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Go with the Flow

Enjoy the simple pleasures of Seadrift on the Texas Gulf Coast

By Angela Fox

Nobody knows for sure how Seadrift came to be laid out in the shape of a sailing ship or even how the little town got its name. The shape is certainly appropriate for the only town anchored on shores of San Antonio Bay. As for the name, most folks think that was inspired by the flotsam and jetsam that drift in with the tide. After a few visits, though, I’ve decided Seadrift is named for the fascinating assortment of people who have drifted into town over the years and helped create a community that’s part Texas fishing village and part Greenwich Village.

Strolling along the waterfront on Bay Street one June morning, my husband and I dropped by Mama Ter Ter’s Harbor Inn Restaurant and discovered it was “Cheers” sort of hangout where everyone knows you name sooner rather than later. Locals gather here early for chicken fried steak and eggs and return later to fuel up at lunch and dinner on seafood, steaks and burgers. The waitress also explained to us newcomers that Mama Ter Ter is what the grandkids call Terri Taylor, the restaurant’s owner.

Next we took a stroll along Bayfront Park and met a friendly gentleman out for his morning constitutional. He turned out to be a recently retired attorney – retired all the way from Washington, D.C. and a career with the Justice Department prosecuting tax cases against Jim Bakker and Sun Myung Moon. He invited us over to enjoy the bay views from his home and told us how Seadrift had been the inspiration for Alamo Bay, a 1985 film starring Ed Harris as a Vietnam veteran at odds with Vietnamese immigrants moving into the fishing industry in his Texas hometown. The film was also partially shot near Seadrift. Our guide then recommended lunch at Barkett’s Restaurant for “the best fried seafood in town.”  

Before lunch, though, we wanted to visit Seadrift’s most unusual business – a boat-shaped art gallery. The owner of Art Center Seadrift/The Art Boat, artist Dietrich Erhard, drifted into town about 10 years ago. “I found it a charming, functioning coastal community,” says the Nuremberg, Germany native. “I liked the fishing, the scenery and the fact there were no construction codes.” The latter appealed to Erhard because he wanted to do something unique with his own art space. So he took a huge steel hull of a shrimp boat and installed it on a concrete slab right on the main drag of Seadrift.

Today the retrofitted vessel displays work by Erhard and a variety of international artists and the grounds are dotted with colorful outdoor sculptures, as well. Erhard and wife Miriam have an apartment on the upper level of the 62-by-21 foot boat/gallery. “Yes, I live with my art,” Erhard chuckles. Seadrift also boasts 21 murals adorning public buildings and depicting everything from oyster shucking to beachcombing, so art viewing is as simple as driving around town.

Picking up an attractive nautical souvenir is as easy as dropping by The Coral Reef, owned and operated by longtime area resident Dolores Turk. The shop sells loose seashells, fanciful Christmas ornaments made with seashells, coastal art, wind chimes and other decorative items and apparel. There’s also a room filled with exquisite coral formations for sale at very reasonable prices.

We drifted back into town a few days later for the annual Seadrift Shrimpfest. The two-day party is held every June right on the bay and features a blessing of the fleet, decorated boat contest, a carnival, arts and craft booths, a shrimp eating contest and live music. We especially loved the food booths, which serve all manner of shrimp dishes as well as typical carnival cuisine. We enjoyed shrimp quesadillas, shrimp gumbo and deep-fried “shrimp on a stick.”

Every June Bayfront Park is also the finish line for the Texas Water Safari. The grueling man-powered boat race, which covers 260 miles of rivers and bays, starts at the headwaters of the San Marcos River and ends in Seadrift. Participants in what’s billed as “the world’s toughest boat race” are probably the only visitors who arrive in Seadrift in a lather. Most folks are like us – happy to stroll the bay, nibble on fresh seafood, enjoy the art and let life’s cares drift away into San Antonio Bay.

Seadrift is on Texas State Highway 185, about 17 miles south of Port Lavaca and 35 miles south of Victoria. Austin, Houston and San Antonio are all within a 3-hour drive.

Shrimpfest, sponsored by the Seadrift Chamber of Commerce, is held the second weekend in June in Bayfront Park. Texas Water Safari (www.texaswatersafari.org; 512/738-6607) crosses the finish line in mid-June in Bayfront Park. Art in Concrete in October is a heavy-duty art exhibition of new works in concrete at the Art Center Seadrift/Art Boat. For information on Seadrift, contact the Seadrift Chamber of Commerce at www.seadriftchamber.com or City Hall, 501 S. Main, 361-785-2251.

PHOTOS BY VIRGIL FOX

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