2026 - Last Hurrah Texas Road-trip #1 (Southern Gulf Coast)

This is Part 1 of our "Last Hurrah" Texas road trips.  There are still places we have not explored in our 10 years here.  If we can accomplish seeing these sights, we will have seen everything we want in Texas.  After our move, we plan to fly back, pick up the van and drive it to CA.

This first 5 nighter was down to the Padre Islands (South Texas coast of the Gulf).  We have heard the beaches in this area are nicer than the ones near Galveston (Northern Texas coast of the Gulf).  Many people travel down here for spring break...down to "PA" (Port Aransas) or South Padre Island.

We started our drive down south with a visit to the Meadows Center for Water & Environment in San Marcos.  Dan & Lillian Harmon told us about this place.  It's quite interesting!  They have glass bottom boat rides, and it used to be a resort.  It now belongs to Texas State University.  The waters are fed by many natural springs, and are super clear in the deeper areas.  We couldn't fit the boat tour in since there were a bunch of field trips taking place that day, and I did not want to be stuck on a boat with a bunch of screaming kids, LOL!

We had never walked around the old historic area of San Marcos, so we took our time doing that and had lunch on the square.  

With time to kill we drove through some of the small towns in this area: New Braunfels & Seguin. We enjoy driving through each town's historical "town square" - there are so many in Texas!

Our first Harvest Host stay is at Entwined Fiber & Wire.  Karen & Ulysses have a farm with Alpaca & Lama (and mini donkeys, chickens, geese...).  We arrived on the day they were sheering their herd.  It was also Karen's birthday and their anniversary!  Ulysses used to be a Buffalo Soldier re-enactor in El Paso before getting into an unfortunate accident that left him with brain damage.  Next time we drive through El Paso we will have to stop at the statue of the Buffalo Soldier, which was created based on his likeness.

The next day we left for Brownsville.  We visited Palo Alto National Battlefield, highlighting the history of the Mexican American War.

It's been very hot, despite some rain today...our stay tonight is at Jetstream RV Park located on the outskirts of Brownsville.  Thank goodness they have showers since we didn't get one at the farm.  

Luke is being such a great road trip trooper!

Brownsville is the southernmost city of Texas at the Mexican border.  The border here at the Rio Grande is pretty non-descript...there is a college (Texas Southmost College) right at the border.  Unlike Key West, there is no marker for the south-most tip of the state here.

We drove next to South Padre Island.  It very much reminds us of the beach towns along Florida's coasts that we visited last spring, complete with all sorts of crazy tourist stores selling T-shirts, shells...you want "beach stuff"?  ...they've got it!  

We stopped at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center.  Unfortunately Luke was not allowed on the boardwalk area, so I stayed behind with him while Barry went to see many of the same birds and reptiles we saw along the northern areas of the Gulf.

I especially liked this sculpture of a mermaid & bird on display.  It is made entirely out of "junk" found in the waters here, sad but beautiful (NOTE: These are the materials' natural colors)!

South Padre Island is separate from the "North Padre" Islands, so we had to back track a bit through Corpus Christi to get to Mustang Island, where Port Aransas is.  

I booked us for two nights at the Aloha Beach RV Resort at Port Aransas.  We got upgraded to a pull through spot because the party staying in our reserved spot had a rig emergency and could not leave.  Lucky us, our space is great!  I researched MANY RV places, and am so glad I went with this one.  It is small and backs up to the wilderness preserve, so it's not so noisy & crowded.

Port Aransas has many of the same icons as the other Gulf towns...

...but when we drove down south into the island and towards the Padre Island National Seashore, we finally saw some beautiful beaches - too bad it was so windy!!!

We also drove through Corpus Christi.  The USS Lexington is located here as an attraction.

The great thing about traveling with Luke is that he is not at all food focused.  We can enjoy all of our food & snacks without him begging.  All he wants is to be near us!

To get off of Mustang Island you either have to drive back through Corpus Christi or you can take a quick ferry ride across the Aransas Pass.  It is a free ferry that runs 365 days a year - and is only a 7 min ride.  They run 4-6 ferries all day.  We were wondering why they would do this in lieu of a bridge, but realized it is probably because it is too narrow of a channel with too much traffic to build a bridge tall enough for the big ships to pass.  

It was kind of a crummy day...but when we got off of the ferry, this McDonald's made me smile...I think it is the most colorful McDonald's I've ever seen!

Our friend's Robin & Lynn stayed on Goose Island.  While we did not go to the beach area of the State Park, we made a stop there to see the "Big Tree".

We made our way to Aransas National Wildlife Center next, which was very impressive!  If only the weather were better I think we would have seen a lot more wildlife.

We made a brief stop at Presidio la Bahia National Historic Landmark near Goliad, TX, the only fully restored Spanish colonial fort in the Western Hemisphere.  Also the birthplace of Ignacio Zaragoza, who was the hero of the Battle of Puebla - a victory over the French, which is why Mexicans celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  

Our plan was to drive through the Hill Country areas that participate in the famous Antique Fairs near Round Top...but it was a dreary rainy Sunday, so most everything was closed.  We even drove through Shiner, which is the home of Shiner Bock Beer...but sadly they were closed as well.

We arrived in Burton at the Next Chapter Alpaca Farm our final night's stay.  Randy and his wife bought the place after retiring and built it up, but she sadly passed away from Cancer in 2023.  Now Randy offers mentoring to people interested in alpacas, barn & pasture set up.  He let us feed his Alpacas and mini donkeys, and gave us a tour of his place.  

We treated ourselves to an Egg McMuffin meal at McDonald's the next morning for our drive back, which included a stop at Petco so we could give Luke a much needed bath!  He will be going to Lawrence's house in a few days while we embark on our next trip to West Texas.  

Here is a map of our route - 1,177 miles!