MichelleI only stayed in San Antonio for 4 nights and mostly to do two things. Many years ago my parents came to San Antonio and I remember them talking about the Alamo and the Riverwalk area downtown. I wanted to experience what they did on their trip, although I’m sure some things have changed over the last 30+ years since they visited.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Alamo, learning about the history and what made it so important. The grounds were beautifully done and there were many opportunities to take photos. I won’t go into the history since it is lengthy and I could never do it justice, nor remember all the details. Did you know that Daniel Boone fought and died at the Alamo? Why I remember that I have no idea!
From the Alamo you can walk to the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. What an incredible idea the architect had for this area. Trees and flowers, the river flowing in between walkways on either side. Both sides filled with restaurants galore. It was a sunny and warm day without being hot. I had lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack sitting by the open air window and watching the tourists go by. I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. Beautiful, delicious food and beautiful scenery. After lunch I decided to take a riverboat cruise that turned out to be an excellent opportunity to learn the history of the riverwalk and buildings standing around it. This is also something my parents did when they visited, and they loved it too! I’m sure my experience with the riverwalk was different from theirs but I felt just a little like they were there with me for a bit.
San Antonio is on the edge of Hill Country in Texas, and one day I drove to New Braunfels and its historic core, Gruene, TX (pronounced Green). I was in my element with lots of historic buildings now taken over by shops and restaurants. I had such fun looking at each shop and talking to the shop employees. One place I adored housed hundreds of brightly colored whirlygigs and garden art; all displayed outside to enjoy. If only I still had a garden! In Gruene you’ll find the oldest dance hall in Texas and many fine Victorian houses & buildings. It was nice to see such a well preserved historic area and even better to see it was still vibrant with lots of visitors since the hard impact of Covid.
I only had 4 nights in the San Antonio area then I headed south to Corpus Christi and Padre Island. I’ve wanted to go here for years as it is a birding mecca. This whole area of Texas is a migratory flyway for birds of all types and also for Monarch butterflies migrating south and back.
Texas still allows camping on the beach in some areas and I was able to easily get a spot on North Beach of Padre Island. The sand is hard packed mostly unless you get too close to the dunes, so I didn’t have to worry about getting stuck in the sand again!. What fun it was to step out my door onto the beach with the waves of the ocean crashing nearby. Even right on the beach there were many shorebirds to see. In this area the most common seagull is the Laughing Gull. They seriously sound like they are laughing. There are marshes and mudflat areas all around the island and it attracts so many different birds. I’m posting quite a few bird photos so you can see all the interesting types I saw; many I’ve never seen before. I went to several areas specifically for birding… Mustang Island State Park, Corpus Christi Botanical Gardens, Bird Basin Island Campground, Mesquite Beach, and a small urban park in downtown Corpus Christi. One thing about camping on the beach was the amount of humidity, salt, sand, and wind. All combined it adds up to a sticky corrosive mess. But it was worth it for the experience of being on the beach. One sad thing was how many dead monarch butterflies were washed up on the beach. They are dwindling in numbers as it is, and to see hundreds of them on the beach was heartbreaking.
On then a little further up the coast at Port Lavaca I stayed for a couple of nights on Magnolia Beach – again free camping right next to the water. Magnolia Beach was within a horseshoe shaped bay so the waves were smaller and quieter. This beach was made up of shells with sand mixed in. It was fascinating to look at the myriad of different shells that make up this pretty area. This area was so different than Padre Island partially because it was right in the middle of a town giving it a less solitary feeling. My main reason for stopping here was to see Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, one of the premier birding sights in this area. It was such a treat. It is a very large park near the ocean but with tidal marshes and mudflats, as well as freshwater marshes which is where the Alligators hang out! There was a large paved auto loop road and stops along the way for different walks and hikes. At one end there are lookout towers high above the ground so you could see what was further out. Again, I’ve posted many pictures of what I saw here which, besides birds, included Javelinas (with babies!) and Wild Boars (they are different), white tail deer, armadillo, and alligators. This was an incredible park with so much wildlife that I visited two days in a row.
I do wish I could have stayed longer in this particular area. Unfortunately, I needed to head up to Austin for my RV slide diagnostic. Time to find out some news!
