COWBOYS HAVE BEACHES, TOO
Rockport Texas

By travel writer Laura Glendinning, Content Director of threedayweekends.com

Think of America's west coast and you think of Southern California's surfers, bikini babes, Northern California's dramatic cliffside drives, and the miles of quiet beaches up in Oregon and Washington. Think of the East Coast and you conjure images of upper crust boaters, college keggers at "the Shore" and Maine's own dramatic cliffside drives.

Then there's the Third Coast. You know, the "Redneck Riviera" - along the Gulf of Mexico. It's easy to forget that cowboys have beaches, too; Texas has 624 miles of beachfront. Of course, the closer you get to Louisiana the more it's dedicated to the petrochemical business and not exactly scenic, but the closer you get to Mexico - down near Corpus Christi - you are in for a sport-fishing and bird- watching paradise, Texas-style.

The jewel of the coast is the small town of Rockport. No, it's not fabulously picturesque like that other Riviera. The architecture is basic and the terrain is flat. The main road through town is I-35 and, come to think of it, that whole description sounds like it might be one of those drive-through small towns set up to snare speeders and sell a few greasy dinners.

But Rockport, nearby Aransas Pass and Port Aransas are all destinations for those in the know of the birding and sport fishing world. Consider this: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is the wintering ground of most of the world's whooping cranes in the wild. Nearby bird sanctuary Padre Island has the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline in America. The seasonally arriving cranes, hummingbirds, pelicans, rare birds and , yes, hawks come to dine on the same thing people do: seafood. Oysters, redfish, crabs, shrimp, flounder, and big ocean-goers like black drum and ocean trout bring in the fishermen. Do I fish? No. You don't have to unless you want to on a visit to Rockport because local restaurants offer plenty of well-prepared fresh catch. There are plenty of choices - a sampling? You can go high style at Hemingway's (www.hemingwaysrockport.com) or low rent (but delicious) at places like funky Hu Dat Seafood, where I have had the best oysters on the half shell I have ever had - served on a rickety table under flourescent lights by a busy waitress who didn't qwuite see what the big deal was about getting good oysters. In this town, there is no other kind.

It's hard to get bad food in Rockport, because locals would not stand for it and the retired snowbirds who come down from Minnesota, the Dakotas, Illinois and anywhere else that freezes the bones come December would stop showing up.

Besides food, Rockport is also something of an arts mecca, with a local theater group, several galleries, and resident artists who tend to celebrate local scenery and wildlife. In fact a hip local Los Angeles musician named John Romano has made quite a splash in Rockport. Southern Texas is not really the kind of place you think of as helping break emerging rock stars, but the place has a vibe all its own.

So why does this low key paradise have fewer than 8500 residents? Well, those snowbirds only come in winter for a reason - in summer it is hot as the tropics without the tropical breezes. And if you loved that summer (no need for moisturizer in 100 per cent humidity), in fall you have the treat of hurricane season. Storm watchers do love that time of year, and the winds chase away the mosquitoes (bugs being another reason it's a bird mecca), but only die-hard Gulf Coasters and locals are ready to pay for their balmy winters by packing up the valuables, taping the windows and heading inland a couple of times per fall.

But definitely visit Rockport during the Winter season from December through April. You can't stay on that other Riviera for $65 a night.

Rockport, Texas is on the Gulf Coast thirty five minutes north of Corpus Christi.

Laura Glendinning is a travel and screenplay writer living in Los Angeles, CA. Contact her at

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