South Padre Island & San Antonio

My mom’s sister spends her winters in Port Isabel, just across the bridge from South Padre Island on the southernmost Texas gulf coast. I had visited her many years ago and wanted to take Bob down there while we were in the area, so we left the 5^th wheel in Austin and drove the six hours south. We were happy to see wild flowers blooming along the freeway and the yuccas are in bloom! We fell in love with these gigantic flowers in the desert last year.

Bob and I had a great time relaxing, eating pie, fabulous fish and shrimp and touring the area. We visited the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge where we saw several new birds, but were unable to spot an ocelot or jaguarundi. This is one of the few places these endangered cats still survive in the USA. We also loved a little local church with a seaside motif.

South Padre is a barrier island in the Padre Island National Seashore that runs from Corpus Christi to Port Isabel. Only the southern 5 miles has a road and beyond that are pristine dunes and sandy beaches. Spring break was in full swing on South Padre Island when we spent an afternoon at the beach and had lunch in a local waterfront pub. There were thousands of college kids everywhere. Bob enjoyed the bikini scenery and aunt Terry and I sampled some exotic drinks.

On our way back to Austin, we stopped in San Antonio. Bob had visited there once in the 1980’s and thought it would be a good place for lunch. The “river walk” area is a great winding maze of restaurants and shops. It is a little like Disneyland with boat tours running down the river, but when you consider its age, it is a fine testament to its designer. A local architect had the vision of lining the San Antonio river with stone walls, trees and walkways in the 1930’s. The River Walk was completed in 1941. The river channeling system also serves some flood control purposes. San Antonio is home to a lot of Texas History including the Alamo and some very well preserved churches and cathedrals from the 1700’s. We only spent a couple of hours there and barely scratched the surface, but it seemed like a very livable city.