Gone to Goliad

On Saturday, I met my sister, "Aunt B", in Goliad. Goliad is one of my favorite places to visit and I've been there many times. It's about halfway between my house and Aunt B's house. We're always looking for someplace to meet and this is a good choice. This was my first trip to Goliad Market Days.

If you're not from Texas, you may not know that Goliad is the site of Presidio La Bahia and Mission Esperito Santo. It was the place where the first offensive action in the battle for Texas independence took place when local colonists captured the presidio and hoisted the "bloody arm" flag. On December 20, 1835 they signed the first Declaration of Texas Independence here on the altar of the presidio chapel.

On Palm Sunday of 1836 it became the site of the largest single loss of life in the cause of Texas independence when Colonel Fannin and 341 men, who had surrendered to the Mexican army, were marched outside and shot at close range. Twice as many people died here as at the Alamo. The rallying cry for Texas independence became "Remember Goliad. Remember the Alamo."

You can still visit Presidio La Bahia which has been restored and the replica of Mission Esperito Santo. You can sit in the chapel and walk across the drill yard. It's especially moving to go for historical reenactments. The museum curators and docents tell the story in a beautiful and moving fashion. Grams will admit that no matter how many times I go, it still moves me to tears.

The centerpiece of Goliad Market Days is the Goliad County Courthouse which was designed by English Architect Alfred Giles in 1894. The market is set up all the way around the square. As you can see from the photo, Saturday was a post-card perfect day. The weather was warm but not too hot.

We started with lunch at one of several restaurants located around the square. We chose Panache on the Square which turned out to be a really good choice. It only offers a few menu items each day, but all of them are done well. It's a great little place, especially if you consider yourself a foodie. Aunt B and Grams both had half a Rachel sandwich, veggie chips, and a bowl of potato soup. It was delicious. On Saturday's menu they also offered a hamburger and another soup (I think it was Chicken Tortilla). We also noticed that they have a Sunday brunch. I think it would be worth the hour and fifteen minute drive from Corpus Christi just to try it.

We especially enjoyed several things about the market. As a matter of fact, we had so much fun that I didn't snap very many pictures. First of all, the market is smallish but it offers a very nice variety of merchandise. It wasn't just the same thing over and over again. Second, it was not crowded. There were a lot of people there, but it's set up well and spread out enough that it's not jam-packed with people. But my absolute favorite part was that all around the square there are rocking chairs and benches placed so you can just sit and rest a while. That's a really nice touch ... especially since Aunt B and Grams have dubbed ourselves as "LOL squared" (little old ladies - laughing out loud). We're both afflicted with bad knees and need to rest from time-to-time.

Market Days are dog friendly. There were several dogs there who were all on leashes and all very well behaved. I will admit that I fell in love with this beauty who is half Golden Retriever and half Chow. Gorgeous!

Goliad Market Days are held year round on the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can buy a wide variety of merchandise from hand-made lace to Tupperware. If you go, I recommend that you stop at the Whataburger or a gas station and use the bathroom before parking and walking into the square. They only have one bathroom with two stalls and the line for the ladies room was long.

For more information about Goliad and Market Days, visit the Goliad County Chamber of Commerce web site.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

When I developed an interest in the culinary arts, I quickly realized that fresh herbs were essential, yet hard to come by and expensive.

Grams lives in South Texas, home of H-E-B Grocery Stores. While I really like shopping at some H-E-B Stores, especially their Central Markets, I'm not a fan of my local store. This store leaves a lot to be desired. I dislike the Calallen store so much that I drive 22 miles each direction to shop at an H-E-B Plus Store. Specifically, they don't stock many of the items that recipes call for. And don't even get me started on the quality of their produce. When I recently approached them about stocking Greek yogurt, which I eat almost daily, their response was that they would be happy to order it for me if I would buy the entire case. Seriously? A case of Greek yogurt?

On the up side, trekking 22 miles to the grocery store forces me to be organized and to plan ahead so as to limit my drives across town. On the down side, it severely limits my access to such short-lived items as fresh herbs.

I've always puttered in the yard in the spring and early summer. I grow beautiful roses and have a gorgeous succulent garden. But once the temperature exceeds 90 degrees, I'm done with gardening. I just don't like to be outside when it's that hot.

For the past several years I have tried, with very limited success, to grow my own herbs. I planted some in between my roses and some in a separate bed in the back yard. This year has been particularly hard because we've had the worst summer on record, more than 35 days of temperatures over 95 degrees and zero rainfall for months. Our yard is decimated. There is very little grass left and it will take a long time for it to recover. But it did finally rain. We've had about 7.5 inches in the last week.

I found a great location for growing my herbs. This summer, I planted them in pots along the front sidewalk. This puts them in the shade under our big oak tree. They get very little full sun, but they've done beautifully there. (The accompanying photo was taken at noon on a very sunny day.) I've had fresh basil, thyme, chives, parsley, spearmint and peppermint all summer. The only thing I planted there that didn't thrive was dill. I'll try another location for that next spring.

This access to fresh herbs makes it even more fun to cook something up in the kitchen so I can say "Grams Made It."