Texas Gulf Coast
by Dave G. Houser
Bending
gently some 368 miles from the Louisiana state line near Galveston to South
Padre Island, hard by the Mexican border, the Texas Gulf Coast is a
semi-tropical stretch of dune-backed beaches and barrier islands that has long
been a favorite vacation destination among the drive set.
But from an
historical perspective, it was more than four centuries before the first
vehicle trundled along these broad beaches (as you still can do today) that
seafaring conquistador Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda first stepped ashore on
present-day Padre Island in 1519.
That was well more than a hundred years before the Mayflower landed at
Plymouth Rock and, in fact, most historians agree that Padre Island was one of the very earliest
sites where Europeans set foot in what is now the United States.
I must say, however,
that it was difficult for wife Jan and me to put this really significant bit of
history into context as we dodged packs of skateboarding teenyboppers along
South Padre Island's hectic main drag last March. We'd come south from our mountain abode in New Mexico to
enjoy a warm and restful seaside escape, only to discover we'd arrived on the
leading edge of spring break.
For us, spring
vacation had always coincided with spring housekeeping and planting the garden
--and we happened to be the cheapest labor available. Nowadays, of course, it's a time to drop the top on the
Mustang, pack up the beer and bikinis and head for the nearest beach. If you detect a bit of envy in that
analogy you may be right.
Separated from the
more sedate mainland community of Port Isabel by a 2.5-mile-long causeway, the
southern end of South Padre Island is chockablock with beach-front hotels and
condos, fast-food restaurants, bars, T-shirt shops, watersports and bike rental
outlets. While all of this is
ideally suited to hordes of hormonally charged spring breakers, it didn't
exactly jibe with our objectives.
Now don't get me
completely wrong about South Padre.
Fishermen love the island.
Eight of Texas' 10 game fish records have been set here. Bird-watchers come in droves as well -
especially to the less-developed northern shores - to view several hundred
species of resident and migratory birds and waterfowl that frequent the
island. Even right in the thick of
things, adjacent to the modern 45,000-sq. ft. South Padre Island Convention
Center, there's a patch of restored marshland coursed by the Laguna Madre
Nature Trail where you can log an amazing variety of birds.
Crossing the causeway
over Laguna Madre early next morning, we noted an abundance of both birds and
anglers. Squadrons
of pelicans
were keeping a close eye on the latter, obviously with the same thought
in mind - snagging some of the tasty redfish, sea trout, snook and
flounder that crowd
the shallow lagoon.
Heading up U.S.
Highway 77 enroute to Corpus Christi, we paid a visit to King Ranch, birthplace
of the American ranching industry.
Covering nearly a million acres of low-lying grassland about 35 miles
southwest of Corpus Christi, the King is one of the world's oldest and largest
ranches. The Santa Gertudis breed
of cattle originated here and the ranch was home to the first registered American
quarter horse. The visitor center
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for guided tours and there is a King
Ranch Museum (open daily) in nearby Kingsville that traces the history of this
famous spread.
Corpus Christi is the
gateway to Padre Island National Seashore, which occupies 80 miles of this
slender barrier island that stretches 113 miles southward to near Brownsville
and the Mexican border.
Padre is the nation's
largest barrier island and thanks to federal protection most of it remains
unspoiled. It's a pristine strip
of sandy wilderness, tidal flats and marshland that serves a prime wildlife
habitat (including 350 native bird species) and one of the nation's finest
coastal recreation areas.
Visitors spend their
days here splashing in the usually warm and gentle gulf waves,
shell-collecting, kite-flying, bird-watching and surf-casting for redfish, sea
trout, drum and whiting. Camping
is permitted and you can drive almost the entire length of the National
Seashore although a four-wheel-drive vehicle is required beyond five miles of
the visitor center at Malaquite Beach.
Texas remains one of
the few states where you can drive and camp on the beach. We took advantage of this, spending our
first night nestled up in our RV next to the Gulf of Mexico. It was a romantic experience all right,
but not without its downsides. "No-seeums" and other flying insects, apparently drawn by mounds of
decaying seaweed piled up on the beach, drove us indoors whenever the wind died
down.
