Aransas Pass to Port Aransas

 

Today I took a trip from Aransas Pass  to Port Aransas to visit the National Seashore in Texas.  Port Aransas is quite a large area and can only be reached by vehicle ferry.  They have numerous vessels of different sizes that run simultaneously so that there is only a short wait time.  The trip itself, once the vessel is loaded, is probably about 5 minutes and the service seems to be efficiently run.  The best part of it is that there is no charge. 

Port Aransas is a typical tourist beach town, similar to ones you'd find in Florida or other tourist areas.  The main area was full of restaurants, tee shirt shops, and other beachwear shops.  One difference that I had not seen in Florida was the large number of golf cart type vehicles that were available for rent. 

I drove south and finally ran into Padre Island National Seashore, a massive park that includes more than 60 miles of beach on the offshore island.  They allow driving on the beach, but post signs that only 4 wheel drive vehicles should attempt the drive after the first 6 miles.  I decided my truck didn't need to be in that corrosive environment, so I parked at the visitor's center and walked the beach for a while.  I figured this might be the last time I'd get my feet in sea water for quite a while - until I reach California or if I go to Mexico to the Sea of Cortez.

             

As you can see from the picture above, it's seaweed season in south Texas now.  There was seaweed for miles in both directions, piles of it sometimes over 2' high.  On another more public beach near town, I saw hills of seaweed where they had cleaned it off the beach.  It does add a certain fragrance to the beach.  Further inland from the beaches, the sand dunes are covered with vegetation, which helps to keep them from eroding during storms. 

This was a great way to spend a warm, breezy, blue-sky day and as a bonus, on the ferry back, I saw dolphins rolling in the water in front of me.