Port Aransas: Where We Stayed

There are all sorts of places to stay in Port Aransas, including B&Bs, cottages, condos, and hotels. We opted for the Holiday Inn Express on 11th Street, which is really within walking distance of the beach. Total cost, including taxes, approached $120 per night. The hotel is relatively new, and facilities are nice. They include pool with hot tub, exercise room, business center, and free wireless.

I like a hotel that provides a good breakfast. Donna and I don't eat much. At home, we have only a light breakfast, perhaps a piece of toast, bowl of cereal, or a smoothie. Our big meal is lunch. At night, we snack. When traveling, our routine changes. If the hotel has a good breakfast, we fill up since it's included in the price. Then we eat our other meal of the day about mid-afternoon. That's all we need.

The Holiday Inn in Port Aransas had a good breakfast each of the 3 mornings we were there. Each day, there were biscuits and gravy, one of my favorite breakfast selections. On mornings 1 and 3, there were scrambled eggs, while on the second morning there were eggs folded over with cheese. On mornings 1 and 3, there were sausages while on the second morning there was bacon. Each day there was also cereal, cinnamon rolls, bagels, muffins, and other goodies. The coffee was good and included decaf, which Donna and I both drink. There was also milk and various juices.

So we ate hearty each morning and then did not need to eat again until 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

Images of Port Aransas

As I've previously said, I'm not a beach person. I don't like sand getting in everything; I don't like high humidity; I don't like that constant wind; I don't even care that much for seafood.

But I do like Port Aransas. It's easy, very laid-back. I'm sure crowds descend on this tiny community during Spring Break, but whenever we have visited over the years, things have been quite relaxed. I guess there is a bit of that "island time" mentality about the place. On local streets, people seem to take their time and drive the speed limit, though some folks do get in a bit of hurry on 361 south. Lots of folks walk, bicycle, or drive about on various slower-paced vehicles. And it's interesting to drive around the side-streets to see how the locals live.

One of the best places to get a glimpse of island life is from Roberts Point Park, just east of the ferry. The park is actually a small peninsula that forms Turtle Cove, where many of the local boats are docked. There is a fishing pier, observation deck, restrooms, and other facilities. The images below were taken from this park.

4 of the ferries at the loading point on the Aransas Pass side of the waterway.

A pair of dolphins swimming just off the shore.

The Aransas Pass lighthouse, located on Harbor Island a few miles to the north

Donna on a pier with various boats in the background.

This picture of the marina was taken from the top of the observation tower.

The following images were taken from other points in and around Port Aransas.

Horace Caldwell Pier near the north end of the island

One of the ferries making a crossing

This evergreen tree was outside our hotel, and we saw several others around the island. I don't know what it is, but we liked it. I took a close-up, but the picture was bad. (Note: after posting, a reader from Port Aransas wrote to say these are Norfolk Pines.)

This is the type of beach picture you don't normally see. Port-a-potties line the parking area and a maintenance vehicle sits idly by. The dune on the right is typical of this beach area. Most hotels and homes are located behind (west of) the dunes. There are no actual beach-front developments of any type.

Mustang Island State Park

While at Port Aransas, Donna wanted to spend some time on the beach. The beaches within the city limits of Port Aransas require a parking permit, which I believe costs $12. Rather than pay that amount -- I am a cheapskate, after all -- we decided to head south on Texas 361 to Mustang Island State Park, which is nearly 15 miles south of Port Aransas. Since we have an annual parks pass, there would be no charge for us to enter the park.

We visited Mustang Island State Park many years ago, probably about 1992 when our daughter was about 12 years old. At the time, we had a Jayco folding camper (pop-up), and we spent 3 or 4 nights in the park and had a great time. The park really hasn't changed much in all these years.

One of the nice things about the park is that the paved park road extends to the beach to a paved parking area with nearby beach showers to wash away the sand. It's just about the cleanest way to visit the beach. I'm not a beach person. Oh, when I was young, I enjoyed the beach, but I'll take the mountains and forests anytime these days. Donna is the beach bum in the family, emphasis on bum. She still enjoys the beach, and I probably put a damper on her beach exploits.

