Blood Beef, Dead Shrimp & Gold

This book was fun to write, growing up in Seabrook Texas in my grandmother’s house by the bay allowed me to have freedoms some will never know. I moved into my “nanas” house shortly after the passing of my grandfather Philip Allen portrayed as Bill Davis in the book. Him and Goldie were true to character along with the beautiful Lilian Allen my “Nana”. The meals cooked in that kitchen are reminded to me daily when I look at the sign from her kitchen that my mother gave me after her passing. It sets high and proud in my kitchen “Lillian’s Home Cooking”. I was my grandmothers only grandson and everyone knew it especially my sisters. That may be why she didn’t mind playing such a strong roll in raising me and forgave easy even when I stole her car at the age of 14 in pursuit of California stardom. My mother and sister still reside in that house today and it’s never been a warmer place to visit with mom continuing the tradition of one great loving meal after another. Waking in the summer and running barefoot in nothing but a torn-up pair of jeans all day. Up and down the bay front fishing and burning my bare feet on the hot planks of any pier I could find. Running through the woods that fronted the salty water was my home. In the summer. As I got older I would occasionally deck hand on a shrimp bout out of port Bolivar named the Proud Mary. The story always went that she snagged a real treasure one time and authorities took it all away from the captain that snagged it. True? Not true? I’ll leave that up to you. I like to think it is. The fish houses that cover the point by the Seabrook Kemah bridge are still ran today with the hard-working Vietnamese family’s that carved their strong hold in the 70s. Growing up and raising a family around the salty shores between Seabrook Texas and Galveston island has given me the blessing of knowing some of the most interesting characters. Some so far out they could only be true, you can’t make stuff like that up. The numbers of friends and family that still reside in these areas will always be what I call home.