I’m guessing you have never heard of Matagorda, Texas?
Neither had I. At population of a mere 313 by the last Census, I know this hidden gem would have stayed hidden if not for a happenstance meeting.
If you read my Big Bend National Park post, then you know I met some kind strangers at a restaurant near the entrance of the park, and they invited me to come down to their town next time I drove through Texas. Which I wavered on… who trusts strangers like this?… but decided to take them up on their offer. One thing that van living has taught me is to stay open to possibility, and to trust your instincts.
My instincts said to trust these folks. And I’m glad I did. They were gracious enough to host my friend and I for two days and one night as we made our way across the country from Louisiana to New Mexico.
When we pulled into town, we couldn’t believe how tiny ‘town’ really was– especially given it was literally right on the ocean. An oceanfront town that was still very much a hamlet?
Wow.
We typically think of oceanfront property as the paradise of the wealthy– it’s easy to picture The Hamptons with their segmented, almost entirely-private beaches, or Cape Cod with its old-money propriety, or pricey California areas like Venice or Santa Monica, where homes all sell in the multi-million dollar price range.
By contrast, Matagorda’s houses were just regular-sized, and were owned by regular people.
In fact, the average price for a home in Matagorda is a median of $139,000. And the houses are directly in front of THIS untouched, pristine beach:
That’s a whole lotta nothing other than sand and sea.
No hotels, no mansions, no streetlights– nothing. Just the sound of the waves and…
<<<<<<<<<<<<<< A MILLION BAZILLION MOSQUITOS!!!!!!! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Do you see that? In the pictures below? That’s STANDING WATER.
We got very UNlucky with our timing — we arrived in mid-May, when temperatures were starting to soar but importantly, the rains were torrential RIGHT before we arrived. Which meant the pesky mosquitos had just enough time to breed and then get very hungry, right as our van rolled in.
When my friend and I opened the door of the van as we arrived, about 20-30 mosquitos immediately flew in. Seeing this, we slammed the door shut and proceeded to play a game of whack-a-mole on the inside of the windshield– and when we finished squashing as many as possible, the mosquito guts speckled the front window of the van.
Not exactly a warm reception. Or maybe it was a warm-blooded reception. HEY-OH!
Staring at the carnage on the windshield, we realized– these were not dainty, typical mosquitos. Nope. These were HUGE, Texas-sized mosquitos. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and they weren’t kidding about the blood-sucking insects, which were the largest I’d ever seen (and I traveled extensively in Southeast Asia). This did not seem hospitable, but luckily, our hosts were.
Our hosts were lovely, and had two delightful doggos — one of whom had mastered the adorable ‘head tilt’. Their home was modest but comfortable, and was literally across the street from the beach. They had an elevated front deck on the second story of the home, which sadly– we could not use, thanks to the rabid mosquitos (but I am sure is fantastic every other time of year).
Our new friend recommended a cafe called Cassady’s– granted, it was the only coffee place in town– for breakfast. Cassady’s had lovely pastries and egg dishes, and smartly offered cafe-made takeaway options like mac ‘n cheese for heating at-home. The egg dishes were so good, I forgot to take photos of them– after breakfast, we peeked around “town.”
I put “town” in air quotes as it was a small collection of buildings that were fairly spaced-out, some of which seemed to be fully in-business and others which seemed to have gone by the wayside. A small surf shop and t-shirt parlor was there for tourists, as well as a bar or two and a hardware-bait combo, but not much else. While Matagorda was close to other civilization, there wasn’t much commerce there.
But that beach, though.
My friend and I took Mac for a walk down to the main beach, an area right by the seawall– which one could walk on to reach the furthest point of the beach. Mac led the way, spry– he LOVES a beach.
Along the way, we ran into several fisherman and women– Matagorda apparently being a fishermen’s paradise. This is because it is situated right between a marsh and oceanfront, and has extremely easy docking in the marsh areas. It seemed like we saw people fishing more than doing any other activity– but that might not be saying much in a town with virtually no commercial enterprises.
They are also known for kayaking, as the wide marshes make for great avenues for sea kayaking as well.
This beach was also chock full of shells– not just ANY shells. Completely intact, gorgeous ones. Even the SHELLS were pristine and untouched in this sleepy beach hamlet. None of that broken nonsense, the waves were so gentle as to deposit full shells onto the soft sand.
Did you not believe me when I said Mac loves the ocean? Here’s proof. Look at that dog’s smile! Per usual, Mac took off like a shot as soon as his paws hit the sand.
Beach Zoomies are the Best Zoomies.
The marshes themselves were just spectacular– and made for a green, lush backdrop that contrasted hard with the ‘concrete paradise’ of parking lots and strip malls in most beach towns. This green was almost piercing to the eye– especially in full sun.
We didn’t spend long in Matagorda, but we liked what we saw– and given its size, I think we saw just about everything. (Just kidding). The beaches were so thoroughly uncrowded by people or commerce as to feel like a throwback to a different time, before rich humans colonized oceanfront towns.
It was refreshing to see an un-messed-with beach hamlet.
In a surprise to no one, a few mosquito stow-aways stayed in the van, hiding like sneaky menaces and emerging to bite us for the next week and beyond. Our volumes of mosquito bites took days to heal and lingered due to the massive size of these predators.
Matagorda was, in many ways, the kind of town that really… stays with you.
Posted by Sun