Corpus Christi is a
vibrant and attractive city that is home to a number of stellar visitor
attractions, including the Texas State Aquarium, a dramatic structure
overlooking the bay and focusing appropriately on the marine life of the Gulf
of Mexico. Nearby is the USS
Lexington Museum on the Bay and the Corpus Christi Science Museum, which
features a fascinating exhibit displaying artifacts from a Spanish shipwreck on
Padre Island in 1554. As one of
the most decorated aircraft carriers of World War II, the ÒLex" was reportedly
sunk four times by the Japanese but survived the war to become one of the
top-10 tourist attractions in Texas.
While we thoroughly
enjoyed Corpus, we spent a great deal of our time here exploring the
neighboring seaport communities of Rockport and Fulton and nearby Goose Island
State Park and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
Rockport, with its
funky waterfront lined with bait shops and fish stalls has become quite the
artist colony and there's a noted art center here as well as the Texas Maritime
Museum. In the contiguous village
of Fulton we were dumbfounded to fine the imposing 1877 Fulton Mansion, a
French Second Empire-style beauty nicely restored and operated by the Texas
State Parks Department. The
fishing fleet here is one of the largest and most colorful in the gulf region
and we relished in strolling Fulton's busy harbor where we noted that many of
the boats are owned and operated by Vietnamese refugees.
Huge and haunting
live oaks cover Goose Island State Park, where we picnicked in the shade of the
largest known example of the species in Texas. At the expansive 59,000-acre Aransas National Wildlife
Refuge, we drove the 16-mile loop road through pristine coastal marshland and
thickets that sported wildlife at every turn, including an excited pack of
javelinas that charged across the road just a few yards in front of us. We saw deer and plenty of herons,
egrets, ducks, geese and roseate spoonbills - but, alas, not the endangered
whooping crane for which this refuge is noted.
Galveston would be
the final stop on our week-long tour of the Texas Gulf Coast. Here, we took time to sunbathe a bit
and stroll the broad beach, more than 10 miles of which is fronted by an
awesome concrete seawall, perfect for walking, jogging and cycling. A section of the wall between 27th
and 61st Streets features the world's longest art mural, a communal
work spanning 2.5 miles.
Unlike much of the
gulf coast, however, the beach is a secondary attraction in Galveston where
more than 550 structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic
Places -- harking back to the 19th century when this seaport was one
of the largest, wealthiest and most important cities in Texas.
Galveston's golden
age came to a tragic end on September 8, 1900, when a massive hurricane
devastated the island, destroying more than a third of the city and killing
6,000 people. The storm still
ranks as the deadliest natural disaster in the nation's history and renders all
the more amazing the city's remaining treasure trove of magnificent, mostly
Victorian buildings.
The Strand National
Historic Landmark District, formerly known as the "Wall Street of the
Southwest," stretches along the city's bayfront and is now home to more than
100 shops, restaurants, museums and art galleries. Two historic neighborhoods are also designated - the East
End Historic District and the Silk Stocking District - and there are 16
historic homes and buildings open to the public for tours. Among them, splendid mansions such as
Ashton Villa, Bishop's Palace and Moody Mansion offer visitors a revealing
glimpse of Galveston's gilded past.
Galveston's single
most impressive attraction, however, and one of the finest educational/family
entertainment complexes in all of Texas, is thoroughly modern Moody
Gardens. Nestled among acres of
lush subtropical landscaping, a trio of towering glass pyramids house cutting
edge exhibits.
The 10-story
Rainforest Pyramid presents living replicas of rain forests from Africa, Asia
and South America, replete with appropriate plants, birds, mammals and
fish. A second enclosure houses a
space exhibit, while the newest contains a 1.5-million-gallon aquarium that
ranks among the five largest in the world. Add a pair of IMAX theaters, a paddlewheel boat ride, a
fresh-water lagoon surrounded by soft sandy beaches and you've got days worth
of quality entertainment.
Spring
and fall are the best times to visit the Texas Gulf Coast, though you may want
to avoid developed areas during the spring break period in March. Summers are uncomfortably hot and humid
and winters can be cooler than you might expect. Above all, pack a penchant for
seafood, 'cause here on the gulf it's the freshest and tastiest ya'll will find
anywhere.
For more information
about the Texas Gulf Coast, contact:
Texas Department of Economic Development, Tourism Division, (800)
888-8839, or check their website: www.traveltex.com.
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Dave G. Houser is an award-winning New Mexico-based travel journalist
and member of Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and North American
Travel Journalists Association (NATJA). See www.houser.squarespace.com