We had our only day off on Sept 25th and at first we decided to just chill out at the shelter.  However, once it was lights on and everyone else was getting ready to go to work we changed our mind.  Chuck and I and Dinah were off on the same day so we decided to get dressed and go to the closest beach area which was south of Beaumont and Winnie Texas(picture above is Winnie just after Ike).  The beach we went to is called High Island  and Crystal Beach which is across from Galveston Island and is connected by a ferry which was not operating when we were on the Island.

We saw and smelled evidence of the storm surge from Ike about 5 miles inland to the shore. It is hard to comprehend the height and strength of the surging water.

Cars were washed from miles away and brought across the street from what was the beach.

This is the road that we drove on by the gulf on High Island as the hurricane approached.  There were originally 100+ second homes on this island and now there are about 9.

These were a few left standing.

Here is evidence of the ones in between the surviving houses that did not with stand the storm.

To me this picture speaks volumes.

We met a lady and her two daughters and grand daughter walking on the beach side of the street.  Mom told us that she had two homes close to the beach but there was little evidence that they ever existed.  They were searching for items left from her homes.  These were vacation homes and she did not have a lot of keepsakes she really would like to find except a black bowl her mom had given her.  She walked across the street and found her swimming suit about 300 yards from the street.  Her daughter went over to the same area and found a blue ceramic swan planter that her dad had given her mother when she was born. It did not have a chip on it.  We found plates laying on the ground that belonged to someone else that were in perfect condition but the kitchen they were originally in was gone.  As we searched I prayed she would find that bowl that was important to her, but it had not shown up by the time we left.

We headed back to Beaumont and took our Biker Momma,Dinah, to the Harley Davidson store where she got a black Texas cowgirl hat with sparkles and HD symbols.  I wish I had gotten a picture of her in it because it was just so Dinah.

From there we went to a restaurant that was recommended to us called Cheddars.  Man was it good. The ladies got a 12 oz boneless rib-eye while Chuck got baby back ribs.  The steak was served on a bed of thin slice fried onions, fully loaded baked potato, and broccoli cheddar cheese casserole.  After a week of snacks and so so meals we felt we had hit a gold mine.