Apr 5, 2013 - April 5, 2013 – San Benito, Port Isabel, Las Rusias, Santa Maria, Progresso, Texas

April 5, 2013 – San Benito, Port Isabel, Las Rusias, Santa Maria, Progresso, Texas This morning I decided that I wanted fresh shrimp for lunch so I headed out to Port Isabel to eat at Joe’s Crab Shack. Along the way I stopped in San Benito to see the Freddy Fender water tower. In case you didn’t know, he grew up in San Benito. In addition, they have a very nice veteran’s park. In Port Isabel, I had lunch and then poked in a couple of gift shops. I saw the Queen Isabel Inn which is the oldest seaside resort in Texas. It was established at...

Jan 19, 2012 - Port Isabel, Texas

Our trip down the coast from Mustang Island went well...it took an hour or so to get over to Corpus Christi which is another big sprawling city with endless malls and places to eat. The whole area is all about oil drilling, refining and distribution. There is a lot of poverty in the surrounding towns, rundown communities and partially deserted little towns. Not sure what is going on here but I guess it is so close to Mexico that there is a lot of cheap labor close at hand. We will find out tomorrow! The RV park we found is called Port...

Nov 5, 2011 - My travel heritage...

In 1950, my father took a job with a company that renovated base housing on Air Force bases. It required moving from California to Texas. My mom talked dad into buying a house trailer (back then, they were not called mobile homes) because we would be moving an average of every six months from base to base. We started out with a small trailer and a 1949 Studebaker pickup. By the time we got to Phoenix, dad decided the Stude’s engine wasn’t strong enough and traded for a 1949 GMC pickup with the workhorse six and low/low, granny gear. The GMC...

Mar 9, 2011 - SPI (South Padre Island) et Port Isabel

Belle journee. Ces 2 localites sont sur la cote du golfe et les drapeaux rouges flottaient sur la plage. Y ventait. Nous etions a SPI vers 1230 h et devions etre trop tot car nous n'avons vu les milliers de jeunes "Spring Breakers" tel que decrit dans les brochures. Seulement 2-3 groupes de 6-8 personnes, ici et la dans la ville. Apres bon diner, nous avons traversay le "Causeway" et retourner a Port Isabel pour une courte visite du phare et magasins locaux.

Mar 9, 2011 - Port Isabel

Today we moved from Brownsville to Port Isabel, which is a town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It was the shortest move I have ever made with my trailer, taking less than one hour. We were all finished moving and set up in the new campground by noon so we had the afternoon to explore the town. Port Isabel is home to a fleet of shrimp boats and fishing boats. There are many seafood stores and seafood restaurants. We looked in one store and I was surprised to see live shrimp swimming around in a tank. Usually, the only shrimp I see are...

Nov 27, 2010 - Sea Turtle Inc., South Padre Island

We took a bus tour through Texas Trails over to SPI Turtle Rescue on South Padre Island. We had passed the facility many times when we went birding but we hadn't stopped. Sea Turtle, Inc. was founded in 1977 by Ila Fox Loetscher, better known as "The Turtle Lady of South Padre Island. Ila made it her mission to save the Kemp's Ridley sea turtles. South Padre Island is one of the few nesting beaches in the world for the Kemps Ridley. In 1999, Sea Turtle, Inc. moved from Ila's backyard into it's current location. The facility isn't very...

Apr 1, 2009 - Port Isabel and South Padre Island

Port Isabel is one of the oldest continually inhabited areas founded by Europeans in North America as it was settled in 1554. We visited the lighthouse and museum. Lunch at Pirates Landing. Sorry no pictures. My camera is acting up. South Padre Island has a lot of condos.

Feb 13, 2008 - TO THE BEACH

Hi everyone! Well,,,,we ventured out to the beach this week. It was a lovely, warm day...but as with most days, a bit windy. The island is very much like Va Beach, very tourist oriented. Most of the beachfront is occupied by tall hotels and condos. We did find a beach access and walked on the white sands for a little while. We have also endured another potluck.........actually if we don't stop going to these we are going to gain our 'freshman' twenty! Boy, do these old ladies like to cook! And afterwards, we play bingo........but no way we...

Dec 11, 2007 - Port Isabel - South Padre Island

We haven't left the Port Isabel-South Padre Island area since we arrived here. The Gulf of Mexico is so nice; sunny, 85deg, lovely ocean breeze and warm water. The ocean is very shallow for quite a way out so I don't have to worry about the boys running in the surf. They are having such fun and so are we, watching them racing up and down the beach and in and out the surf. The shrimp here are even larger than the ones we bought in Corpus Christi and soooooooooooooo good. Oysters are plentiful here too but I don't know how to fix them so we...

Mar 1, 2007 - The minnesota grandkids come to visit

Another great thing about this lifestyle, if you are somewhere nice and warm, the grandkids have to come visit on spring break. This was their first airplane trip to see us and 1st. time in Texas so we had to show them a good time. So first thing was a trip to south padre island(typical spring break) and took them to see the beach all the way to the north end. Then we stopped at the Sea Turtle rescue and did the tour there. It was really busy there a week or so before we came because the temps got so low the turtles in the gulf and laguna...

Jan 30, 2007 - - Feb 2 - South Padre Island TX

Stayed at Comfort Suites, 912 Padre Blvd, South Padre Island, TX, 78597, tel 956-772-9020. A regular comfort inn with king bed, mini fridge, and couch. OK for the 3 nights. Tried to book a tee time for Wednesday but a tournament took up the course for the day. Probably just as well because it rained most of the day and was cold. So guess what.... Let's do Mexico again. Drove to Progresso (a small town, west of Brownsville, TX) about 1.5 hours away, parked the van, and walked across the border. So much for border security, just a turnstile...

Jan 21, 2007 - San Benito, Texas

This week winter hit south Texas. For one night the temperature dropped to 38 degrees with a high during the day of 48 degrees with rain. But now the weather is warming up with the night temperatures in the 50's and the days in the 60's. Wayne, Roni, Josephine and I went to the dog races Friday night. No one won enough to be rich but no one lost their life saving so it was a good night. So I do not get yelled at here are some random pictures from Texas. Dieser Woche Wintererfolg Südtexas. Für eine Nacht fiel die Temperatur auf 38 Grad mit...