Mustang Island State Park & Padre Island National Seashore

With the cold front out over the gulf, we have had on and off showers overnight and today.  We decided to load up and go exploring anyways.  We took the ferry over to Mustang Island, and headed south to the State Park.  The campgrounds were not as exposed as we had been told, sitting in a fold in the dunes, back off the main beachfront.  Nancy & Kirk went for a walk on the beach. 

Kirk and I explored a beach which was pretty much empty of humans.  

We found a number of other interesting individuals starting with Portuguese Man-of-War which is not really a jellyfish but a colony of hundreds of animals working together as a single unit (kind of like the Borg on Star Trek).  Kirk showed no special interest in these beauties which was good as there were quite a few and they can give you an extremely painful sting.   

Ruddy Turnstones, Willets, gulls, Royal Terns, and Sanderlings dashed about after tasty bits and had Kirk distracted until he encountered the crabs.

Ruddy Turnstones

Willet

Groups of anywhere from 6 to 15 crabs were feeding right on the edge of the waterline, surfacing just after a wave receded then just barely covering themselves with sand.  I think these were the “fighting sand crabs”  that Port O’Connor team (referred to in an earlier blog) was named after because when Kirk ran over and stepped on them they came up fighting, snapping at him.  The war was on.  Kirk ran into a crowd of them and was leaping and snapping as crabs emerged from the sand under him while I tried to make sure nobody got hurt.  Neither side wanted to give any ground.  Claws and teeth were snapping, sand was flying. I managed to haul Kirk up the beach but he was like a prize fighter pulled from the ring and couldn’t forgive and forget so it was time to leave.  So much for the original perception of solitude on this beach.

Padre Island National Seashore was next, and the rain was coming down pretty good.  Regardless, Nancy & Kirk put their rain jackets on (well, Nancy did, anyways) and they headed off down a .75 mile grassland trail in the pouring rain.  There was the odd bench with cabana shelter along the way and Kirk with a wistful look pulled towards cover but it was not to be.  

We stopped at the Malaquite Visitor centre next.   Padre Island National Seashore protects the world’s longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island.  Seventy miles of beaches, dunes, endless grasslands and tidal flats.

Our tour ended at South Beach.  Surprisingly, you can drive down 5 miles of South beach with a car and 60 miles by 4-wheel.  Speed limit is 15 mph.  People were surf fishing.  Cam drove out on the beach and Kirk and I went for another walk.  Once again the sand crabs emerged and the battle ensued.  It was a short walk.