Saturday, February 16, 2013

Deader than a Door Nail

Have you ever wondered where the saying “Deader than a Door Nail” came from?

There are several museums around the Port Isabel area that we have never been to so on our day off we headed out to visit three of them. 

Our first stop was the Port Isabel Lighthouse.  The 74 steps to the top were well worth it!  
The view from the top:
The Lighthouse was constructed in 1852 and was built to protect and guide ships through Brazos Santiago Pass and the barrier islands.  In 1952, the Lighthouse was opened as a State Park and remains the only lighthouse on the Texas Gulf Coast open to the public.

On summer evenings, movies are shown on the outside wall.
The next two museums were a bit of a disappointment.  After reading the descriptions in the visitor brochure, I guess we were expecting a bit more than we found.

The Port Isabel Historical Museum was built in 1899 as a dry goods store and residence, it now houses one of the largest collections of Mexican artifacts from the U.S.-Mexican War.
The third museum, Treasures of the Gulf Museum, spotlights three 1554 Spanish shipwrecks. Meeting their fate just 30 miles north of Port Isabel.

So, have you been wondering where the saying “deader than a door nail” came from?


Teri 


3 comments:

  1. I have a compilation of those sayings. I'll have to see if I have that one down. Nice hairstreak!

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    1. Carolyn - I just learned one this evening. "The Whole Nine Yards" is based on the length of the machine gun ammo belt of the B-17 bomber. So the original saying meant to shoot the entire belt of ammo at a target.

      Mark

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  2. Hi Mark + Teri,

    You left a comment on my blog (Postcards from Pam and Larry) and I accidentally deleted it. I'm so sorry! I'm blaming it on chubby fingers on an iPad and the excitement of having a new reader! I'm so glad you stopped by though and I agree completely about the oaks in Galveston. So sad, but it was cool what they did with them.

    I'm glad I found your blog! I'm going to "follow" it and bookmark it. Again, I'm very sorry about the comment and I'm really glad you stopped by my blog.

    Happy travels,
    Pam

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