We've been planning this trip for a couple of years and the weather has always gotten the best of us. This year too! That ice storm had us cancel our plans but we persevered and did it! We went to 13 towns in five days. What a cool trip! Beware - this is a long one...
Wharton is not technically on the Texas coast but it's on the way and it's a county seat with a cool looking county courthouse. How could we not stop? Plus it had a cool museum.
The Wharton County Historical Museum had some cool old photos of Wharton from back in the day but it also had this...Dan Rather's childhood home. Yes! That Dan Rather, the news guy. Before he was a famous news person, he lived here in Wharton, Texas. Who knew?
They also had the 20th Century Technology Museum. This was like a walk down memory lane for us old folks. I swear I had a Compaq computer just like this one! It was full of tech stuff. Old phones (cell and landline), cameras, televisions, video games, appliances, you name it. They had all kinds of stuff that we remembered having as kids.
This is the Wharton County Courthouse. It was built in 1889. It sits in the center of the town square. It's a cool little town right on the Colorado River.
About a block from the courthouse is the old Wharton County Jail. Like most county jails at the time, there were rooms for the Sheriff and his family. I'm not sure when this building stopped being a jail but I did read that it had, at one time, become a private residence. While I'd love to go in and look around, I don't think I'd want to live there. That would be a little creepy. It appears to be abandoned.
Bay City was where we stopped for the night. It's almost to the Texas Coast and it's the county seat of Matagorda County. You'd think Matagorda would be the county seat and it was but I'll get back to that.
Of all the courthouses we saw on this trip (and, admittedly, there were a lot), this was one of my least favorites. It's the Matagorda County Courthouse and it sits in the town square.
This was one of the cooler buildings. It was the old bank building. Their historical markers are kind of cool in that they tell you what businesses were in the buildings. I know I'm weird but I find that interesting.
Just so we know where we are. John was a good sport taking me around the city. His reward? A visit to the local H-E-B! We love that place.
Matagorda finally brought us to the actual coast! Established in 1827 by Stephen F. Austin, it used to be the county seat of Matagorda County. It was a prosperous shipping port.
By 1894, the town was on the decline so the voters in the county voted to move the county seat to Bay City which they felt was more centrally located within the county. There is nothing here.
We drove to Matagorda Beach and found this long bridge to take you from the parking lot over all these sand dunes to get to the actual beach.
The Gulf of Mexico. It's pretty but this is all there is. If you like sitting on the beach and being off the grid, this might be the place for you.
We pretty much had the beach to ourselves. To get here, we had to go over the intercoastal waterway bridge. Oddly, there were tons of vacation homes on stilts but they did not entice me to want to stay there.
Palacios is pronounced "Puh-lashes" (like eye lashes). We initially stopped here because we saw a goofy video about this place. As it turns out, we liked it.
Palacios is in Matagorda County and, according to the fella we talked to, if you live here, you're either a shrimper or a rancher. This pier had a pavilion at the end that was built in 1904. It had a dance hall, a boathouse and lockers as well as a boat dock where boaters could motor up and hang out. After suffering damage from multiple hurricanes, it was torn down in 1934. Now it's just a cool fishing pier.
It's on TresPalacios Bay and it has a wonderful seawall that you can walk along. We found a spot by the water to have a picnic and eat our lunch. It was fantastic. The weather was perfect!
This is the R.J. Hill Building built in 1910. It was a mercantile store with living quarters on the top floor, a doctor's office and even a Montgomery Ward's! Now it's the City by the Sea Museum. We practically ambushed the guy by getting there right when it opened. He was full of fun facts about the the town and he's the guy who told us how to pronounce it.
We spent some time walking along the seawall. In the background you can see the latest and greatest pavilion. There have been several of these over the years. There's also a historic hotel called the Luther Hotel that I though was just rotting away. While we were there, we saw people working on so maybe it's coming back to life. We'll have to go back and find out. Of all the places we stopped, this one was one of my faves. Having said that, there wasn't much going on here but I liked the vibe.
Port Lavaca was the next stop on the list. It is on the water but we didn't drive by there so much as we were getting tired.
Lavaca Bay. Most of the coast was by a bay vs gulf due to the long strip of land that is a few miles out.
This is the Halfmoon Reef Lighthouse. Built in 1858, it used to be out in Matagorda Bay. The sign says that supplies were brought to this lighthouse twice a year! Yikes. During the Civil War, the light was extinguished by the Confederate Army. Light was restored in 1868 and it remained in service until 1943. It was moved here in 1979.
