COASTAL BEND TRIO
A WINNER
Fall is an ideal
time to visit —
it’s cooler and
less crowded
By MELANIE YOUNG
There’s something about heading
to the coast that puts everything
in perspective. The quickening
sea breeze, sun glancing
off glassy waves, the steady sound of the
surf — suddenly the past week’s stresses
disappear faster than a seagull swoops
down to snatch a fish.
For me it doesn’t even have to be
high summer to savor this attitude
adjustment that comes with the salt tang
in the air. In fact, fall is one of my favorite
times to visit the Coastal Bend — that is,
Port Aransas, Rockport-Fulton and
Corpus Christi. The wave of summer
tourists has subsided, making it easier to
enjoy all my favorite restaurants, shops
and activities without competing with
crowds. And if you’re a water rat like me,
often you can still swim on sunny days till
the end of October.
Autumn brings some of the area’s
best festivals, too, ranging from seafood
feasts to musical extravaganzas. Another
plus is the proximity of these places to
each other: Corpus Christi is a half-hour’s
drive down the coast from Port Aransas,
and Rockport-Fulton sits about the same
distance up the coast from Port A, as
some call it.
So here are 10 suggestions for what
to do in each of these seaside escapes to
make the most of a fall getaway in the
Coastal Bend.
PORT ARANSAS
Port Aransas is justifiably famous for
its fishing. After all, the town motto is “Where they bite every day.” Walking
out to the end of the mile-long fishing
jetty this past year, I saw at least a halfdozen
landed redfish about three feet
long. On the wall at the Tarpon Inn you
can still see the big tarpon scale
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
and dated when his yacht dropped
anchor here in May 1937.
#1: Go fishing! Group fishing trips
and custom charters are easy to find
along Cotter Street and in the harbor
area. Besides the jetty, there are four
fishing piers. You can buy your fishing
license and some old-fashioned cane
poles and bobbers for the kids at Bilmore
Hardware on Alister Street.
#2: After picking up local information
at the Visitors Center/Chamber of
Commerce on Cotter Street, ride the
25-cent Port Aransas Trolley around
town and along the beach to get the
lay of the land.
#3: Head to the beach! If it’s too cool
for swimming and wave-hopping, go fly
a kite, which you can buy at souvenir
shops in town. Or just veg out in your
lawn chairs. When a brisk wind kicks up
the surf a notch or two, you can almost
always find a few kite-boarders at the
beach to watch. It looks impossibly difficult but fun — skimming and bouncing
across the waves on a rig that combines
a surfboard, a harness and a kite-sail to
pull you along. If you’re that kind of
daredevil, you can arrange lessons at a
shop in town.
#4: Go birding. Fall is an ideal time
because lots of birds stop by on their
way to Mexico, Central America and
South America. And Port A has abundant
birding sites: Wetland Park, Joan & Scott Holt Paradise Pond, the Leona
Belle Turnbull Birding Center and the
South Jetty, all of which are on the
Great Texas Birding Trail. You can also
sign up for a birding tour by boat that
may include dolphin watching.
#5: Rent kayaks for riding the surf or
exploring the quieter bay side of
Mustang Island, also a good place for
birding. There are rentals in town and on
the causeway road to the ferry.
#6: Learn about the Gulf of Mexico
and its critters. The Visitor Center of the
University of Texas Marine Science
Institute has small aquariums and shell
exhibits as well as a gift shop. And it
shows a movie every afternoon (Monday
through Thursday) at 3 p.m. On Cotter
Street, the Institute is open Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
#7: Go shopping. Besides some
whale-sized souvenir emporia, Port
Aransas has some way-cool boutiques
and gift shops. My two favorites are Cita,
a treasure trove of tropical-themed furnishings,
décor, clothing and jewelry, and
A Mano, which carries fabulous folk art,
ceramics, glassware, wall décor, embroidered
clothing and jewelry from Mexico.
#8: Go to a Saturday night concert
at Third Coast Studio & Theater, 502 E.
Ave. G. To find out who is playing and purchase tickets, call (361) 749-4294 or
visit thirdcoastmusic.biz. Recent performers
have included Shake Russell,
Idgy Vaughn and Terri Hendrix. It’s an
intimate performance venue — “like
going to a concert in someone’s living
room,” says Justin Rice, an attorney at
The Nature Conservancy who likes to
fish in Port A. Or go to a play at Port A’s
new community theater.
#9: Have lunch or dinner at one of my
favorite restaurants: the Venetian Hot
Plate, Shell’s Pasta & Seafood, La Playa
Mexican Grille, Taqueria San Juan,
Marcel’s, Port A Pizzeria and Seafood &
Spaghetti Works.
#10: Go on a day or evening “cruise
to nowhere” on the gambling ship, the
Texas Treasure. Take your binoculars or
telescope: If it’s a clear night, you can do
some serious stargazing away from city
lights, even if you don’t hit the jackpot.
