Oysterfest 2016: Fulton, TX

Hello again! What a whirlwind weekend it has been!

While getting used to living in a climate that allows us to spend most of our downtime outside, we haven't been indoors long enough to give you all a tour of our new home on wheels...even as I type this, I am sitting outside at our little picnic table:

But that tour will happen soon, we promise! Yesterday we went to Port Aransas and scouted out our new campsite for the month of April--can't wait to show you all where we'll be come April Fools Day!--and while we were there we spotted what very well may be our next rig:

A bit small for our purposes, but awesome nonetheless!

But today took the Awesome Cake in my estimation: Today we went to Fulton, TX Oysterfest 2016:

Meet Pearl, the unofficial mascot of Oysterfest.

Fulton, Texas is a town on the Gulf shore about 30 miles north of where we are currently camping. And for the last 37 years the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department--Bi-valves bless 'em--have been putting on an oyster-themed shindig that in my estimation can't be beat on a sunny Saturday in Texas. We ate oysters, drank a couple of Texas-sized beers (aka too big for my midwestern makeup, but I did my best), and watched the Men's Raw Oyster Eating Contest (again, a bit much for my constitution: Oysters by the 50 out of ziploc bags...). 

What else could a guy or gal ever need?!

The winner of today's oyster-eating contest ate 261 oysters in 5 minutes; I had fifteen.

The guys were shucking the locally-harvested oysters by the bucket-full at record speeds for all of us hungry patrons:

So. Good.

But the town of Fulton--which I had never heard of until today--is absolutely gorgeous: Live Oak trees abound in every backyard, and the coast is lined with fishing boats.

 There were too many gorgeous boats to take pictures of, so this one will give you an idea of the docks lining the pier.

 Me grinning like a silly kid on the swing ride by the water's edge.

View of the fairgrounds from the swing ride.

We came, we saw, we cheered like fools at an eating contest. And--perhaps best of all--we shopped at the craft fair. We have noticed already that so many of the fine full-time folks we've met along our adventure (no matter what stage of infancy it may be in thusfar) have little wooden signs posted outside of their RVs declaring their name, their home state, and their adventure goals. The first booth we spotted when we walked into the fairgrounds tent was selling some of these, made to order on the spot. I just had to:

Cartoon Kentucky.

Nerdy? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely. Here's to our first small-town expedition and found underground gem! Thanks to Andy and Sarah at Seabreeze RV Campsite for the insider scoop on where to go on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon...we had a blast and now have the signage to prove it!