Of course, Port Lavaca is the county seat of Calhoun County. Their original courthouse was built in 1846. Then the county seat was moved to Indianola in 1852. In 1875, they had a huge hurricane that wiped out a good chunk of the town. The people were resilient and they rebuilt. But nature wasn't done. In 1886, another hurricane hit the town and wiped it out again. The residents took the hint and moved the county seat back to Port Lavaca. The 1887 courthouse was one of those cool looking ones but they tore it down to building this one in 1959.
This is the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf Railroad that was built in 1850. The tracks were dismantled during the Civil War by the Confederate Army but eventually restored. The train line ran until the 1930s bringing people to the Port Lavaca beaches.
Main Street Port Lavaca includes the Port Lavaca theater that was built in the 1930s as a movie house. Now it has live performances. I kind of felt like Port Lavaca wasn't using its resources to its full potential but then, I was tired so maybe I didn't give it a chance.
Rockport was where we camped for the night. And when I say "camped", I mean stayed at a hotel. This little town surprised us. It's on Aransas Bay and is the county seat of Aransas County. I thought it had a lot of potential.
I really liked this sculpture by the Marina. They had lots of cool sculptures like this but not anyplace to walk along the water. There were a couple of piers but a walking path would have been nice and I bet well used.
Rockport is actually "Rockport/Fulton" and this is the Fulton Mansion, aka Oakhurst. George Fulton built this house in 1874. He came to Texas to fight in the Texas Revolution. He missed the big battles but fought just the same and was given a land grant of 1,280 acres. This house is four stories starting with a basement where the kitchen is. It has a marvelous view of the bay and was very advanced for the time. It had indoor plumbing, gas lighting and central heat.
In 2017, Rockport was hit by Hurricane Harvey and it wiped out their courthouse. For a long time, they were using an old grocery store type building to take care of business. This is the new Aransas County Courthouse. They still have not moved in due to issues with the contractor. I asked the lady at the Fulton Mansion about it and, while polite, she said it was a seriously touchy subject in Rockport. It looks nice.
This is the Texas Maritime Museum (free!). It's a cool museum that documents maritime activities in the county. the inside is kind of like a ship.
Captain John. I liked Rockport. They had all your standard fast food places but no chain restaurants. We had some great seafood there and they have an H-E-B!
Corpus Christi was our next overnight stay. We'd been before but only on a day trip and we didn't spend much time there this time around. But! They have a really cool seawall to walk along and enjoy the bay. It was such a gorgeous day that we took advantage and got some steps.
This is the view from the balcony of our room. It was a little too cold for me to go in the water but there were some hearty people out there.
The Harbor Bridge. It's gorgeous!
Corpus Christi is the county seat of Nueces County. This courthouse was built in 1914 and has been vacant since 1977. It was a beautiful building but nothing has been done by way of maintenance and it's falling down. The city has tried to rescue the building but the renovation costs are just too much. I think at this point, they just want to demolish it which will cost several million dollars.
Did you know Farrah Fawcett was from Corpus Christi? There's a mural of her downtown, which I think is cool.
Sunset in Corpus Christi. The end of another fantastic day.
Kingsville is home to the King Ranch. You've seen their symbol on Ford trucks, well this is where it came from. It's also the basis for the book Giant by Edna Ferber.
Captain Richard King and his buddy, Mifflin Kenedy made their money during the Civil War. They shipped cotton to Europe by way of Mexico. When the war was over, they bought land out here super cheap and started ranching. King bought a herd in Mexico and brought the Vaqueros too, offering them food, education and lodging if they would come work the ranch. And they did.
King Ranch is 825,000 acres making it the largest in the United States. They have their own breed of cattle called Santa Gertrudis. They also raise horses, a couple of whom have won the big races like the Kentucky Derby. In 1946, Assault won the triple crown. He was a horse from King Ranch. He's buried here. This guy is the ranch stud and he's about to be put out to pasture. He looks a little tired, doesn't he? All those mares...
The King's Palace is the main house on the ranch. Built in 1915, it's 37,000 square feet with 17 bedrooms and 26 fireplaces. We couldn't get out and take a proper picture. None of the family live here even though there are servants but the 200 descendants come here every year for the annual shareholders meeting and this is where they stay (along with other buildings around the house).
