Schellhase 2018-2019 Gulf Coast and Southwest Trip: 18 Feb 2019

18 Feb 2019

This morning we drove down to Port Isabel and further to South Padre Island, which is a narrow island off the south shore of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico - a tourist mecca when the weather is good. Port Isabel is the Texas town before you cross the bridge to South Padre Island.

The weather was crappy with cool temps and fog causing limited visibility. We had drizzle all morning and most of the day for that matter. The drive was about an hour. We weaved on and off the toll road, which we OWNED! Virtually no one was out there!

Our first stop was Port Isabel and the Sea Life Center.

It opened at 1000 hrs so we were just in time. We entered the building and paid the $3.00 admission fee. We had heard we could see dolphins being fed there, but we quickly discovered the only dolphins you would see is out on a 3 hour boat tour. The building had numerous dry and wet exhibits. There were many small aquariums with various species of fish displayed, well worth the $3.00 admission. Here are some pictures:

Three towed box turtle

Angel fish

Oscar (Astronotus Ocellatus)

Painted turtle

Scorpion fish

Tomato Clownfish

Spiny lobster

Oscar Cichlid

Pufferfish

Sergeant Major

Large tortoise (dry)

Our next stop was the Port Isabel Lighthouse which was right across the street.

Lighthouse sticking out above the gift shop and light keepers cottage.

The gift shop was open but the lighthouse was closed due to the weather. The stairs are slippery when they are wet, so if there is rain or drizzle like today it is closed.

We toured the gift shop which had many photos and displays of the lighthouse history. Doreen got her lighthouse passport book stamped and dated.

The Port Isabel Lighthouse was built in 1853 to aid navigation resulting from military operations in Port Isabel and the Rio Grande. Port Isabel was a supply depot and also received wounded soldiers from the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War the lighthouse was used as an observation post. Apparently ownership of the land was contested in the late 19th century so in 1888 the lighthouse was extinguished and remained so until 1895 and was used for the next 10 years before being extinguished. In 1950 the site was designated as a state historic site. The keeper's cottage was reconstructed in 1996 and the lighthouse was remodeled and restored between 1997 and 1999. It is interesting this lighthouse is the only one on the 16 on the Texas coast that is open to visitors.

The floor of the lantern room is approximately 60 ft above the ground.and about 10 more feet to the top. There are 26 steps outside and 74 steps inside.

Entrance to the gift shop

Doreen climbed the 26 steps but the lighthouse was closed.

We finished up at the lighthouse and then headed south over the long Queen Isabella Causeway bridge to South Padre Island. Visibility was bad due to the drizzle and fog.

Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge

Fog obscured the skyline

We headed south towards one of the beach parking areas. On Google Maps there was a huge parking lot adjacent to the beach entrance, but when we turned in there it was all under construction. The drizzle continued so we were not real interested in a beach walk anyway. We did stop at the 'Christ of the Fishermen' memorial.

The memorial was donated to the Brownsville-Port Isabel Shrimp Producers Association to memorialize those fishermen "who sailed through this pass and never returned". Plaques inserted into the statue's base provide the names of all the fisherman.

Since the beach access was closed we headed north to the Sea Turtle Inc center and the Sea Turtle Rescue Center. Unfortunately both were closed on Monday. Drat!

We were disappointed since these were highly recommended by many we spoke to.

From there we drove north a few miles to one of the beach access points that was accessible. We changed into our sandals and walked up and down the beach picking sea shells and enjoying the drizzle and fog. The sea was pretty angry which made for some nice waves. The sound of the waves crashing was mesmerizing.