A great spot to chill out in the warmth

South Padre Island, TX

South Padre Island is a small barrier island off the southern coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s 55 kilometers long, although you can only drive a small portion of that before running out of road, and is less than a kilometer wide at it’s widest point. Think giant sand bar with hotels and resorts running along both sides of the main road which runs north south. Padre Jose Nicholas Balli, was an early Spanish missionary on the Island and his family had accumulated significant land holdings throughout the south Rio Grande Valley, and it’s after him that the island is named.

The island is joined to the mainland by the 2 mile long Queen Isabella Causeway, named for the Queen of Spain who financed the Spanish exploration of this region. Although thankfully I wasn’t the cause for any of them, (and yes, my episode with the Confederation Bridge did come to mind as I travelled over the causeway) the Causeway has had a couple of calamities according to Wikipedia and the locals.

In 1996 someone under the influence of alcohol and drugs flew a plane under the bridge and made it under successfully one direction however it crashed into a concrete pylon after turning to make the pass in the other direction. Then in 2001, just 4 days after 9/11, in the dark of night, 4 barges crashed into one of the support columns taking out 2 sections of the bridge on the upward slope leaving a hidden, gaping hole into which several cars drove. Eight people died in the episode, and the power and water to the island were knocked out. It took 2 months to repair and so a ferry had to be put in place while construction was going on. They intentionally keep this episode pretty low key because it happened so soon after 9/11 and there was concern it would unnecessarily strike fear it might be another attack.

I arrived from San Antonio just after 2 pm on Thursday and after starting the day with grey skies and drizzle, by the time I got here, the sun was out and it was 28 degrees and humid. The KOA is near the causeway, on the bay side, and once again, KOA has not let me down. The buildings are interesting and house great facilities, which are sparkling clean and well used. One unique feature is the “Sunset Deck” which is a deck with piles of adirondack chairs where campers converge to share nibblies, bevies and watch the sun go down. I joined the group tonight and learned quite a lot about RV Tours as one of the couples are wagon masters for one of the big companies that does tours.

But I’ve leaped ahead. After doing a basic set up on Thursday afternoon, I changed from my jeans and hiking boots to capris and sandals and headed out exploring. I went north as far as the road would allow and walked on the beach there, and at an access point back further south. The beaches weren’t quite deserted but I saw only a few other people walking along the beach. The surf was way too rough for swimming.

I stopped at a place called Clayton’s Beach Bar for lunch. The food wasn’t great, but the venue was outstanding. It claims to be the largest beach deck in Texas and I can believe it. The deck area was huge with hundreds of tables and chairs in the open, but also under cover from the sun.

I did some errands and finished getting set up, just before the wind kicked up. That night and all Friday, it was clear, but the wind was pretty intense. So Friday I did some work on my future travel plans and cleaned up the trailer. The KOA had a hoedown in the common room Friday evening, with a country western singer that was really fun and he liked the old country music that I appreciate as well. I had a chance to chat with a bunch of folks there, including a couple from Winnipeg and a woman from Saskatchewan down here on her own as well.

After the hoedown, I stopped in at Pier 19, which is a restaurant/bar adjacent to the KOA, for dinner. I had the most lovely conversation with some folks from Wisconsin or Minnesota (sorry, too many conversations to remember), and they kindly shared with me some ideas about RV Parks in New Orleans area. Once again, it’s the people you meet along the way that makes travel fun. My chicken sandwich was fabulous and the service was efficient and really friendly. Many of the “Winter Texans” (as they call “Snowbirds” here) are just arriving and the staff were amazing at remembering many of them from last season.

This morning, the wind dropped off to barely a light breeze and it got to about 22 degrees. So after the $3 juice, coffee, pancake, french toast and sausage breakfast the KOA puts on every Saturday morning, and some chores, I headed out to enjoy the beautiful weather. I discovered a market at the convention centre to which hundreds of people were migrating so I joined in and spent just a short while checking things out there. Then I headed up the island and went for a long walk on the beach and ended up once again at Clayton’s. Today they had a band and with the weather so perfect, I grabbed a tall table by the railing overlooking the beach and spent a good couple of hours enjoying the sun, some lunch and a margarita or maybe two.

I then headed over to Port Isabel, which is the small community just before you enter on to the causeway to do some errands and take some pictures. Port Isabel has history dating back to the Mexican War of Independence, and the port, town and lighthouse changed hands during the Civil War. As it’s name would imply, it is a port city and there is currently an oil rig in the port and it looks like it might be being revamped. I visited the lighthouse there, built in1853 after the war of Mexico. It’s light shone 15 miles out to sea to direct ships into the harbour here, and it was a prize fought over in the Civil War. It has been a State Park since 1952.