Kingsville is also the county seat of Kleberg County (of course it is!). It was built in 1915. Kingsville is a quiet little town not quite on the coast but we wanted to see the King Ranch. Also, you can't actually drive along the water all the way down the coast.
Javelinas forever! Did you know that there's a branch of Texas A&M University in Kingsville? There is! It's a small campus but it's kind of cool.
Sarita is an interesting town. Remember Captain King's buddy, Mifflin Kenedy? He too bought several acres of land and had a ranch called La Parra. When he died, his son John Sr took over. He created a town to service the employees of the Kenedy Pasture Company and named it Sarita, for his daughter.
Sarita is the county seat of Kenedy County. It was built in 1922. When John Sr. died, he left the ranch to his two kids, John Jr and Sarita. Neither of them had children. Both of their parts of the ranch are run by trusts. Sarita, however, left the house and the chapel to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. You can't go there.
But you can go to this museum. It's right next to the courthouse but was closed when we stopped by. It's the Kenedy Ranch Museum and it's located inside the HQ of the Kenedy Pasture Company.
South Padre Island is where we stayed for the remainder of our trip. John's family owned a condo here so he was very familiar with the area. His assessment? This part of Texas has grown up! We stayed at a hotel on the beach that was nothing but sand dunes when he would come out here back in the day.
View from out balcony at night. So we thought we'd be the only ones here in February. Not so. Apparently we have "Winter Texans" that come from Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and other places far, far away. This hotel has a monthly rate for the winter season that ends in February which includes breakfast every day plus the amenities of staying at a hotel. The place was packed! Old people everywhere!
That same view during the day.
This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. We took a walk down the beach and it was so cool as we had it mostly to ourselves but not completely. Closer to the hotels, all the snowbirds were sunning in their beach chairs and a few hearty people were in the water.
The Queen Isabella Bridge to take us back to the main land.
We watched the superbowl at one of the local bars and this was our view. There's not a whole lot to do on the island except hang out at the beach but we enjoyed our couple of days there.
Port Isabel is the little town at the other end of the Queen Isabella Bridge.
Point Isabel Lighthouse. It was built in 1853 and had a stationary white light that could be seen for 15 miles. Once again, the Confederates shut it down during the Civil War but it came back to life afterwards. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1905. For $5 (or $4 if you're a senior citizen like me), you can climb to the top.
It's a great view. Only 75 stairs to the top. Well worth it.
The lighthouse keeper's cottage is also open to view.
Climbing down the steps inside the lighthouse.
Port Isabel also has a museum...that is not open on Sunday. Grr! I was so disappointed. Next time.
Brownsville counts, right? There's a port in Brownsville. It's the furthest point south in the United States and borders Mexico at Matamoros.
It's the county seat of Cameron County. This is the 1912 Courthouse aka The Dancy Building. They have a newer one but it doesn't have any character. It's not a courthouse now but it is still a government building.
This is the 1882 Cameron County Courthouse. In 1914, it became the Masonic Lodge. I love how they repurpose things instead of tearing them down.
This is Immaculate Conception Cathedral built in 1859. It was a Sunday so mass was letting out. I should have gone in.
Downtown Brownsville was a little sketchy but some of the buildings are cool, like this one. It's the McDavitt building erected in 1927 as a grocery store. In 1940, the Sweeny family bought it and opened the Brownsville Coca-Cola Bottling plant. There are tons of historical buildings and museums in the city but on Sunday, they were all closed. How can people go see a museum on the weekend when it's closed?
Raymondville was our last stop on the way home. It seems appropriate that we stop there as it was my dad's birthday (his name was Raymond). He'd have been a grumpy 83.
Why did we stop here? It's a county seat, of course! It's the county seat of Willacy County. They have this lovely county courthouse that was built in 1929.
There's not much else going on in Raymondville. This is the Lyric Theater. The building was erected in 1875 as a grocery store. Who knew? It was converted to a theater in the 1930s. Now it's an event venue.
On the way home we had to stop at the US Customs and Border Patrol Checkpoint. The guy said, "Is there anyone in the back seat?" to which we replied, "No." Then he said, "Are you US Citizens?" And we said, "Yes." Then he said, "Have a nice day." Is that white privilege? Just in case, we had our passports ready!
What a fun trip! We learned that you cannot drive down the Texas Coast along the water. We also learned about some of the small towns that run along the coast and why they aren't more popular for those wishing for beachfront property. We had some amazing weather and a really good time.
Stay tuned for more Tours of Texas...
