Texas Gulf Coast December 2007

[uptoblackwood]

This past week I had a few days free and decided on a trip south to the Texas Golf coast. I wanted to return to a State park that I stayed at often with my family when I was a child and is part of many fond memories. I "grew up" in San Antonio and the "coast" was only about three hours away by car. We traveled to the "coast" often as a family and had many, many great times together. My camping destination was Goose Island State Park http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/goose_island/, home of the oldest live oak tree in N. America. The tree measures 38 ft around, 90 ft from edge to edge and 48 ft tall....it's name, "Big Tree". I arrived late and wasn't able to stay in the wooded area. About two years ago (according to staff), the park added a seawall and campsites on the bay. This is where I had the option of camping. These sites all have pavillions with a picnic bench (movable), grill and electricty. Only two sites were availible when I checked in (reserved, but first come first serve). I was surrounded by camper trailers and motorhomes. It was quiet until morning....when the public boat ramp in the park, near my site became very active. The bays along much of the Texas coast offer very good fishing for red and black drum and speckled trout...in the winter. Shrimping and oyster boats worked very near shore and near the park off and on during the day (and night) and produced some noise. All in all....Goose Island is a good place to use for a base of operation. I rode the coastal roads from Rockport to Corpus Christi and did as much sight seeing as possible (I put in 1400 miles from Saturday morning to Monday afternoon).
I'll post images and short commentary. Hope you all enjoy. This is a great winter ride.

Forest

Images from Goose Island State Park, Rockport Texas
campsite
sunrise
seawall
fishing dock
big tree shots (large stands of "mighty oaks" run all along the Texas shore)
bike

 

[Mellow]

Great pics as usual, thanks Forest!

 

[uptoblackwood]

Lots of fun to be had on a run like this.

I took the ferry from Port Aransas to Mustang Island and ran the length of the island and to the North end of Padre Island (Corpus Christi), stopping for a bit of fun at a surf shop, play with ice cream truck clowns, lunch, the beach, etc.....the ferry was a hoot. Short and sweet...

PS...that Mexican food joint in Rockport....rocks!!! Info and phone in photo and located on TX Hwy 35...

 

[uptoblackwood]

One marina after another....great along the coastal area. These shots from the big Marina off of Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi.....

The bird and marine life on the winter coast is fantastic....

 

[uptoblackwood]

You can find a ton of things to do very near downtown Corpus Christi. I toured the USS Lexington (aircraft carrier). http://www.usslexington.com/ This is well worth a couple of hours. The photo ops change by the hour....as light is always changing. They have great exibits. They've got a small concession stand set up in the hanger deck and a ships store.....
There are a ton of aircraft on the vessel and most are in very good condition. Self guided tours fore/aft/hanger deck/bridge/operations deck make this a very nice couple of hours....
The last image of one of the Intercoastal bridges is from the operations deck...

Forest

PS...the F4 Skyhawk in one of the images, is like the jet John McCain was shot down in during Vietnam....

 

[uptoblackwood]

Another really great activity in Corpus Christi is the Texas State Aquarium. http://www.texasstateaquarium.org/

These are just a few shots....there are many really great exibits at the Aquarium. Parking for both the USS Lexington and the Aquarium is easy to find...and you can walk from one to the activity in a matter of minutes.

A sunset ride home along the beach road....with some newfound motorcycle ferry riders....

PS...this is a great place for kids...young and old alike. The young fella in gray, pointing out the "croc-agators" to his younger sister, was a real showman!

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

A few more shots from Goose Island State Park, Rockport Texas...

 

[uptoblackwood]

On Sunday morning I tried to reserve a space on a boat that travels to the Aransas/Matagorda wildlife refuge (http://www.fws.gov/southwest/REFUGES/texas/aransas/) ...just North of Goose Island and Rockport. The boats leave from Rockport. These boats give you an opportunity to observe the Whooping Crane at fairly close distances. I found out that the entire free world birding population are onsite with reservations booked many months in advance for this opportunity.....so, I hopped on the bike and made the ride to the reserve. The reserve has a great vistor center with super helpful volunteers and staff. After a great briefing I was off on about 7 nature hikes (well marked) throughout the park. While you can't really get very close to the Whooping Crane population (a good thing) from the ground hikes...you can see a lot of other great nature. I was to see wild turky, dear (several kind), javalina, bobcat, birds/birds/birds/birds...of all feathers, alligators up close (way too upclose) and personal. Part of the refuge tour was an 11 mile, one way road through the marsh....great fun.

I rode to Galveston after the afternoon hikes and stayed on the beach, camping at Galveston Island State Park (images to follow when I find that memory card)....and returned to Richardson/Dallas on Monday morning....a cold, windy ride....
Air temps throughout the trip along the coastal areas ran between 65 and 79 degrees F....at night in the middle 40's.

A great trip....

Forest

 

[uptoblackwood]

Great pics as usual, thanks Forest!

Thanks Joe..

 

[Vtwin]

Great write up, thanks!. I've always wondered how Goose Island State Park was. Year before last I made a trip down the Texas coast all the way from High Island to Corpus. The point of the trip was to stay as close to the coast as possible all the way down. There are some pretty neat little towns down that way, Freeport, Palacios, Port O'Connor, Seadrift, Rockport etc. The one town I missed and want to go back to some time is Matagorda. I always thought it would be nice to retire to one of those small towns, until you start reading the history of the towns. The history usually begins with 'the town has been rebuilt 4 times in it's history due to hurricanes'! One of my favorite State Parks is (was) Sea Rim State Park but it is still closed after Rita hit it pretty much dead on over 2 years ago.
This is also a great time of the year to visit as it rarely gets below freezing and is often in the mid to upper 70's. Rgds Howard

 

[uptoblackwood]

Thanks Howard...
I think the Goose Island Park would be better if one stays in the wooded camping areas. Too much activity with boats on the water directly...but it wasn't too bad. The camping under the oaks is pretty darn nice but there is a certain appeal looking out over the water.

 

[uptoblackwood]

A few more images...

I had misplaced the memory card from the last day of travel...but it has returned from the "other" mysterious place.

On my final day of travel, I cruised along the Texas coastline toward the Northeast, arriving at Galveston Island very late in the afternoon. I set up camp at Galveston Island State Park. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/galveston/
It was calm when I arrived...but the wind started blowing strong from the North later in the evening. It was a cold, windy trip home the next day.

Galveston is full of great Texas history. Many of the old sea captain/business leaders/civic leader's mansions have been restored and are open for tours. It's well worth the time and effort to make these tours. The homes are still impressive/imposing to this day. http://www.galveston.com/historichomes/

I'll post up a few of the images of the park and images of just a few (of many, many) of the wonderful historical buildings on the island.

Forest