TIHAA says “Ahoy” from San Leon - May 12, 2018

By Mary Brown

TIHAA sailed into San Leon on the precinct three county bus. Okay so, it was not as exciting as it would

have been if we were with Jean Lafﬁte when he sailed into port; on the other hand, we had air-

conditioning.

Our band of 21 (Fermine and Tom Sutter, Cindy and

Tom Croissant, George Wolf, Ralph and Estella

Garcia, Nora and Israel Morales, Della DuHart,

Marilyn and Bill Ragan (friends of Daryl and Brenda

Moss), Pat Harris and Sandra Jackson (friends of

Gurrette Roep), Mary Brown and friends: Sylvia

Cruz, Hilda Rivera, Drew Weaver, Linda Matterson,

Marion and Bill Anderau) arrived at the Railean

Distillery around 11:00am.

We were greeted in the Buccaneer Bar by Kenny

Bradshaw VP of Operations and a Master Distiller.

While we were waiting for Kenny to start telling us

about the art of distilling Railean Rum, Agave Spirits,

Vodka and Whiskey our motley crew went about the

bar trying on pirate attire, taking pictures with the

carved colorful parrot (Railean’s trademark) and

reading the pirates eye chart (RRRRRRRRRR).

When Kenny ﬁnally had everyone seated he began by

telling us this is his second career He had retired from

Bass Pro Shop and his wife was still working. She

decided he should ﬁnd a new interest. Long story

short he went to work for the Railean Distillery. Kenny explained how each liquor was made and how it

was stored and for how long. He also said that they were only allowed to serve and sell what they distilled

and were limited to the amount of bottles they could sell to one person. So if you bought a bottle you had

to sign a book that could be checked by The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

After the talk on how the alcohol

was made it was time to sample.

They gave us each a shot glass

and asked those that wanted to

sample to lift it up and they would

pour the Rum, Agave Spirits,

Whiskey or Vodka that you wished

to sample. Kenny explained that

the Agave Spirits is liquor we refer

to as Tequila; however, only the

Agave Spirits that come from

Tequila Mexico can be labeled as

Tequila. He also mentioned that

all is not gold when you buy

Tequila Gold. He said that it has

been doctored with a little gold

food coloring.

After the tasting we were taken

next door to where the distilling

process takes place. It is not air-conditioned and they have to heat the different sugars before it becomes

the liqueﬁed alcohol. It is a good thing we did not come in the hot summer because no one would have

seen that part of the tour.

Going back to the bar to ﬁnish our tour we pasted through a covered patio where there was a TEXAS

SIZE Adirondack Chair. Nora and Estella were brave enough to climb into the chair so we could take our

group picture. After which a few purchased their favorite spirits. Then we were off to the Top Water Grill

only a few minutes away.

We arrived at the Top Water Grill around 12:25pm and were seated right away. If we had arrived a few

minutes later we still might be waiting. This was the Saturday before Mother’s Day and there were several

graduation groups. The food was very good and we were out in time to head to Texas City for shopping at

the Tanger Outlet. I was on a mission to buy a pair of white sandals. I am sorry to say I searched every

store and I found none to ﬁt my size 11 feet. Just because I came up empty handed does not mean others

did. I saw many packages get back on the bus.

As we headed back to Bayland Park we played Bingo as we did on the way to San Leon and we had a few

$2 winners. The winners were: Drew and Della winning 2 games each, and Estella, Pat, Tom Sutter,

George and Sylvia winning a game apiece.

By the way, Della will be giving away my shot glass from Railean’s at the next meeting, and NO! I did not

sample from it.

Hope to see you on our next trip on July 10th to the Hemi Hideout!