Port Aransas, Texas

We left our east to west journey along Interstate-10 to turn our sights southward toward Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast about 235 miles from Highlands, Texas.  Passing through vast, flat stretches of pasture and farmlands after we cleared the suburbs of Houston, the fields have been plowed and seem to be ready for planting.  Possibly the farmers have already done so, but it is hard for me to tell as we pass by the furrowed land.  Cattle, horses and goats populate the pastures with their new offspring.

The trip involved putting the RV onto a ferry to cross over to Mustang Island.  The State of Texas operates for free (yes, free!) a 24-hour ferry service from the mainland to Port Aransas on the north end of Mustang Island.  The ferries run back and forth every fifteen minutes with a mere wait of no more than the time it takes to load one of six ferries shuttling vehicles to and fro.  It is amazing efficiency I have rarely seen elsewhere.  Could it have something to do with being in Texas? 

This bit of a detour is to spend a couple of nights at Gulf Waters RV Resort.  This beautiful resort is situated right along the dune line at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico on Mustang Island about six miles south of Port Aransas.  The lots here are individually owned and built around attractively landscaped, man-made ponds.  Beautiful outdoor patios and BBQ pits have been added to many of the sites.  Luckily, some owners choose to rent their lots to travelers like us when they are not using them.  Just steps from our space there is a wooden bridge over the dunes wide enough not only for pedestrians but also for a golf cart to pass over to the beach.

To the southwest of Mustang Island across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is Corpus Christi, the eighth most populous city in Texas.  A U.S. Naval Air Station and a Texas A&M Campus are situated here.  The fast food franchise known as “Whataburger” was started here and had its headquarters here until 2009.  Corpus Christi Bay is directly to our west and the next barrier island to the south is Padre Island.  It is possible to drive on the beach here with access roads provided every several miles along the island.  We can see offshore oil rig operations from the beach.  Not only a popular spring break destination, these beaches also host a spectacular sand sculpture event annually.

Rainy weather continues to hound us with almost constant showers falling from the moment of our arrival.  The photographs have suffered because of it.  Nevertheless, we are enjoying our stay.  We attended a live play at the local playhouse called, “Money Matters” and enjoyed the comedy as well as just getting out for an evening.  Five actors roughly our age performed the play.  Conveying the story well, they elicited lots of laughter from the audience in the process of telling a tale of misguided money maneuvers and romance.

We had lunch today near the causeway returning to a waterfront restaurant we visited on our last trip here in 2009.  How could we not return to a restaurant called, “Snoopy’s” to sample the local seafood?  It was a must.