North is north, and south is south, and never the twain shall meet-at least not when north and south are the two ends of Padre Island, Texas, a 115- mile sliver of sand split in two by a narrow channel.
The pieces of the barrier island are separate but not equal-North Padre gets 80 miles, including the 65-mile Padre Island National Seashore, while South Padre must be content with 35 miles of creamy white beaches and gentle Gulf of Mexico surf.
North Padre has the sophistication. South Padre has the serenity. Visiting both gives a vacation a pleasant sense of counterpoint.
The gateway of North Padre, which bills itself as the Texas Riviera, is the busy city of Corpus Christi, with malls and movie theaters and floating restaurants on the gulf.
Arriving in Corpus Christi, though, our first mission was lunch, but what Texas coast specialty would it be: seafood, barbecue or Mexican? And isn`t that a decision it would be great to make every day?
The real thing
Very quickly, we were slurping down chips, great salsa and Tecate beer among a Spanish-speaking clientele at Janie`s, in the Mexican part of the city, and feeling as if we were really out of town-maybe out of the country. The fajitas were the real thing, too, made from chewy skirt steak and rolled in flaky homemade flour tortillas.
While eating, we scanned the ”100 Things and More to Do in Corpus Christi” brochure from the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and, fittingly enough, ”Eat Mexican food” turned out to be No. 97 on the list. This was a challenge-how many of the 100 things could we do in just three days?
After lunch, we drove out beautiful Ocean Drive (No. 1: ”Drive along beautiful Ocean Drive . . .”), lined with lovely and very large houses, and picked out the one we wanted. Luckily, it wasn`t for sale.
The sea exerted a pull, and we followed the ”Padre Island” signs and soon were on Park Road 22, headed for the National Seashore (attraction No. 2).
The first turn was to Bird Island Basin (No. 78), a cove full of windsurfers trying to catch a breeze in their bright sails. A tape player blasting zydeco music added to the festive atmosphere. We didn`t want to check off No. 16 (”Try windsurfing”) badly enough to rent a board, though.
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Too chilly to swim
A mile or so down the main road is Malaquite Beach, with spectacularly white sand and crashing blue surf. There, we were alone except for a few fishermen, a pair of lovers and a photographer painstakingly rearranging a pile of seaweed. The water was chilly-it was November-but the warm sun and gentle breeze made us wish we`d brought blankets and books to settle in for the afternoon.
Still farther down the road is South Beach, with quite a few RVs in residence. Campers are welcome on all the beaches in the Seashore, although tampering with the sand dunes is a crime. It`s even possible to camp primitively far away from it all, if you have four-wheel drive. Little Shell and Big Shell beaches are two popular destinations.
Back in the city (about a 40-minute drive from South Beach, not counting the stop at a shell shop), we admired the bayfront, with new hotels and a spectacular new office building, One Shoreline Plaza (No. 96). Three marinas projecting into the bay (two T-shaped, called T-heads, and one L-head) are lined with fishing boats and pleasure crafts.
Water Street, one block off the bay, was actually on the water before the landfill created the new bayfront in the `20s. Today it offers the Water Street Market (No. 30), with a couple of restaurants and two interesting shops: Gifts by the Sea, with everything ocean related; and Totally Texas, for armadillo aprons, state-shaped soap dishes and ceramic coyotes.
Dinner time
It was time for seafood, so we had dinner-a pile of boiled shrimp and a pile of fried catfish-at Elmo`s City Diner. Heading back across Harbor Bridge, we were too late to catch the sunset (No. 101) but did get to check off the bridge (250 feet high; No. 19).
Sunday`s agenda called for a drive north, and we headed for the fishing town of Rockport. Rockport (No. 57) is the real thing, with working fishing boats heading out to sea in the morning and returning to unload their catches. The place to charter a boat for deep-sea fishing is Rockport or nearby Aransas Pass.
In winter, though, Rockport is famous as the gateway to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a federal preserve where more than 130 endangered whooping cranes winter. Many fishermen convert their boats to bird excursions when the cranes are in residence, from November until March.
The birds are something-dazzling white, with scarlet and black accents, they stand four to five feet tall. In 1938, only 18 of them existed, but with protection, their numbers are growing. After spending the summer in the Canadian province of Alberta, they fly 2,500 miles south in 15 days to arrive at the refuge in early November.
Wildlife refuge
Bird trips, booked at the pier in Rockport, cost about $20 a person. It`s also possible to drive or hike through the refuge, 70 miles north of Corpus Christi. Besides birds, there are herds of deer, wild pigs called javelinas, armadillos and other wildlife. The refuge is open daily; admission is $2 a car.
Rockport is also known for its artists` colony, and art galleries and shops line Austin Street (No. 58). And then there are the trees, odd and twisted. We were wondering what they were when we found them (No. 66) on the
”100 Things” list: ”See the windswept oak trees of Rockport,” live oaks permanently bent by the sea breeze.
Returning to Aransas Pass, which we`d passed through on the way to Rockport, we headed for the free ferry to Port Aransas on the tip of Mustang Island. Aransas Pass is a good place to buy shrimp or have it shipped home. RV parks line the road between Aransas Pass and Port A.
The ferry (No. 28) runs every 10 minutes, although in season the lines must be long-posted signs warn of a 50-minute wait from one point. During the five-minute ride, we saw pelicans and a pair of leaping dolphins.
Lunch time
Port Aransas (No. 41), an appealing town with a pretty beach, was sleepy on an offseason Sunday, but we found the hot lunch spot: the Crazy Cajun. Seafood steamed in Cajun spices is dumped right on white paper covering the rough wooden tables, and a group of laughing people was smashing stone crabs with mallets when we arrived. The shrimp got high praise, and the red beans and rice were as good as any ever sampled. Prices are low, too-$11, including tip, for two meals with beer.
Beyond Port Aransas, Mustang Island (No. 43) is mainly long stretches of dunes where, logically, horseback riding is popular. Horses can be rented at several stables along the highway. Mustang connects to Padre Island by a causeway, and you can keep driving onto the National Seashore or turn back to Corpus Christi.
Making a big loop, from Corpus Christi to Aransas Pass to Port Aransas, down the two islands and back to Corpus Christi, takes about two hours and is a recommended sightseeing junket.
The Art Museum of South Texas, in Bayfront Arts and Science Park in an interesting white building designed by Philip Johnson, had closed for the day (we checked off No. 9 anyway, since the building was part of the attraction), but the Watergarden (No. 84), a circular landscaped fountain, was burbling away.
A floating restaurant
Sailboats were coming home for the day as we had a drink at a floating restaurant on the People`s Street T-head (No. 3) before checking in at the Quality Inn on Ocean Drive ($34 including tax, with a beautiful view of the bay).
On our last day in Corpus Christi we walked along the seawall (No. 8), visited the Padre Staples and Sunrise malls (No. 72) and toured Heritage Park, restored vintage houses collected from all over the area (No. 14).
We didn`t go jet skiing (No. 10), play golf (No. 21), charter a party boat (No. 69) or go duck hunting (No. 35). We didn`t get to the Botanical Garden, and the Texas State Aquarium hasn`t even opened yet-it`s due this summer.
That means there are a number of reasons to come back to Corpus Christi.
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For more information: The Corpus Christi Area Convention and Visitors Bureau will provide brochures to help you plan a vacation. Write to P.O. Box 2664, Corpus Christi, Texas 78403 or call 800-678-OCEAN.