Critters
April 19, 2024
Why the Lionfish Is the Feral Hog of the Sea
Meet the Gulf's beautiful invader.
Gulf Coast
Critters
March 18, 2024
Great White Sharks Would Like the Gulf of Mexico Back, Please
With a massive great white shark’s recent record-setting trip to South Padre Island, an overfished (and fear-inducing) species is reclaiming its historic range.
Parks & Recs
October 24, 2023
Taking It Slow at Goose Island State Park
I marveled at the thousand-year-old Big Tree and stargazed with a pod of pelicans.
Tacos
September 21, 2023
When Hurricane Harvey Took Everything, a Houston Chef Turned to the Gulf and Opened a Taqueria
Dayatra Myers runs Fish Company Taco in Galveston, where the menu items rotate based on the availability of the fish, which leads to fresh and creative options.
Libations
August 16, 2023
A Historic Bar in Port Aransas Finds a New Home
Shorty’s Place, a coastal dive that has been around since the 1940s, cleans up and moves on while maintaining its signature charm as a community hangout.
Parks & Recs
August 2, 2023
We Found Texas’s Best Beachcombing Spot in Matagorda
The seaside town is also a great place to catch redfish, watch dolphins, and stay in a snazzy new bungalow.
Travel & Outdoors
June 15, 2023
At 76, This Texas Surfer Is Still Chasing Waves—and Memories
A longtime Houston outdoor-sports writer looks back on sixty years of surfing the Gulf Coast.
Texas Country Reporter
February 23, 2023
The Old Orange Cafe Is a Piece of Local History
The restaurant inside an old brick dairy building is run by chef David Claybar, whose family roots in Orange run several generations deep.
Travel & Outdoors
August 9, 2022
These Port Aransas Classics Keep Us Coming Back
Five years after Hurricane Harvey, the beloved beach town continues to recover and evolve. Here are some of our favorite spots.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Reeling in the Years at a Cabin in the Laguna Madre
My family’s shack on an island in the world’s largest hypersaline lagoon has brought us closer to the fishing—and to one another.
Texas Country Reporter
May 25, 2022
My Lifelong Dream Came True at South Padre’s Sea Turtle Inc.
Texas Country Reporter paid a visit to the world-class wildlife preservation center, where a rehabilitated Kemp’s ridley turtle made a return to the sea.
Critters
May 10, 2022
Five Texas Jellyfish—and Relatives—to Know
Brush up on (but not against!) these five gelata common to the Gulf of Mexico.
Critters
May 10, 2022
Jellyfish in the Gulf Are as Mysterious as They Are Painful
These translucent, stinging creatures are full of secrets.
Texas Country Reporter
April 28, 2022
You Can Lead Cows to Water, But Can You Make ’Em Swim Across the Colorado River?
In Matagorda, the Huebner Brothers Cattle Company has been leading a semiannual cattle drive for more than a hundred years.
News & Politics
April 22, 2022
Texas Beaches May Be Filthier Than We Realize
A&M researchers say more-robust testing is needed to understand just how much human feces ends up in Gulf waters.
Texas Country Reporter
March 3, 2022
A Small-town Texan Keeps an Ancient Japanese Art Form Alive
Dinah Bowman is a world-renowned artist specializing in a fish printing technique. The results are rich, textured, and colorful. You have to see it for yourself.
Energy
February 14, 2022
How Texas Is Rescuing Europe From the Russians
An energy crisis on the Continent has it desperate for help from the Permian natural gas it had earlier spurned.
BBQ Joint Reviews
August 4, 2021
Coastal Que BBQ and More Brings Creative, Consistent Barbecue to the Beach
A Matagorda native brings juicy brisket, masterfully crisped chicken, and inventive sides to the coastal region.
Travel & Outdoors
July 22, 2020
A Four-Day, 65-Mile Walk Along the Texas Coast
As the state started shutting down, one man took to the coast in search of a different kind of solitude. And seashells.
News & Politics
September 18, 2019
Nurdles All the Way Down
How Texans are taking on plastic pollution—one piece at a time.
Music
July 30, 2019
The Texas Gulf Coast Gets a Rock Orchestra Soundtrack
Austin rockers Montopolis will premiere The Living Coast—an audiovisual homage to the Texas Gulf Coast—on August 2 in Austin.
Parks & Recs
June 20, 2019
Sea Rim State Park’s Fragile Magic
The park offers quiet coastland and abundant wildlife, and feels like a defiant bulwark against some very particular cares of urban life.
News & Politics
May 24, 2019
Despite Jeep Weekend Chaos, Crystal Beach Locals Defend Their Libertarian Paradise
Everyone agrees that the recent event—full of drunken fights and scores of wrecks—escalated dangerously. But many Bolivar Peninsula residents will be damned if they’ll accept new rules to curtail the anarchy.
Lead
November 23, 2016
Murky Waters
What is killing the Gulf of Mexico’s majestic coral reefs?
Travel & Outdoors
May 26, 2016
Dawn Patrol
The exploits of a teenager trying to surf in Galveston.
