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.
Padre Island
Hunting & Fishing
April 15, 2020
The Great Texas Fishing Safari
Texas offers some of the most-diverse fishing in the country—from stalking monster sharks on Padre Island to fly-fishing from a kayak on the remote Pecos River. And for three months, I got to try it all.
Travel & Outdoors
April 3, 2020
Why I’m Not Going to South Padre Island
Even though it's legal for property owners like me to be there, it's not the right thing to do.
Best Thing In Texas
February 21, 2019
The Best Thing in Texas: A Message in a Bottle Washed Up on Padre Island—57 Years Later
The missive was part of a 1962 study that attempted to track the flow of ocean currents.
Business
February 1, 1989
Chip Ahoy
A new gambling-cruise-ship enterprise out of Port Isabel makes it possible to spend an evening in a casino while going nowhere in the Gulf.
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.
Being Texan
September 1, 1982
The Gods of Padre Island
Between watching girls and getting a great tan, lifeguards occasionally have to save lives.
Travel & Outdoors
August 1, 1979
Down to the Sea in Buses
Grab your beach towel and bathing suit, but leave your car in the garage.