Hamilton's Retreat
Have you ever dreamed of living at your own marina at you favorite fishing lake? If this sounds like your kind of living, come in and visit awhile and see our home. In 1995 we bought a small marina on the north end of beautiful Lake Bridgeport in north central Texas. It was sort of run down and had been owned by an elderly couple for the past 17 years. They were ready to retire and we were ready to move to the lake ! The marina consists of a 14 slip covered and lighted boat dock with a gas pump on the dock, a small bait and tackle store, four fishing cabins for guests, a large shop building, 3 acres of land with lots of trees, a house for us and 200 feet of water frontage. This was the beginning of our adventure. Before you start packing and try to make reservations, the marina is closed to the public and is now our private residence.
Our marina is on a protected deep water cove. The water at the end of the dock is about 30 feet deep and on the shore side , it's about 15 feet deep. You can always catch a mess of crappie here and the bass are plentiful too. The water is so clear now that you can see the fish swimming around in the boat slips. There's a few wild mallards that come around real often looking for the bread pieces we throw out to them. The kids like to get a can of worms and fish for perch off the walkway. Those perch make great bait for the trotline too.
Our home is on a steep hillside, so when you sit on the front porch, you're looking out over the cove. It's a great vantage point because like the birds you can see the fish feeding along the shore. We're pretty much in the country here and the land has huge rock formations and is very rustic looking. We're 11 miles to a very small town and some of those miles is down gravel roads. The last 7 miles is a real treat if you like wildlife. You have to watch out for the white tail deer because they'll run out in front of you. We see lots of wild turkey and quail and on occassion have seen some wolves and a couple of bob cats. Some of the local people like to hunt the wild hogs out here. There's plenty of squirrels, rabbits and raccoons. Because of the rocky areas we also have rattlesnakes and copperheads. You really need to watch out for those varmints !
ddt@ntws.net