The Bayway side

West of town, along Bayway Drive, where Baytown runs out of land and into three bays. The neighborhood the water took, the nature center it became, and the streets that are left.

Brownwood. In 1983 Hurricane Alicia pushed the bay into the Brownwood subdivision — a neighborhood of hundreds of houses on the peninsula between Burnet, Crystal and Scott bays — and the land, already sinking from decades of groundwater pumping under the whole ship-channel corridor, didn't come back. The city bought out what was left with federal help and let the bay have it. What you drive through now on the way to the Nature Center is the street grid of a place that was, with the bay where the backyards were and the old curbs still visible in places. Every house on the Bayway side since then has been built knowing that, and the subsidence districts that regulate groundwater across Harris County exist because of it.

The Nature Center. 500 acres at the end of Bayway Drive — the Brownwood peninsula, restored: boardwalks, the roads for running and riding, 317 species of bird, the Fred Hartman across the water like a postcard. A few dollars a person at the gate — four for adults, one for kids and seniors; no pets; fishing only where the signs say. The guide by season has the rest, and the standing guide has the two festivals.

The Wetlands Center. Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Center, on the way in — the indoor half, exhibits and live animals, weekdays 8 to 4 and Saturday 10 to 4, closed Sunday. The rainy-day hour with kids, the place the school field trips start, and the headquarters for Nurture Nature in October.

Bayland. Bayland Park on Business 146 — the boat ramps the town launches from, the shoreline, the sunset — and the marina office next door, Tuesday through Sunday 8 to 5, closed Monday. The park itself is open 5 in the morning to 10 at night. Fishing, the sunset walk, the folding-chair crowd who know something, and the freshest seafood in Baytown coming off the boats on a Saturday.

The FR store. FR & More on Bayway is one of the two in-town stops for the crews' clothing; call first — the address has moved around on the directories and we'd rather you not drive to the wrong one.

Living here. Water on three sides, a quiet the rest of Baytown doesn't have, and a hurricane history you read before you sign. The evacuation zones nearest the water go first; flood insurance is not optional; the elevation certificate is the document to ask for. The trade is a sunrise over the bay from your porch, the best birding in Harris County at the end of your street, and neighbors who know exactly what the water can do.

En español. El lado de Bayway: el vecindario de Brownwood, entre tres bahías, se hundió con el huracán Alicia en 1983 — la tierra ya estaba bajando por el bombeo de agua subterránea — y la ciudad lo convirtió en el Centro de Naturaleza (500 acres, 317 especies de aves, unos dólares por carro, sin mascotas). El Centro de Humedales Eddie V. Gray es la parte techada. El parque Bayland tiene las rampas para lanchas y el atardecer. Vivir aquí: agua por tres lados, seguro contra inundaciones obligatorio, pida el certificado de elevación.