A couple of years ago, my husband and I took a winter trip to Rockport with the Coastal Prairie Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists to see the whooping cranes.

These men and women work to educate the public about the importance of protecting Texas’ natural resources.

They also work at local parks, especially Seabourne Creek Park, so residents and visitors will have a positive encounter with nature.

On the last visit, I spent the time visiting historical sites. I learned a lot about the area’s background and enjoyed driving around Rockport.

This time, however, I concentrated more on the journey instead of the destination. Most of our trip found us on Highway 59. They should rename this section of highway the “Smokehouse Strip” because the stretch was filled with barbecue joints.

I wish we could’ve stopped at all of them, but we decided to have lunch in Victoria. On road trips, we shy away from the chains and look for a local place to eat.

When we saw a sign advertising Ramsey’s home cooking, something told us to pull into the lot.

Ramsey’s wasn’t anything special on the outside, but the inside was like a favorite diner found in rustic Texas towns where the blue-plate special is always a sure-fire winner.

The restaurant opened in 1948 by the Ramseys. Even though there’s a new owner, he kept the name and many of the original menu items, wait staff and cooks.

There was a table of regulars in the back that seemed to know everybody who came in the door. They were friendly to us and even asked what we were thinking about ordering.

I asked about the soup, and a silver-haired lady at the table next to me suggested the special for the day. That choice sounded tempting, but I went for the cheeseburger and onion rings.

For me, those two workhorses are the hallmark of a great restaurant. It’s easy to overcook the burger and really easy to serve up a greasy pile of onion rings.

The cook did neither. My burger was juicy and cooked just right, and the onion rings were crisp and fresh. I wished I’d saved room for a slice of pie in the display case because that coconut cream confection looked to be about six inches high and was surely calling my name.

But we left, happy with our lunches and change in our pockets.

Our next stop was at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge center. The refuge is the winter nesting grounds for whooping cranes, and thousands of people flock to this area in the chilly months to catch a glimpse of the tall birds.

We stopped in the Visitor’s Center, and friendly volunteers directed us to spots where cranes had been spotted that day.

At the two-story tall observation tower, we were able to look out over what seemed like a hundred acres of pristine marshland and waterways. People talked in quiet voices, and the sounds of birds singing and leaves rustling were the loudest sounds we heard all afternoon.

We met up with the Master Naturalists late in the afternoon near the docks in Rockport. As they compared notes on the birds they’d seen on the trip, I watched the shrimp boats come in from their day out on the gulf and marveled at the elegant ballet pelicans performed as they swooped over the waters.

Sometimes education comes from a visitor’s center or a nature book. We can also learn from taking guided tours and checking Google for the local history of a town or city.

Other times, knowledge comes from quietly watching the sun set over an endless sea, the perfect way to end a weekend journey.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.