Fewer than 20 people were using the park section of the beach. The water was cold and the wind was strong. After dipping my feet in the cool water, I found a place to put my lounge chair in the shade of a picnic table, and settled in for a nap. One little girl was flying a kite nearby. A sand crab occasionally popped its head out of a hole not far away, and a little prairie dog tried to make friends with me. It was very relaxing except for the constant cries of the gulls who stayed near hoping for a handout.

Donna looking east over the Gulf of Mexico

A little girl flying her kite

A friendly little prairie dog stopped by for a visit. My camera doesn't have a powerful zoom, so he was very close, almost within touching distance.

Sea gull perched atop a picnic table canopy, hoping for a handout

The camping area at the park. When we camped hear years ago, we were about halfway down on the left side.

Showers on the bottom, restrooms on the top. The bathhouse is located at the entrance to the campground

Following our trip to Mustang Island State Park, we drove a few miles farther south to the intersection of Texas 361 and Texas 358, which crosses the Intracoastal Waterway via the John F. Kennedy Memorial Causeway before entering Corpus Christi. The area there has built up over the years, and we wanted to see what services were available.

By vehicle, there are only 2 ways to reach the island.The first is to use the ferry from Aransas Pass, as we did. The other way is over the causeway from Corpus. Evacuating the island during a storm must be challenging.

Port Aransas Nature Preserve

We visited the Port Aransas Nature Preserve during our stay in Port Aransas. Sometimes referred to as the Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture, the preserve encompasses 1,217 acres of undeveloped land on the northwest part of the island bordering the Intracoastal Waterway. The preserve contains more than 3 miles of hike and bike trails, a pavilion, boardwalks over algal flats, crushed granite trails on the uplands, covered seating sites and two towers overlooking wetland areas around Salt Island.

During our visit, we parked at the pavilion and took the trail to the Salt Island overlook. (see map) We met several other folks along the trail, most of whom were bird watchers. We also met one bicyclist.

Boardwalk near start of the trail

Friendly little rabbit approached me on the trail before scampering off into the brush.

Various birds feeding in a pond along the trail.

Boardwalk seems to go on forever.

This photo was taken from atop the observation tower on Salt Island. It looks back at the trail we took.

Should you decide to visit the preserve, take along insect repellent. Bugs were quite aggressive with me along the trail through the brushy areas.

The Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas

While at Port Aransas, we visited the Marine Science Institute on the northeast end of Mustand Island. The institute is operated by the University of Texas College of Natural Sciences. According to the literature, the institute is "the oldest and most significant marine research facility on the Texas coast and is home to cutting-edge scientists, graduate students and educators. The institute helps create more productive fisheries, educates our next generation of scientific leaders, and works to understand how our oceans and coasts are changing through time."

For the visitor, there are educational movies and a few small displays available. It did not take us long to work our way through all the displays, and since we visited early in the morning, the movies were not available. As we were leaving, we were told by an employee that some money had recently become available so there was some expansion planned for the facilities. But this is an educational facility, so research and training comes first.

Below are a few pictures from our visit.

The visitor center of the Marine Science Institute.

This is the lower-right jaw bone of a Fin Whale, the second largest of all whales. The bone was brought up in a shrimp trawl net about 80 miles southeast of Galveston. The bone is 14 feet long and weighs 240 pounds.

Dolphin skeleton

Donna viewing one of the salt-water fish tanks.

Skull of a Sei whale

As is, it doesn't take very long at all to view the few exhibits at the Marine Institute, but it is worth the time to include it as a stop.

On the Road: San Angelo, TX, to Port Aransas, TX

Donna and I just returned from a short trip to Port Aransas. I have several items to share with you, so I will be posting these over the next few weeks.

While most Texans favor places like Galveston and South Padre Island for their Texas beach trips, we have always preferred Port Aransas, which is more laid back and relaxed. Port Aransas is a small town of fewer than 4,000 souls on the north end of Mustang Island, which is just north of Padre Island.

From San Angelo to Port Aransas, a journey of 384 miles

We began our trip by taking our customary route from San Angelo to I-10 in Junction, Texas (see "Southern Hill Country Tip, 2012"). We then followed I-10 for a brief distance to Kerrville, where we took Texas 173 south. This is true Hill Country terrain, with high, pronounced hills, winding roads, and frequent small creeks, often shaded by cypress trees. We passed through the small town of Bandera, the self professed "Cowboy Capital of the World". The Medina River runs through the southern edge of this small, interesting town, which has really grown since the last time we were here several years ago. The hills stayed with us as we continued south on 173. About halfway to Hondo, roughly at the county line, the hills finally gave away and we entered the South Texas brush country.

