Our choice of RV parks, when visiting South Padre Island, is Cameron County’s Isla Blanca Park. This place is large, with about 600 sites, some near the beach. We selected one that had plenty of parking room for our Jeep.
Arriving on Thursday, there were plenty of sites to choose from.
By Friday, the park filled up completely. Last year we couldn’t even get a spot for any weekend in the summer.
The beach sand was pretty soft due to the lack of rain in the area this summer. We headed about 12 miles north of the last access road and found ourselves a perfect spot to watch a catamaran boat race. It turns out that Saturday is the day for the first leg of the race around the island. Starting in the Laguna Madre Bay at the South Padre Island Convention Center, the boats race north to the jetty at Port Mansfield that allows access to the Gulf of Mexico. Then, just south of our location, the boats come ashore and prepare to camp for the night. (We made a trip by jeep to the jetty during our first visit to the beach this year, which you can view by clicking here.)
Click on Photos to Enlarge.
There were reportedly 42 entries in the race. Here are a couple of shots of the boats after being pulled up to the dunes for the night. (( It seems like we’re always taking pictures into the sun.}
On the way back “home” for the evening, we came across a late afternoon, and poorly lit, wedding taking place on the beach at the end of the road. (About 10 miles from the southern tip of the island.)
All the wedding guests parked on the road and marched to the celebration across the dunes, shown in the background. It was a beautiful day and I don’t think they minded the sand in their shoes.
It, also, was amazing to see people on the beach that seemed oblivious to automobile traffic. It’s a wonder there aren’t people run over every day.
