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Port Aransas Waves Hello
In Port Aransas, idleness is next to godliness for those on vacation. In this unpretentious village on the northern tip of Mustang Island your most exacting task—picking out the perfect spot on the beach—will also be the most rewarding. Spend the week resetting your mental equilibrium as you get lost in leisurely pursuits: fishing in the bays, shelling on a private island, birding in the Central Flyway, browsing quirky boutiques, feasting on fresh seafood—or just being a beach bum.
Sleeping Booty
The story of Nathan Smith’s hunt for a Spanish shipwreck plays out partly as an old-fashioned adventure tale, partly as a courtroom drama, and most definitely as a comedy; think of it as Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Verdict meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail. For nearly two centuries, treasure hunters have been wandering Refugio’s Barkentine Creek, which is named for a type of Spanish ship that sailed to Texas during the nineteenth century.
Beaumont Stinks
Beaumont is more Lousiana than Texas—more gumbo, less Anglo, less Santa Fe, more etouffee—and we’re all tinted with a little swamp water. This video is the winner of the first ever Texas Monthly Short Film Contest.
Street Smarts: South Padre Island
There’s more to this tiny vacation spot than sea adventures. Think ultrahip clothing store, bayside dining, and a local hangout that rocks.
Love Birds
When it comes to lasting romance, we humans could learn a thing or two from the whooping cranes that winter on the Texas coast.
Cruising the Coast
To stay as close to the shoreline as possible, we navigated some twenty roads as we made our way from Galveston to Corpus Christi. Along the way, we saw snow geese, the Big Tree, sandy beaches—and one gigantic chemical plant.
My Library
