Starting to see some flowers around town!

In case you hadn't noticed I enjoy finding local art in the places we visit. Some towns may have a local art museum. Many showcase art in the form of murals or more unique displays, and it's usually FREE. Some have maps and some make it a little more challenging. Often they utilize local talent and the artwork may tell about the town/area or it's history. A side benefit is seeing areas of a town that you probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. I've searched for turtles, tree spirits/carvings, murals, metal sculptures, and even boll weevils. Port Aransas has something, pertaining to it's history, that I haven't seen before. 

Farley Boats were made by 3 generations of the Farley family from 1915 to the mid 1970s in Port Aransas. Farley Boats, 16-28' in length, were open cockpit boats having no significant vertical structures designed specifically for Tarpon fishing. I don't know a lot about fish so I looked up Tarpon to discover it can be a large, hard-fighting, gamefish, not usually eaten. 

As a beautification project, and honoring the town's history, the Port Aransas Garden Club began selling smaller concrete replicas of the early Farley Boats as planters. They weigh 1,800 pounds and currently cost $525. 175 Boats can be found throughout Port Aransas at businesses and private homes. Most of the boats appear to be used as planters, but it's still a little early to plant I guess. Some of the boats have other displays and/or include artwork. I will share a few as I find them but no where near 175 of them!

Thursday we walked across town to Robert's Point Park (about 6 miles round trip). We had fun watching the tug boats guide and help the large ships as they left the the Port of Corpus Christi. Some had a tug tied to the front, the ones we saw had a tug tied to the rear, and a tug with big rubber bumpers (looked like a bumper boat) on each side toward the front of the ship all helped the ship turn as it exited. A gentleman told us that each ship, as well as the ship's pilot is required to have a port pilot go out with the ship. As a bonus there were several dolphins swimming around the bay. Tacos at Fins for lunch was delicious. I was able to spot a few 

more Farley Boats too, bringing me up to 40+ boats.

Where are the Piepers now? Port Aransas, TX