Day 19 – The Gulf Coast Barrier Islands

 

We had not realised just how much of the Gulf of Mexico coast has barrier islands that lay just offshore. During this journey we travelled along several of them. Our initial encounter was to ride the ferry from Aransas Pass to Port Aransas on Mustang Island. They had 6 ferries that run around the clock. The boarding system was very efficient and just about twenty minutes after arriving at the mainland ferry landing, we were being offloaded on the island!

It didn’t take us long to find a spot to park the camper and pull out our camp chairs. We spent the next few days on a white sand beach watching the sun rise over the Gulf (a novelty for us west coasters), savouring warm sunshine, taking some dips inthe 68 degree water, flying the stunt kites, and just relaxing from the rigors of traveling 😊 .

The Port Aransas area is a lively tourist area. Most of the pastel rainbow-colored homes are built on stilts to prevent them from washing away in storms. While we were there the town was preparing for the Sand Fest the following weekend. The expected huge crowd sent us scurrying to explore elsewhere.

After leaving the Port Aransas area, we travelled south and on to Padre Island. That island has a road that travels most of the way down the island and most of it is designated a national seashore. There were dunes on the seaward side, but the rest of the island had short grasses and plants.

Next, we travelled northeast to Follet’s Island. The south end of that island is Surfside which is a cute little town that also has houses built on stilts to ride out tidal surges. This island boasted having low dunes and the surf was near the road, so I watched the waves as we drove north.

To reach the next island, Galveston Island, you cross a toll bridge. The south end of this island was sparsely populated, however the further north we went, the more crowded it became. And the homes? Well, they became fancy mansions!

The north end of the island is the city of Galveston which has a seawall and plenty of restaurants and activities for tourists to enjoy.

However, a few blocks off the main drag is the historic section of Galveston which is well worth exploring.

We had a delicious pot boil shrimp and clam chowder dinner at Bubba Gump’s restaurant on the pier. Very fun restaurant overlooking the beach activities. There were photos and references to the movie “Forest Gump” throughout the restaurant. 

Our last island to visit was High Island, just to the north of Galveston. There is a free ferry connecting the two islands that runs 24 hours a day, similar to that of Port Aransas. We thought, “We like ferry rides, let’s do that.”

Big mistake! Our first clue should have been the street leading to the ferry landing had numerous “Do Not Block Intersection” signs appearing about a mile before the facility. We got within a half mile of the terminal before the traffic stopped. After waiting 15 minutes without moving at all, I finally googled the ferry wait times... sheesh, regularly the wait time was 120 minutes!

Well, we thought, it’s mid-week and after 6 PM, so it shouldn’t be that long of a wait. However, we were wrong. As we slowly inched closer to the terminal and finally got within sight of the ferries, it became apparent that this port had an incredibly inefficient system of loading. And apparently, there is some secret password that allows some ferry riders to get in a fast-track lane. They came long after us, yet boarded the ferry before us and we had to wait for the next boat. Crazy. Then, there was a ferry worker looking under the hood of every vehicle and recording the make, model, and license number.

Once on the ferry it didn’t get better. After all the vehicles were loaded, the captain came on the intercom and had to go through all the safety rules which took several minutes. Could we pull out then? Nope, he then stated all the rules again, but this time in Spanish.

Over two hours later, we finally pulled out of the ferry landing for the 20-minute ride to High Island. We have no idea what that island looks like because it was pitch black. Needless to say, we got to our next camp very late that night.

When traveling to new places, there are always decisions to make. Some are good and others are bad. Obviously, this ferry ride was a bad choice, but you can’t win them all!