ROCKPORT AND FULTON
Rockport, or Rockport-Fulton, is actually
two towns as entwined as the fancy
sailor’s knots on display in Rockport’s Texas
Maritime Museum. Sedate and arty, this
genteel duo is the place to browse
through small galleries and gift shops filled
with unique wares and works by local
artists. Most of these lie at the heart of
town around Rockport Harbor, an area
that retains the feeling of a seaside village
with its picturesque boats and restored
Victorian cottages. The beaches here are
ideal for young children: Because Rockport
is protected by the barrier island of San
Jose, there's no surf.
#1: Tour the Texas Maritime Museum,
which portrays Texas' seafaring past
from the first Spaniards to the offshore
oil industry. Artifacts from one of the
ships of the French explorer La Salle, discovered
off Matagorda Island in 1995,
are displayed here, including tiny shoe
buckles and cannons bearing the crest of
King Louis XIV.
#2: From the museum, stroll across
the street to Rockport Harbor, where you
can buy shrimp, crabs and fish right off
the boat. Nature and birding cruises
depart from here, too.
#3: Visit the Rockport Center for the
Arts nearby in the blue-and-white
Victorian house. Its high-quality
exhibits in all media, ranging from
painting to textiles and ceramics, testify
to the fact that this area sustains a
vibrant art colony. Rockport has been
dubbed “one of the best 100 small art
towns in America.”
#4: Go shopping on Austin Street in
downtown Rockport. For along with
antiques and seaside souvenirs, you’ll
find an original and eclectic assortment
of unique wares such as artist-painted
furniture, elaborate kites, unusual
handmade purses and table settings
with pizzazz. Comforts of Home is a
favorite for furnishings, linens and decorative
creations.
#5: Drive the Fulton Beach Road to
Fulton, stopping to admire the amazing
wind-sculpted live oaks. Leaning
steeply away from the sea, their raked
profiles suggest the hurricane-force
winds they have weathered over the
years.
#6: Take a guided tour of Fulton’s
oldest attraction, the restored Fulton
Mansion. Built in 1876 overlooking
Fulton’s waterfront, the mansion of cattle
baron George Fulton was an engineering
marvel for its time, featuring
hot and cold running water, flush toilets,
central heat and a cooling system
for food storage.
#7: Go birding. Start at Rockport’s
Connie Hagar Wildlife Refuge, named for
naturalist Connie Hagar, who made the
world aware of the exceptional birding
here when she was featured on the cover
of Life magazine in the 1930s. Then drive
up the coast to the Aransas National
Wildlife Refuge, home to the world’s only
wild colony of whooping cranes, which
start arriving in November.
#8: Plan your visit around a Rockport-
Fulton special event, such as the
Hummer/Bird Celebration (Sept. 13-16),
the Hidden Gardens Tour and Fall Plant Sale (Sept. 29), or the Rockport Seafair (Oct. 5-7).
#9: Dine at AransaZu, the eclectic and innovative creation of
chef-owner Jay Moore, whose cuisine helped make Hudsonon-
the-Bend near Austin famous. Or sign up for one of his
cooking classes on the third Tuesday of the month.
#10: Go on a guided nature walk at Goose Island State
Park, featuring marsh, woods and flora every Saturday at 2
p.m. Free with park entry fee.
CORPUS CHRISTI
In Corpus Christi, combine beach-going with the amenities
of a major city on a beautiful bay.
#1: Learn about the Gulf and its inhabitants at the Texas
State Aquarium on Corpus Christi Beach. Children can hold live
starfish and other critters in the touch pool.
#2: Climb aboard life-size replicas of Columbus' ships
(access is via the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and
History), or
#3: Take a tour of the USS LEXINGTON, a renowned World
War II aircraft carrier.
#4: Check out the superb museums, including the Art
Museum of South Texas, Asian Cultures Museum, Corpus Christi
Museum of Science and History and the Selena Museum.
#5: Get a glimpse of the city’s past at Heritage Park, featuring
nine restored historic homes.
#6: Stroll through the South Texas Botanical Gardens &
Nature Center and get some ideas for your own garden.
#7: Play miniature golf at Treasure Island Golf & Games.
#8: Join a nature walk led by a National Park Service ranger
starting from the visitor center at Malaquite Beach on the Padre
Island National Seashore.
#9: Come for a special event: Bayfest, a family festival with
arts and crafts, food and live music (Sept. 28-30); or the Texas
Jazz Festival, featuring jazz artists from across the country (Oct.
19-21). Willie Nelson will perform here Oct. 20.
#10: Drive to Kingsville, 30 miles south, for a tour of the legendary
King Ranch. You could also visit the King Ranch
Museum and King Ranch Saddle Shop in Kingsville.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce
(800) 45-COAST
www.portaransas.org
Rockport-Fulton Area Chamber of Commerce
(800) 242-0071
www.rockport-fulton.org
Corpus Christi Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
(800) 678-6232
www.corpuschristi-tx-cvb.org
