on the other side of the solid board fence at the back of the campground. Tonight I saw that it was a several ball fields. As I rode through the parking lot I saw several tee ball age kids getting out of cars and walking toward the entrance. As I rode further I saw several other structures (all with Ford in prominent signs). Turns out it is the South Texas State Fairgrounds at the Ford Park Fairgrounds. We are hear a couple of weeks early for the fair. This year it is March 24-31. We are in the Gulf Coast RV Resort, top right.
When I rode through this large parking lot the first time I noticed a truck unloading a wrecked car. There are 8 wrecked cars sitting in the lot. I thought maybe they might be put back in service enough for a demolition derby, or even to be run over by monster trucks.
Today experiences weren't bad, they just weren't as good as others we have had recently. Without an occasional day like today I would not appreciate how good other days are.
Without taking the time to think about it I don't appreciate how blessed I am. Thank you Lord for choosing me to be one of your children, thank you for my being born in the USA (the greatest nation on the planet, even with its faults), thank you for family (both Christian and genealogically), thank you for a roof over my head and never having to worry about having food to eat, and the list could go on and on.
God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has certainly blessed me.
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