Monday, March 13, 2006

Press Tour in Matagorda

This is pretty cool news ... I am going on a press tour to Matagorda County in April.
My itinerary includes
kayaking down the Colorado River; time on Matagorda Beach; tracing La Salle'’s journey and the discovery of his sunken ship "La Belle;" and hopping in an aircraft to survey some of Texas' last undeveloped coastline.
I've been to Matagorda many times for family reunions, and I'm really looking forward to this trip! My favorite part (ok - other than 1.) laying on the beach, 2.) listening to the waves at night from my condo balcony, and 3.) walking all the way out on the pier at night) is going crabbing. If you've never been crabbing, it involves chicken necks (yes, chicken necks,) string, and a great deal of concentration. It's really funny to me that I like it because I truly am "girly" when it comes to dirty, smelly things. This is one time I really enjoy just getting right in there, though!
Interesting note: Matagorda means, essentially, "Kill the fat woman." Who on Earth thinks up these names? Perhaps I'll find out.

4 comments:

El Jefe Maximo said...

Certainly more fun to follow LaSalle's travels than it probably was to make them originally !

I have never been crabbing, although I've engaged in most other types of fishing and hunting. I'm wondering how chicken necks fit into this.

Sounds like a fun trip.

Anonymous said...

According to the Texas handbook online, The name Matagorda, Spanish for "thick brush," was derived from the canebrakes that formerly lined the shore.

Hopefully you haven't gone your entire life thinking "dead fat lady" due to some bonehead who got a C in Spanish II.

Candidly Caroline said...

Well, that is nice to know - the other possibilities weren't so nice.
Even though I once upon a time was a fluent Spanish speaker, I had never even thought about what the name meant until a native speaker pointed it out to me.
"Matar" means "to kill," and "gorda" is the feminine form of "fat."
Thankfully, though, there is an alternate meaning for the name.

justcarl said...

After all this time, I finally learn chicken necks are good for something - besides holding up a chicken's head, of course.