About Bolivar

Before we even drove off the ferry on to the Bolivar Peninsula, you could see a huge pile of cars to the left hand side of the road. It looked much like a salvage yard that was not there before. There were dozens, maybe 100's of destroyed cars, I assume awaiting their ride to a mainland salvage yard via some barge. After that a huge pile of appliances of all kinds, then debris, and well having to drive ahead at a reasonable speed to keep up with the traffic I surely didn't see it all. It was pretty sad. As we drove east there were some houses left standing on the beach side and a few on the bay side. On each side of the road are huge piles of debris, remains of beach houses that have been gathered up, piled up, and ready to be picked up and taken away. In between those piles of debris are huge piles of sand (the beach) right on the road which I assume means that Ike picked up the sand from the beach and brought tons of it inward, put in on the road and it had to be scraped up to make the road drivable.

As we continued east, the damage gets worse. Anything that was built or sitting on ground level is either completely gone or pretty much totally destroyed. Many of the landmarks that once helped you to know where you were are unrecognizable now or gone completely. A 5th wheel RV serves one of the local grocery stores. A large RV park has sprung up a few miles in, on the bay side. A sign indicates that the Stingaree marina is now open. The grocery store is in the works. Where the church of Christ stood in Crystal Beach now stands a makeshift sign that says "Church of Christ" and a white tent, with a big stack of bottled water at its side. A few things remain but what does remain suffered extensive damage.

The familiar signs of the various beaches as you drive on eastward are gone, some replaced with plywood telling you the name of the beach. Once you reach Crystal beach it gets worse. From Crystal beach east, there's nothing, well no houses anyway. The beach has been eaten back from its normal place maybe 75 feet or more. All that's left of the houses may be pilings or a slab, nothing else. All at once the bride kinda lets out a bit of a scream as we recognize we're at the Rollover Pass bridge. We didn't even know it was coming because nothing is recognizable, no landmarks.

We pullover at what used to be Rollover Pass bait and tackle and stop. It was tricky pulling off the road there in the convertible because its so washed out and rough. We get out to look around and try to get our bearings but can't because its all gone. Whatever was there before, is now gone. You couldn't even pull off on the SE & NW sides of the road, just too washed out and rough. There were a couple of folks fishing and catching the occasional redfish but we're stunned. We cross what's left of the bride, passable enough and pull off on the NE side where I'd come to so many times to fish and to flounder. The bride stays in the car, wiping her eyes at what we've seen but I want to walk the pass. I walk towards the bay side and realize that all the sand and shell from the beach side is now deposited on the bay side of the pass, in huge piles, along with a sign laying on the ground, pole and all that says "open." There's all kinds of other debris, a sink, the regular beer can, a road grader or bull dozer and piles of sand or mulch. There is one house standing, obviously a fairly newer house, way up high on stilts that made it but thats it.

We sit, we contemplate, we realize just how serious that Ike was. We still can't believe its all gone, forever changed. There's no doubt in my mind that I'll be long gone before much of it is rebuilt and the fact is, it will never be the same. Sorry to sound so depressing but it was a lot to take in. It was impossible to fathom and this a full 5 months after the fact.

Unless the beach is replinished the next big storm will take out chunks of the highway making it impossible to reach High Island. The water is so close now that a really high tide will send the waves and water over the road. It washed out the dune all the way from Rollover to the turn north to High Island. Staggering. No wonder lots of people died and some will never be found.

Well, that's all of that. Just thought I'd pass along our trip. I recommend you go and make the drive yourself. Just be prepared to cry. It's really, really sad. No I didn't take my camera. A picture may be worth a thousand words but a drive down there, well, there are no words or pictures that do it justice. We did finish the trip with an evening meal of "Al-T's Special." They have totally remodeled due to Ike damage. It was as good as ever.

Again, thanks for reading.
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