Day Tripping' Texas

Gulf Coast

Texas Gulf Coast

The Gulf Coast of Texas includes some of the most beautiful beaches in the United States. Due to its seaside nature, many towns along the Gulf Coast offer boat charters for deep sea fishing excursions.

Corpus Christi, one of the larger centers in the area, offers a robust choice of attractions, including the Texas State Aquarium. The city is known as the gateway to the Padre Island National Seashore — a natural area that 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. The city of McAllen is another sizeable center found in the area. Located on the Rio Grande, McAllen is known for its abundance of citrus groves and for being just 10 mi north of the Mexican border.

Map of Texas Gulf Coast Points

Things to See & Do Along the Texas Gulf Coast

Gulf Coast

Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Galveston

This is not the first, but the second Sacred Heart church on this site. The first one, like most of Galveston, was taken by the Great Storm. It is modeled after the Grand Synagogue of Toledo, Spain...

Gulf Coast

Dickinson Bayou

Dickinson Bayou is located in southeast Texas in the San Jacinto-Brazos Coastal Basin. Dickinson Bayou rises two miles northeast of Alvin in northwestern Galveston County and flows east for over 20...

Gulf Coast

Hotel Galvez, Galveston

Galveston civic leaders planned on building the Hotel Galvez in 1898 after a fire destroyed another large hotel (the Beach Hotel) on Galveston Island. After the Hurricane of 1900, the plans...

Gulf Coast

Fulton

Fulton is a town in Aransas County. As of the 2010 census, this South Texas coastal fishing community had a population of 1,358. The town is named for George Ware Fulton, a land developer in the area...

Gulf Coast

Berclair School

I’ve come across a couple dozen abandoned schoolhouses across central Texas, mostly by happenstance — for some reason, it seems that Texas has an overabundance of faded one-room schools...

Gulf Coast

Matagorda Christ Episcopal Church

Matagorda Christ Episcopal Church, the oldest Episcopal Church in Texas, traces its history to 1838. The year the Rev. Caleb S. Ives was appointed missionary to the Republic of Texas. The first...

Gulf Coast

Rockport

Aransas County was formed from Refugio County in 1871. Its county seat is Rockport. The area is commonly referred to as Rockport-Fulton.

Gulf Coast

Surfside

Looks like a painting, doesn’t it? It’s a time exposure of the sun rising over the Gulf of Mexico from Surfside. Photo Mabry Campbell

Gulf Coast

Smith Oaks Rookery on High Island

Smith Oaks is 143 acres of field, woods, wetlands and ponds. Thirty-three acres were purchased by HAS wit the help of HAS members, friends, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The...

Gulf Coast

Port Isabel Lighthouse

The Point (Port) Isabel Lighthouse was built in 1852 to guide ships through the Brazos Santiago Pass to Port Isabel. Today the lighthouse is operated as a Texas State Historic Site. Photo by Joe V.

Gulf Coast

St. Josephs in Galveston

St. Joseph’s in Galveston is a deconsecrated historic church building managed as a community and historic resource by GHF. The oldest German Catholic Church in Texas and the oldest wooden...

Gulf Coast

Port Isabel

As one of the oldest cities in extreme south Texas, Port Isabel has a long and interesting history dating back to 1519 when it was charted by Spanish explorer Alonzo de Pineda.

Gulf Coast

Texas Wetlands

Texas is a large and ecologically diverse state containing many different types of wetlands, most of which can be placed in the below categories: deepwater swamps freshwater marsh playa lakes...

Gulf Coast

Galveston Sunset

Named after Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez, Galveston’s first European settlements on the island were constructed around 1816 by French pirate Louis-Michel Aury to help the...