The terrain pretty much remained the same as we passed first through Hondo, then Devine, then finally Jourdanton, all small towns. At Jourdanton, we turned east on Texas 97 for a short leg to Pleasanton, where we would pick up US 281. Jourdanton has fewer than 4,000 people and Pleasanton fewer than 10,000, so I was surprised at the buildup of businesses along Texas 97 between these two neighboring communities. I would have thought I was in a more heavily populated area. I guess there is an oil boom in the area as I did see numerous oil-field related vehicles. There are plenty of places to eat and numerous lodging opportunities on this stretch of road.

At Pleasanton, we turned south on US 281 for a few miles before joining I-37, which goes to Corpus Christ. We stayed on I-37 to just south of Mathis, where we exited to pick up Texas 188. Just before our exit, we noticed a sign indicating the wait time for the ferry we would later be using to reach Mustang Island. At this time, the wait was 15 minutes.

Almost as soon as we headed east on Texas 188, the countryside changed from brush country to farm land. I saw numerous fields of corn, some as tall as knee-high, as well as some young shoots of cotton. Almost all the land was being farmed until we reached Sinton. We passed through Sinton and picked up US 181 on the east side of town for a brief leg to nearby Gregory. We just grazed the north side of Gregory as we picked up Texas 361 on the east side of town. We followed 361 east through Ingleside, then curved north to Aransas Pass before turning east again to head to the ferry across a series of small islands and one small causeway across Redfish Bay.

The wait at the ferry was very brief, less than the 15 minutes posted. The ride across the Intracoastal Waterway was short, just long enough for us to step out, snap a few pictures, then get back in our car. The ferry employees do a great job of working traffic onto the ferry and then taking the riders across. I believe there are 4 moorings per side; I'm not sure how many ferries are actually working.

As soon as we docked on the island, the ramps were lowered and the traffic departed the ferry. As soon as we left the ferry landing, we passed through the traffic light and stopped almost immediately at the Visitor Center to pick up information to plan our stay on the island.

Strolling About the Yard

I took the camera for a stroll about the yard a day or two ago. It's worth noting that we enjoyed about half an inch of rain during the morning hours earlier today, so the yard should really come to life with the rain and the nitrogen. We are grateful for any rain we get here, and this is the best rain we've had for at least 4 months. I think it's appropriate that this life giving rain arrived on Easter Sunday.

I planted some 1015 sweet onions and some red onions back in late January. They are coming along well and should be ready to harvest pretty soon. If we store them properly, they will provide our needs for several months. About 2 or 3 weeks ago, I interplanted some Yukon Gold potatoes among the onions, and they are now up and growing nicely. As they grow and need more room, I'll harvest the onions from around them. You have to make every inch work when you have a small yard.

Red onions on the left (can you say homemade hamburgers?) and sweet 1015 onions on the right. With the rain we just received, the grass should green up quite a bit.

We planted some oregano, thyme, and lavender last summer, and it really came through the winter nicely. Back in January or so, I trimmed these plants thoroughly and really cleaned them out. They seemed to enjoy that, and they look healthy, even with very limited watering. In fact, they are beginning to crowd one another.

From left to right, oregano, thyme, and lavender in a bed bordering the house.

I did not take a picture of the two sage plants we have out front, but they are filling out nicely. The rain early this morning will help them greatly, and they will probably burst into flower in the next few days. Over the winter, they looked a little lean, but they look much better now. One of my yuccas appears to be dead. If so, I'll remove it and replace it with something else. For now, the other yucca is getting ready to bloom.

The surviving yucca in our front yard. The stem sticking straight up is full of blooms, which will flower in the next few days. Notice the very green and healthy sage bush in the background. It's a bit thin on the side facing the camera, but the rain this morning will really help that.

Finally, some of my neighbors have soft yucca plants that are already in bloom. I've always loved the milky blooms of yuccas.

Soft yucca across the street in full bloom.