Texas Beaches / Crystal Beach / Port Aransas / Galveston (1/3 - 2/14/23)

After leaving New Orleans, we stopped by my sister's in Jackson, MS for a night on our way to explore three Texas beaches for six weeks. These destinations were more beach focused and less about biking but we got some rides in anyway. One thing I didn't realize is that the Texas beaches would not be as warm as I had imagined. Truthfully I didn't research this really well and came to realize although the temperature was much warmer than Iowa, it was not warm enough to go swimming on the beach, but great for riding. We still visited the beach often though. This post also includes the time where I officially retired from Wells Fargo after 20 years. Now with the both of us retired, we can spend every day exploring our destinations.

Our first stop was to Camp Margaritaville in Crystal Beach. Like all the parks we visited, it was right next to the beach. This location was the least commercialized of the three, but still had some nice places to eat/drink and get the necessities we needed. This park is a work in progress recently changing hands to the Jimmy Buffet resort empire. Everything was new and the pool and pool bar was open, but the bar/restaurant was still under construction. They also have plans for further expansion. They plan to have concerts and other activities, so this may warrant a return in the future.

Our next stop was Gulf Waters Beach Front Resort in Port Aransas. This place was very upscale and our site was amazing with plenty of room and a large patio. Michelle enjoyed the exercise and yoga classes while I still was working. Port "A" as some call it, was a smaller town, but had everything we needed with many dining choices.

One way we got our biking in was to head right over the dunes on the boardwalk to the beach. Sand was solid enough that even a road bike was able to ride this surface. We were able to get in good miles riding up to Port A for dinner.

Just south of Port Aransas is Padre Island where caught a sunset from Snoopy's Pier, a local restaurant. Corpus Christi is the largest city nearby.

This picture was taken from one of the multiple ferry rides we took both in the car and RV towing car. Texas provides this service for free and they run 24x7. Usually they run with little wait, but a couple of times we had to wait more than an hour at the Galveston location. Getting on the ferry towing the car with the RV for the first time was nervous moment for me. They make sure to place the heavy vehicles in strategic locations to balance the weight of the payload. I must been heavy since they made me take up two lanes!

Back up to Galveston, we stayed at the Dellarena RV Park. It was also fairly close to Houston where we rode the Brays Bayou trails on our longest ride so far this year. We also visited our niece Morgan and fiancé Shelton in addition to my sister again who was there in Houston for the weekend. Dellarena was a smaller RV park, but it was also close to the Galveston Sea Wall. The wall is about 10 miles long protecting the city from hurricanes and erosion where we were able to ride our bikes multiple times between the sea and city with close access to many restaurants/bars. Galveston was also the largest beach town we visited and one which has quite a history.

We didn't know this planning our trip, but we were fortunate to have been in Galveston during Mardi Gras. It was mainly located in the historic district with many interesting buildings, shops, and restaurants. This is the third largest Mardi Gras event in the U.S. We took in multiple themed parades and live music acts.