Mar 18 - Padre Island National Seashore, Mustang Island, & Port Aransas Island, Gulf Coast Barrier islands, Texas

  We got an early start and drove around Corpus Christi  and over the bridges to the barrier islands on the Gulf Coast.  We started at Padre Island National Seashore.  One side of the island has beaches on the Gulf, the other side has beaches on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  We first stopped at the Malaquite visitor's center and beach.  The visitor center was closed, along with the cafe, due to the Corona virus, but the volunteers and ranger were sitting outside and chatting with folks, giving us the maps and brochures of the National Seashore. 
  We then continued on down the paved road for another mile, where it just ended on the beach.  After that, you can drive for 60 miles on the beach and the seashore.  The first 5 miles are for most cars, but after that, you need a good 4 wheel drive vehicle.  RV's and cars were parked all along the beach.  We drove for maybe a mile, and then pulled over to park next to the water.  We sat in the car, with the doors open, and ate lunch (I forgot to bring our camp chairs or towels).    Hung out there, enjoying the birds, the waves and the strong wind.  It's really interesting being able to drive on the beach.  We stopped for a short time on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway side.  The water was really green, and very still, especially compared to the waves from the Gulf side. 
  Next we drove on Mustang Island (not too interesting, as you couldn't get over to the beach readily).  There was a State Park, with beach access,  but the sand was really loose and hard to drive on, so we continued on to Port Aransas.  This is a tourist town with the Gulf on one side, and Redfish Bay on the other.  There is a waterway, that allows big ships to go between the island and the coast, to get to the huge oil factory.  In order to get over the waterway, to get to the long Redfish Bay Causeway back over to the mainland, you need to take a ferry.  The ferry is free, and runs 24 hrs a day, and lasts all of 5 minutes to get across.  But, you need to wait in line for about 20 minutes, even with 4 ferries being loaded at a time, holding around 30 cars each. 
  We first went over to the Port Aransas Port A Jetty.  This is an extremely long breakwater, that creates the waterway.  You can walk on it, and fish from it.  It's a nice way to get to see the Gulf and hangout by the water.  Then, we stopped at Roberts Point Park, and finally to the ferry. 
  A nice day.

Padre Island National Seashore photos:

Port Aransas Port A Jetty photos:

Roberts Point Park photos: