Padre Island, Mustang Island, Port Aransas TX

Before we set out on our sightseeing on the Island today, I took a few pictures on NAS-CCAD otherwise known as Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. It's an Army Depot, Coast Guard Station, and also has Homeland Security within its perimeters. This is the fishing pier in Shields RV Park.

Birds along Sunfish beach.

There are also several birding and wildlife areas along the bay near the RV Park.

Once off the station, we headed toward Padre Island.

There is a big bridge across Laguna Madre....remember that from my visit to South Padre Island. Well, it stretches all the way down.  There are no roads from the north end of Padre Island to South Padre.

Couldn't get a good picture of the bridge but here we are on the other side.

There are a lot of beautiful homes on Padre Island close to the bridge area and many people commute into Corpus Christi to work.

Of course, you will also find the areas for tourists.

If you go about 10 miles down the road, you will end up at Padre Island National Seashore. It's very interesting but not on our agenda for today.

Newly developed beach area homes.

Lots of interesting places for people who want to stay on the Island.

We are heading north to Mustang Island.....you can really tell when you leave one Island and are on the other.  The sand dunes are protected by lots of beach vegetation.

You can drive out onto the beach in a number of areas.

It's windy so there is some surf today.

We are definitely not driving out there although a motorcycle and a car whiz past me.

 This is Mustang Island State Park....you can see the RVs. It's almost like a large parking lot with RV sites along two sides. You back in and have a little covered picnic table between each site. There is a bathhouse and access to the beach which is on the other side of the dunes.

There is lots of open area as you drive further north and you will see people pulled off into areas for birding and fishing.  You will also see large hotels/resorts every once in a while. This is the Mayan Princess.

As you get closer to the north end of the Island, you will see more beach housing before you reach the town of Port Aransas.

I didn't take any pictures in the town area of Port Aransas this time but you will find everything you need there including lots of RV parks and places where you can go out on the ocean on a charter to fish.  Lots of interesting restaurants, a grocery store, etc. There are also some birding areas.

There is also camping in a county park on the beach.

This is where you check in for camping, the bath house, etc.

The is camping in more of a park like area behind the building and behind the dunes. There are hookups here.

Some people prefer to boondock right on the beach.  This end of the beach is pretty hard packed sand.

You will find others parked here to fish or just walk out on the jetty or on the beach.

Next we headed down to the park by the ferry.

We saw several boats pushing big barges through the canal.

This is a good size boat pushing the barge. To the left, you can see one of the ferries.

It's a very nice park with a playground and picnic tables.

And people fishing......

Or watching a sightseeing cruise boat go by.

We are getting lined up to go on one of the ferries.

Since we just had the truck, we were loaded onto one of the smaller ferries. But these ferries also haul motorhomes, big 5th wheels, and semi-trucks across to the mainland as well.

We had to wait for this big ocean freighter to go past into Corpus Christi Bay.

Another one of the smaller ferries going across at the same time we did.  I think there are four or five ferries that go back and forth. The crews working the ferry lines know exactly what they are doing and keep things moving right along. This is a highway that uses ferry crossing rather than a bridge so there is no charge. If you are lucky, you can sometimes see dolphins swimming along. Alas, this was not our lucky day.

More harbor traffic.

Once we were across the water, we saw people fishing along the bay.

Some were in boats and some were in waders standing in the water.

We went through Ingleside and passed the U.S.S. Lexington as we came back across another bridge into Corpus Christi. You can tour the ship. The Texas Aquarium is in the same area.

We had a great day and arrived back home in time for a walk around the park before dinner.