The Islander - Clear Lake Shores Civic Club

Island Wining and Dining
By Ronnie Richards
When it comes to great seafood at great
prices with generous portions, Joe Lee’s
Seafood Kitchen is the place. Family owned
and operated by locals Suzanne, Joe Jr. and
Mike Lee, this restaurant has a history in the seafood business
that dates back 30 years plus.
Joe Lee‘s menu features a selection of fried, broiled,
blackened and grilled seafood dishes as well as salads, gumbo,
étoufée, chicken and chicken fried steak. Just recently the
world famous South Shore Beer Garden Hamburgers have been
added to the menu. Another recent addition and one of my
favorites are the fish tacos. The daily specials are a great value
and you will never leave hungry as the portions are more than
ample.
On their web site at www.JoeLees.com I found this
interesting history of the restaurant. ―Joe Lee's history in the
seafood business begins in the early 1970s when Joe Lee
purchased and shrimped with a small boat called the ‗Quajay.‘
In 1978 Joe Lee purchased a piece of land located at 102 Kipp
Street on the Clear Creek channel in Kemah, Texas. The
property was located right next door to the historic Jimmie
Walkers Restaurant now part of the Kemah Boardwalk.
―The building was a small one story metal building that was
formerly a beer joint, fuel dock and a casino in a previous
colorful period in Kemah's history. He raised this building and
enclosed the bottom and opened ‗Joe Lee's Down on the
Creek.‘ The restaurant was located upstairs; downstairs was a
fuel dock, grocery store and beer joint. In addition to owning
and operating Joe Lee's Down on the Creek, Joe Lee also
served as councilman and mayor of Clear Lake Shores, Texas
for ten years.‖
Today's Joe Lee's Seafood Kitchen was opened early in 1996
and is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year. It‘s still
serving the same great food Joe Lee's has come to be known
for.
How Well Do You Know Your Island?
Check Page 31 -- for the story about this.
Yard of the Month
by Judy Young
Let‘s congratulate Pege and John
Wright, 111 Pine, on their 50th wedding
anniversary. We‘re just a tad bit late as
they actually celebrated it last summer with
a trip to St. John where they found seeds for an acacia tree Pege
calls their ―most fun‖ plant. The acacia looks somewhat like a
mimosa but is a tropical tree with a yellow bloom. While
waiting to board the plane home they saw seeds on the ground
and inquired if they could pick them up to take home. Since St.
John is a U.S. Virgin Island customs said, ―no problem‖ so they
now enjoy that lovely souvenir of their anniversary trip in their
yard.
My tour started at the very back of their yard where a
neighbor‘s butterfly bush wandered in to visit the cool of a
lovely waterfall fountain, then chose to stay and keep company
with their giant frog statue. In the fountain area grow peach
hibiscus, bird of paradise, Boston fern, red roses, perennial
verbena and petunias. Next to the house is a Confederate
hibiscus, trellised mandevilla, blue plumbago, passion vine and
hydrangea. Along their side fence is a different type butterfly
bush, agapanthus, bougainvillea and tomato plants. And then
there are pink roses. Lots of roses everywhere. Pege says she
loves roses.
The plants I found especially unique were a Luna hibiscus, so
named because it blooms a moon shaped
bloom. Also a potted bougainvillea
blooming white, magenta and coral
blooms all on the same plant. And
finally, a night blooming cereus which is
one ugly plant, but the Wrights told me it
blooms beautiful blooms at 2:00 am
which last about five hours. The crazy
thing doesn‘t even sprout new leaves on
its stems like other plants… it sprouts the new leaves off its
current leaves.
We took a shade break from the heat and sat a while in the
Wright‘s newly refinished lawn furniture. That‘s the first I
knew of a company that refinishes metal lawn furniture; much
more economical than new replacements and it looked really
great. Just as I was getting way too comfortable, visiting with
their friendly poodle, Bo, and enjoying the wafting aroma of the
marinated salmon John had on the grill, I decided we better
move on to the front yard.
In the center of their front split driveway is another fountain
bordered by vinca. To the right of the drive is a bed filled with
more roses of various colors. The bed to the left of the drive
sports two unique garden decorations… a painted hanging
parrot won at a Parrot Head party in Alabama which is cleverly
constructed from a car tire. The other, a very large 150 year old
cedar tree trunk, received as a gift from their former yard man
they brought from their previous home. Sharing that bed are red
honeysuckle, pigmy date palm, blue plumbago, broomstick
plant, red penta, oleander, plum, and vinca. Intermingled with
all this, both front and back as well as in the shade under the
house, are numerous pots filled with decorative and flowering
plants… way too many to include here unless our editor chose
to devote the entire issue to this column.
The Islander page 20 July 2011