Guided Fishing Trip on Sabine Lake Printable PDF
Wednesday, October 7th

1. We will need to be LEAVING the parking lot of the Holiday Inn by 5:30 AM. This puts us on the water at 6:15 AM.
2. We will be back by 12:30 PM.
3. They will clean and package our fish and will freeze it for you if you wish and you can pick them up when you leave.
4. They furnish all equipment (Shimano Reels).
5. They furnish drinking water.
6. You bring your own food and drinks.
7. Some boats have port-a-potties with a privacy curtain that raises up for those who are bashful.
8. The cost per boat is $450 for two people and $50 for one additional person. Maximum of three persons per boat. The cost will be $225 each for 2 to a boat and $175 each for 3 to a boat.
9. We will fish the Louisiana side. The majority of the lake is in Louisiana.
10. You will need a Louisiana fishing permit that costs $8.95. You can get it over the phone. They take a credit card and they will give you a number that can be verified by a game warden. You won't have a paper license.
11. To avoid any problems, we should all get the fishing license the day before.
12. The captain is working with me to find a restaurant that will cook our catch for us. I would like to be able to have a private room. If cooking our catch doesn't work out I will find a good place where we can gather up and celebrate.

Steve Hartmann

Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center
Nestled within 252 acres in the heart of Orange, Texas is Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. The Botanical Gardens feature more than 300 species of plants in nine formal gardens. The Nature Center includes a hands-on exhibit called the Nature Discovery Center, a laboratory, and three outdoor classrooms located deep in the cypress/tupelo swamp.

Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is the 1st project in Texas and the 50th project in the world to earn the U.S. Green Building Council's platinum certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction. As one of the most earth-friendly projects in the world, Shangri La offers a glimpse of how people can live in harmony with nature.

Group tours of 20 people or more will be available. The group tour will consist of the Botanical Garden Tour and the Outpost Tour. The Botanical Garden is a walking tour of the formal Botanical Gardens lead by a knowledgeable guide to provide information and interpretation. The walk is little over a mile and takes approximately two hours. All paths are wheelchair accessible. The Outpost Tour is a short walk to our Nature Discovery Center where you board a pontoon boat and take a short ride on Adams Bayou to one of our Outposts in the Cypress/Tupelo Swamp. A knowledgeable guide will be on board to provide information and interpretation. The tour takes approximately an hour and a half.

The group tour is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. The cost of this pre-convention group tour is $18/person. A boxed lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required. You will car pool from the hotel to Shangri La in your personal vehicles. It is a short drive. It will be coordinated as a group tour. For more information about Shangri La visit www.shangrilagardens.org.

Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Museum - A Registered National Historic Landmark
Gladys City became a famous oil boomtown overnight when the Lucas Gusher blew in on Spindletop Hill on January 10, 1901. It was the greatest oil well ever seen. By 1902, 285 active wells were operating on Spindletop Hill. Over 600 oil companies had been chartered. Although most vanished overnight, some such as the Texas Company (Texaco), J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company (Gulf), Magnolia Petroleum Company (Mobil) and Sun Oil Company went on to become giants of the industry.

The boom at Spindletop was short lived. Overproduction depleted the oil and ruined many wells. By 1903, the field had begun to decline and within ten years Spindletop Hill was virtually a ghost town. The reconstruction of Gladys City was a bicentennial project of the Lucas Gusher Monument Association and the City of Beaumont Bicentennial Commission. The buildings in Gladys City are all patterned after buildings that were at Spindletop in the early 1900s oil boom. Many of the artifacts used to furnish the exhibits are from the time of the boom.

The group tour will begin at 10:00 a.m. A boxed lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required. The cost of this group tour is $16/person. You will car pool in your personal vehicles to the Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Museum. It is a short drive. For more information about Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown, visit www.spindletop.org

Big Thicket National Preserve
Explore the Big Thicket. The Big Thicket reveals a staggering biological display of diversity. Plants and animals found from all over North America can be spotted living in the Big Thicket. Cactus and yucca plants grow near swamps and cypress trees. Four of the five insect eating, or carnivorous, plants of North America can be found here. In 1981, the United Nations recognized the unique nature of this combination of plans and animals by designating the Big Thicket an International Biosphere Reserve. Nearly 100,000 acres of diverse land and over 100 miles of waterways have been preserved inside the Big Thicket National Preserve for your exploration, education and enjoyment. The Visitor Center is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is located on US Highway 69 between Beaumont and Woodville, Texas, about 8 miles north of the City of Kountze. Resource education programs are available with reservations. The group tour will begin at 10:00 a.m. A boxed lunch will be provided. The cost of this pre-convention tour will be $13.00/person. You will car pool in your personal vehicles from the Hotel to the Big Thicket National Preserve. For more information about the Big Thicket, visit www.nps.gov/bith.