Thursday, March 19, 2009

Black Dragon Pirate Ship Adventure South Padre Island Texas

On February 16th a group from the Holiday Inn Express went on the Black Dragon Pirate
Ship Adventure boarding at Pirates Landing, Port Isabel, Tx.
It was entertainment non-stop from the time we arrived.
There were sword fights, tattoo painting, watergun fights, dolphin sightings,
pass the crab game, parade around the ship, treasure hunt, and a little history.
I would highly recommend this trip as they did an excellent job!!!!!!
956 943 3663 http://pirateslandingrestuarant.com

This is the ship.

Our trip started of with a BANG!!!!!!!


We had to convince the Pirates
we were peaceful and meant no harm.



Once on board Jamie got right into a sword fight.

Cheers!! Ahoy matty!

Jamie with her tattoo.

Gary & Marge with tattoo's

Yes, Gary, you have to have your face painted too.

Paint it on good!

The paint brush lady doing Justin's.

Now there's a mean looking crew!!!!

Then there was a parade areound the ship.
And another sword fight. Go get em Justin!!













I have him where I want him now!

Justin's tattoo.

Parade around the ship.
Go Bob & Betty!!.














Then there was the game of "pass the crab".
The winners were Justin & Jamie!!

You better watch out now!!
Look at all the treasure I found!!!
Pirate look-out!!!
Ralph & Sandy. Real mean Pirates!!

Parading around the ship.
Yet another sword fight!

Watch out for this girl. She got all the treasure.
This was a rough crew so another sword fight broke out.

I love water guns!! They're great!!

HA! HA! I got you Grampa!!
Go get em Ralph!!!
Justin swabbing the deck.
If we could get him to do this at home.














Jamie swabbing the deck.
This is the reward I got for winning the treasure hunt!
The Black Dragon Pirate Ship adventure was definitely a great experience. It was entertaining and lively with constant activity. There were sword fights, tattoo's, pass the crab game, water gun fights, dancing and parading around the ship. There were even Dolphins that came by to
see what all the excitement was about.
































Sunday, March 15, 2009

Island Baptist Church Mission to El Mesquital, Mexico




On the morning of March 5th, 17 Winter Texans from the South Padre Island Baptist Church drove 60 miles south of the Mexican border to El Mesquital, a barrier island, and the site of the church supported mission. Two 12 passenger vans were loaded with food for distribution. Most of the distance traveled was over very rough road. The last 10 minutes of travel was by boat to the island of El Mesquital. See map below.




Our first stop was the Mexican Bakery, just past
customs. There we met Luz, our missionary
friend who accompanied us on the trip. The
bakery generously donated many bags of
Mexican baked goods for the mission.







The last 20 miles of road was a bit of an obstacle
course. We met the repair crew here making much
needed road improvements.








We arrived at the boat dock site shown below.


Loading and getting ready to go.

How about those classy boats!!










We are off to the island.

No life jackets or orientation!!!!




Shrimping is a big industry here.
The shrimp nets are shown below.

Below is the church, "Casa Esperanza" House of hope.


Area surrounding the church.

No electricity, no running water.



Little girl was very happy to see us.

Playground next to the church.

Donna pushing two children on the swings.



The family with the children.



Corner of the church on the right.

Homes directly behind the church.





Stand-up toilet near the church.

Unloading the boat.


Unloading the boats

Frying "Red" fish over an open fire wood stove.



Family who prepared dinner.

The sleeping quarters.

Here hammocks are used.



MMM good!!! Great fish Taco!


Group eating lunch.



Missionary LUZ preaching in Spanish.




Church service.




Passing out snacks to the children.

Passing out food.




Handing out rice, beans and lentils.


More treats for the children.







This says "House Of Hope" on the front of the church.

Getting ready to leave.

This is the area by the boat dock.


All loaded and ready to go.

All in one boat this time!!



Even the birds like to pilot boats!!

It was humbling experience to "Go, ye into all the world and bring the Gospel" to these people of meager means. They were very appreciative of our visit and expressed overflowing joy and happiness.