By Brandt Mannchen

It’s a delight to find places during our increasingly long summers (May through September) where you can stay cool and find and enhance your connection to Nature.  September 12, 2026, the Houston Sierra Club (HSC) visited two such places in Lake Jackson, Texas.

The first place we visited was “Sea Center”.  This is Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) fish hatchery, aquariums, and created wetlands showplace.  When we arrived a few minutes before 9 am, opening time for Sea Center, we visited the created wetlands, which move from fresh, to brackish, to saltwater and are connected via a boardwalk pier.  We beat the heat and enjoyed this part of Nature before the temperature and humidity rose too much.

TPWD has done a great job of planting these habitats with native plants so that people can see for themselves how important they are.  The native plants are doing quite well including blooming Salt Marsh Mallows, Crinum Lilies (also known as Southern Swamp-Lilies), and Climbing Hempweed.

We almost immediately found a baby American Alligator floating near wetlands vegetation.  Birds were the most obvious residents at Sea Center including Osprey, Belted Kingfisher, Little Blue Heron, Great Egret, Laughing Gull, Mocking Bird, and Tri-colored Heron.  Red-eared Turtles lazily swam in the freshwater pond.

We then went inside and were met by friendly staff and volunteers.  I had contacted TPWD ahead of time and they graciously agreed to take us on a hatchery tour so that we could see how they raised Redfish (Red Drum), Spotted Seatrout (Speckled Trout), and Southern Flounder to be released into our bays and estuaries on the coast.

It was a great tour and our guide, Dave, who’s been volunteering for 20 years, was a smooth talker and great educator as he explained how water from the Gulf of Mexico was filtered and made acceptable for hatchery use.  TPWD alters light and temperature so fish ready themselves for spawning.

After eggs are laid and fertilized, they are removed and put into tanks so fish hatch, become fry, and develop.  The fingerlings, about 1-2 inches long, are the result and are placed in nursery areas in our bays, where wetlands exist, so they can grow and move into the Gulf of Mexico before beginning the reproductive process again.   

We enjoyed the aquariums that TPWD has which include various salt and brackish water fish like Gray Snapper, Tarpon, Nurse Shark, Redfish, Southern Flounder, and other denizens of our coast.  There is a touch pool where you can become intimately acquainted with Blue Crabs, sea anemones, Sheepshead Minnows, and Hermit Crabs.

We left Sea Center and because we were hungry, we had lunch at Asiel’s, a local restaurant that has, what else, sea food and other scrumptious foods that you can choose.

After filling our bellies, we took a short drive and visited the Brazosport Natural Science Museum.  This Museum is part of “The Center for the Arts and Sciences”.  The Center includes a planetarium, symphony orchestra, art league, center stages for plays, and the natural science museum.

We enjoyed the huge conchology (shell) collection which brought the diversity of mollusk life from around the world to you along with great exhibits about mineralogy, fossils (dinosaurs and mammoths, of course), and dioramas of natural habitats in our area.  A wonderful place to spend a morning or an afternoon.

We had a great time, kept cool, and left with memories that we’ll keep for the future.  What else could you ask for?