Texas State Parks and Travel Tour: October 2016

42. We camped at Scampsite #20 to celebrate our friend's birthday. 20 was a nice site because there was nobody next to us, but really #17 is the best site in the Karankawa Camping Area. These sites are also "full service": they have a grey/black water dump hole at each site! (The tent camping areas were all closed, as was the River Trail, due to recent flooding.) Jacales Camping Area was okay, but better for large groups.
Goliad State Park is perfectly located near Goliad, which is also a county seat, and there is a paved trail connecting the park to the town, called the Angel of Goliad trail. We rode the whole trail (2 miles each way I believe) more than once and it is lovely. Lots of wooden boardwalks over otherwise unnavigable terrain. Once we set up camp, we rode our bikes to the 2-year old Goliad Brewing Company, which has a remarkably big tank system and a wonderful beer garden. There were lots of different games on site and a live band playing country covers.
Sunday we explored the park, the Mission Espiritu Santo and the adjacent Presidio La Bahia. These historic sites are of incredible historical significance, not just to Texas, but to Mexico as well. Spanish missionaries established the Mission in the 1700's, it was restored by the CCC between 1935 and 1941. The CCC even used the original kiln and quarry to make more bricks for the restoration! "General Ignacio Zaragoza (1829 - 1862), Mexican general and the hero of Cinco de Mayo, was born in Goliad when it was a sleepy village on Mexico's northern frontier." (Texas State Parks State Park Guide) Zaragoza's birthplace is on site, as well as a commemorative statue and amphitheater.
Presidio La Bahia "was built in 1749...was one of the major links between Mexico and east Texas and was the principal military post between San Antonio and the Rio Grande...In 1836 during Texas' War of Independence, Texian troops under the command of Col. J.W. Fannin evacuated La Bahia and were caught out in the open and taken prisoner. All 400 were executed. This, along with the defeat at the Alamo, was used as a rallying point to win sympathy for Texas' fight for independence." (https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/tx/tx20.htm)
There is also a statue honoring the Angel of Goliad - Francita Alavez, a woman who accompanied a captain in Texas and who helped evacuate the Presidio, hid several men, delivered messages and provisions and is recognized as a heroine of the Texas Revolution.
Aaron and I also walked the dogs on the Aranama Trail and I checked out the bird blind as well.

This park is amazing - there is so much to do here and in Goliad, which is a Texas Main Street City. There are several very good restaurants in Goliad, antique shops, and of course the lovely old courthouse.