The Daily Post
June 16, 2015
Hi, Tropical #Bill: What to Expect, How to Stay Safe, and Who Will Get Hit the Worst
Tropical Storm Bill is on his way, and the already-saturated state of Texas is doing all it can to get ready.
Music
February 12, 2015
Song Premiere: Mayeux & Broussard Take On Refinery Life in “Back at Home”
The Port Arthur natives take their outlaw country stomp back to their roots.
Texas Trip Guides
July 21, 2014
Trip Guide: Port Aransas
The seaside charms—and plentiful seafood platters—of a small coastal town.
Travel & Outdoors
July 10, 2014
Hooked on a Reeling
Even with the bigger crowds, Port Aransas remains a fisherman's paradise.
Travel & Outdoors
July 10, 2014
Look What the Tide Dragged In
Mucking about on the Gulf Coast.
The Culture
March 4, 2014
Cowboys of the Gulf
Sure, you can catch an awesome wave on the Texas coast, you just have to be patient. And clever. And patient . . .
Travel & Outdoors
May 8, 2013
15 Best Spots on the Coast
From Boca Chica to Sabine Lake, the Texas coast is still home to pristine, natural, secluded spots where you can while away the summer far from the madding crowds. Come along as we explore the hidden beaches, bays, and trails that you always knew were out there.
Critters
April 8, 2013
This Two-Steppin’ Chicken Is Not What’s For Dinner
The colorful Attwater's Prairie Chicken, a bird that flourished in Texas a hundred years ago, is on the verge of extinction.
Music
January 21, 2013
Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell
On their new album, Kin, and more.
Travel & Outdoors
January 21, 2013
The Lighthouse Drive
ROUTE: Port Arthur to Port AransasDISTANCE: 308 milesNUMBER OF COUNTIES: 11WHAT TO BRING: A pair of binocularsI started as far east as you can go on the Gulf Coast and still be in Texas. And since the Sabine Pass Lighthouse, which is technically across the state line in Louisiana, is
Food & Drink
January 20, 2013
Consider the Oyster
If you’re a half shell fanatic like me, you’ll be just as alarmed as I was to hear that oystermen in Galveston Bay—the source of some of the country’s most delicious mollusks —are still struggling to make it after Hurricane Ike.
Texas History
January 20, 2013
Grande Dame of the Gulf
She may be past her prime, but Galveston still clings to her aristocratic heritage and her precarious place on the sand.
The Wanderer
September 6, 2012
Choose Your Own Texas Adventure
The first column I wrote for Texas Monthly appeared in the March 2000 issue. The article was titled “Voting Rites,” and I argued that the Voting Rights Act, which Lyndon Johnson had proposed to a joint session of Congress 35 years earlier, was the greatest accomplishment of his
Travel & Outdoors
June 30, 2011
Beachy Keen
Grab your swimsuit, hop in the car, and drive to one of these four coastal getaways to beat the heat.
Behind the Lines
May 31, 2011
Out of Beach?
Whose coastline is it anyway? How the state Supreme Court may be undermining decades of unlimited public access to the sand and surf.
Gary Cartwright
August 31, 2005
That Sinking Feeling
Why buying a beach house in Galveston may not be the best long-term investment.
Travel & Outdoors
May 31, 2004
Coasting
Since I was a kid growing up on polluted Galveston Bay, I’ve held a grudge against the watery edge of Texas—but no more. Protected wetlands! Pelicans and turtles! Historic buildings! Edible oysters! And that’s not the half shell of it.
Great Outdoors
February 1, 2004
Arrested Development
The flat-as-a-mouse-pad landscape bordering the Laguna Madre contains one of the greatest wildlife-viewing regions in North America—and that's not all.
Music
June 30, 1999
Blues Brothers
Long John Hunter and his guitar-slinging friends sharpened their axes in and around Port Arthur, so their recent return was truly a homecoming.
Travel & Outdoors
May 31, 1998
The Wild Coast
The birds of High Island. The wilderness of Matagorda Island. The untamed beach of Boca Chica. These and other hidden treasures await you-if you know where to look.
News & Politics
August 31, 1996
Environment • Tony Amos
Gulf pro.
News & Politics
June 30, 1996
Eerie Canal
The Intracoastal Waterway is a marvel of engineering and a boon to industry. It’s also an ecological nightmare, which is why politicians, environmentalists, and business leaders are locked in a battle for the future of the Gulf Coast.
Hunting & Fishing
January 1, 1993
Water Babies
Deepwater Gulf shrimp get all the press, but the sweetest, most succulent shrimp in Texas come from the bays.
Texas History
August 1, 1985
Isle Without End
An early castaway described Padre Island as “a wretched, barren sandbank.” It’s better known today as the Gold Coast of Texas, but its identity is still rooted in wildness and age-old solitude.
Travel & Outdoors
June 1, 1983
Funky Riviera
Discover another side of the Texas coast—its peerless beachcombing, legendary beer joints, odd birds (feathered and otherwise), and lovable year-round scruffiness.