We drove the loop from Fulton to Rockport to Aransas Pass, over the free ferry to Port Aransas on Mustang Island, south to Padre Island National Seashore. From there we drove into (actually, sort of around) Corpus Christi and Portland and finally back to Aransas Pass to close the circle.
Peg & I both liked Fulton but Rockport is a conglomeration of really big beach houses owned by the affluent. Aransas Pass is unremarkable but the free ferry to Port Aransas is great fun and the wait was short. Port Aransas is about half Fulton and half Rockport.
The PINS is a big salt grass prairie which means it seems to be an enormous bog. There are tons of birds but the seashore looks very similar to other beaches with shitty surf.
The roads we took to skirt Corpus Christi were uncrowded. We shot right through. CC is an ordinary looking part of the world; no nifty architecture was noted. We did get some pix of a house being built in Rockport with a bit of masonry and a ton of Styrofoam wall units. No shear transfer or framing hardware could be detected. Don’t kick the walls when the place is done unless you want to make two rooms into one.
We made the return trip to the Invader through Fulton where we bought diesel for $2.449/gallon and stopped at the Boiling Pot for seafood. It was tip-top. The restaurant itself is decorated with extensive graffiti provided with by an international clientele. The tables are covered with butcher paper and they tie a bib on the customers because the food is messy. We had a Boudin sausage which was a bit lively followed by shrimp in the shell, corn and potatoes which they bring in a bowl and just dump onto the table. There are two or three sauces included along with melted butter for dipping. They also serve you bread with about ¼ pound of butter with which to lube it. We chased it all down with porter. Lucky they bibbed us up in advance because after pinching off the shrimp heads shit squirts everywhere. About $40 takes care of two adults.
On the way from the restaurant to the Invader, we decided to take a look at the Fulton Airport to see if we could find out what was making the droning noise we could sometimes hear in the RV park. The airport access road has a cattle guard; a concept we have not noted before in our travels. We did not find any aircraft-related reasons for the racket but we did discover a gas flare running in the trees between the airport and the campground. When we shut off the engine, we knew right away what was making the noise – the gas flare. There were houses near the flare. They must really appreciate the constant loud screeching of the flare which additionally provides illumination after dark from the pillar of fire atop the stack.