Beaumont

I read everyones entries….I guess no one knows the real reason to visit Beaumont. Well I will tell you…it is to see the town where Johnny Winter was born and raised. If you are blues lover than this is the place to go. He still plays; I have seen him in concert at the Blues Festival in Calgary a couple times. He is phenomenal if only I could play half as well as he does at his age.WOW.
He is defnitely a living legend. He has influenced huge stars like; Eric Clapton; and Jimmy Hendrix. I uploaded a picture; and if you want a taste of his music download; “Dallas”; Johnny be good”; and “Highway 61”. Enjoy!! (and if this the second posting sorry…not to quick up here in Canada ;)

Living in the area, I was desperate to get out, after I visited some places besides Houston and Louisiana.

It was very boring living here. Very hot, humid, and polluted. Take most of the bad things about Houston (except the traffic) and don’t take any of the good things, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what it is like.

The university here is a joke. After they killed their football program, it became a ghost town. No campus life, barely any activities, and questionable academics. The library is good, though.

I should point out I haven’t spent hardly any time there in 15 years, so I things could be different now.

If I had to recommend some things to do in this area, I’d say go to Spindletop museum, go to Sea Rim beach and ride the air boats, drive to Lake Charles to check out the casinos. (Basically, drive places.) You might as well drive to Galveston, since you are doing all this driving.

The whole “visit” or “don’t visit” question is really a tough one. So this is a “not worth it” with a qualifier… As someone who loves travel, I’ll visit nearly anyplace at least once – as would, I suspect, many who browse this site. That said, I LIVED in Beaumont, however, for over a year (well, in Nederland, a tiny town right next to it). I’m a desert rat, so the climate just didn’t agree with me (not to mention the air quality). And the mosquitos were the size of small birds… But, on the plus side, the Cajun influences made for an interesting cultural blend (and awesome food!), and the Big Thicket, just north of Beaumont, is amazing.

if only to visit my friends who moved there recently.

I think that means it has to be worth doing.