Port Aransas

Beaches, birds and unidentifed beasties

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Our trip to the coast this summer was short but filled with many wonderful sights. We watched windsurfers, walked the piers and beaches and visited bird sanctuaries.

Here are few of my favorite photos:

Windsurfer in Rockport, Texas

Blue wind surfing 1 6-15-2014

Pelicans at the Padre Island Nations Seashore

cropped-pelicans-in-flight.jpg

The sign says “Catch of the Day” They are waiting patiently.

waiting for catch of the day

These two seem to have already caught theirs.

Pelican seagull and lunch 06-16-14

I had never seen anyone paddling like this. Look at the size of that boat in the background!

man paddling in channel by huge boat

Padre Island National Seashore – Heron

Heron closeup 2

Boardwalk at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center

board walk at bird sancutary

This mama duck was kept busy.  She had seven ducklings all swimming and diving around her. This little one’s head is covered in mud.

Mama and baby duck covered in mud

We saw several families of birds. A sign warned of alligators but we did not see any that day.

Family of birds

Unidentified – any idea what kind of bird this is?

cropped-unidentified-black-sea-bird.jpg

I think this is called a sand flea. Can anyone identify it for me?

what type of beastie is this 06-15-14

“Padre Island National Seashore separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Laguna Madre, one of a few hypersaline lagoons in the world.  The park protects 70 miles of coastline, dunes, prairies, and wind tidal flats teeming with life.  It is a safe nesting ground for the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and a haven for 380 bird species.  It also has a rich history, including the Spanish shipwrecks of 1554”

http://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm

With the right vehicle you could probably drive the length of the park.

We are only a small part of this world 6-17-14

Lastly – there be pirates in these waters… The ship is The Red Dragon.

Red Dragon Pirate ship 1

Pirate ship 6

Pirate ship dolphin

Related post: Coastal fun. It’s not just about the beach.

 

Coastal fun. It’s not just about the beach.

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We are back from our vacation to the coast.  It was fun but I think we were all ready to  be home.  We enjoyed the beach and sightseeing and had a good time.  One of my favorite things to do on vacation, is finding fun places to eat.
One place was the Desserted Island Ice Cream shop in Port Aransas, TX. (They do not have a website but you can check them out on Tripadvisor and Facebook) The interior is fun and colorful with eclectic furnishings and art.  They have a variety of ice cream flavors, serve coffee shakes, brownie sundaes and have other assorted shakes and pies.  I had coffee ice cream in a waffle cone.  Yummm.

and this… just bizarre.

A favorite place to visit is Winton’s Candy Store.

This is one of those places where “.. like a kid in a candy shop” becomes literal.  There is something for everyone and they carry many of the old style candies not seen any more except in specialty shops like Winton’s.  The fudge and caramel’s are scrumptious.

Just to clarify, we did not just eat candy and ice cream the entire visit.

On the first night we ate at Los Comales Mexican Restaurant in Rockport. (again, no website – such a shame) I would have taken photos but I had an excellent margarita before dinner and did not even think about photos.  The food was wonderful and their green salsa was amazing with the avocado and cilantro flavors blended just right with the other seasonings. Smooth and flavorful with just a hint of heat.   This was our second time to eat at this restaurant and it will definitely be one we go back to.

I have many more photos to go through.  (We really did go to the beach.) After thinking about the excellent margarita from Los Comales, I will leave you with one more photo, which actually, was at the ice cream shop. 😉