Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

This morning we ate breakfast at Eats Port A in Port Arkansas. It is a really nice little restaurant and the food is superb.   

Then we drove to Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge. We figured most of the time we are driving around in a noisy truck so we might have better luck driving around in a quiet rental car.  

To get to Port Aransas we took the ferry across the channel.  We are used to being up higher than anything else on ferries and being able to see everything.  We didn't even get a glimpse of the water this trip.  These are the two pictures I took.  We didn't see anything but other vehicles!

We arrived at the Wildlife Refuge and figured out mighty fast that the mosquitoes were going to eat us alive.  And, the weather was hot and muggy and it was miserable every time we stepped out of the car.  We stopped at one of the bird viewing areas and I must have had a flock of mosquitoes on my right leg.  I slapped at them and streaked blood all over my leg.  So, we stayed in the car the rest of the drive around.  And, even with a quiet car we saw nothing.  Actually, last time we were here we got a great picture of a raccoon and lots of bird pictures.  This time - zero.  I think it was just as miserable for them so they were laying low.

We decided to see if any of the Whooping Cranes were still around and so we did get out of the car and we climbed up to the observation tower to see what we could see.  We were kind of excited that we saw a couple of crane pretty close up.  Last time they were so far off, they looked like specks through binoculars.  However, they weren't whopping cranes because they have black and red markings on their heads.  They have probably flown North by now.

We did see a lot of other birds that looked like they might be taking off for the north also.  They were too far away for us to figure out what they were, however.  Our binoculars were still in the truck!

Maybe these are Canadian Geese!

After a very hot, sticky and miserable day at the refuge, we decided to head back to Port Aransas.

On the way back we marveled at how wet it was.  They have had more rain around here then they have had for years.  The above shows how the fields looked in this area.  They are just water-logged.  No wonder there are so many mosquitoes!


Our next stop was at Rockport.  We decided to visit the municipal park where last season we saw all the nesting skimmers. 

This is the World's Largest Blue Crab sculpture.  

From the 1950's to the 1970's Rockport had the World's Largest Blue Crab Sculpture.  It was made of paper mache and chicken wire and was mounted on a local restaurant.  Unfortunately, even with the best of care, the sculpture deteriorated and was eventually taken down.  The city though never forgot the blue crab and had another one built of aluminum and tinted fiberglass.  This sculpture is even larger than the old one.  It is 27' from the back fin to the front claw and 25' of legs from end to end.  The one funny thing about this crab is that it is a  male crab with female claws!  According to the artist, David Allgood, when the prior crab sculpture was repainted, the artist didn't know the difference between a male and a female crab or he just painted the crab like the first crab he saw which was a female.  This sculpture was erected in 2012.

27 feet from the back fin to the front claw and 25 feet of legs from end to end. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.QXHf30iE.dpuf

Rockport had the World's Largest Blue Crab from the 1950s until the 1970s, when it fell apart. But the town never forgot it, and in 2012 it unveiled a new, better built, and even larger World's Largest Blue Crab. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.QXHf30iE.dpuf

If you were a resident or visitor in Rockport during the 1950's thru the late 1970's, it is quite likely that you remember the big blue crab. The approximately 18 foot wide, paper mache crab eventually deteriorated and was laid to rest. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.d5xMK3ZV.dpuf

If you were a resident or visitor in Rockport during the 1950's thru the late 1970's, it is quite likely that you remember the big blue crab. The approximately 18 foot wide, paper mache crab eventually deteriorated and was laid to rest. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.d5xMK3ZV.dpuf

If you were a resident or visitor in Rockport during the 1950's thru the late 1970's, it is quite likely that you remember the big blue crab. The approximately 18 foot wide, paper mache crab eventually deteriorated and was laid to rest. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.d5xMK3ZV.dpuf

"If you were a resident or visitor in Rockport during the 1950's thru the late 1970's, it is quite likely that you remember the big blue crab. The approximately 18 foot wide, paper mache crab eventually deteriorated and was laid to rest. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.d5xMK3ZV.dpuf

If you were a resident or visitor in Rockport during the 1950's thru the late 1970's, it is quite likely that you remember the big blue crab. The approximately 18 foot wide, paper mache crab eventually deteriorated and was laid to rest. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.d5xMK3ZV.dpuf

The original big blue crab was made of paper mache and chicken wire and sat on the roof of a local crab cake restaurant. Battered by hurricanes, it was removed and buried in 1976 -- but Rockport never forgot it. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1296#sthash.d5xMK3ZV.dpuf

The people in this truck were feeding the birds.  They decided to leave the park but the seagulls were not that happy about them leaving.  We laughed like crazy as they birds just dive bombed the truck and followed him out of the park!

Sign at the Entrance to the Park

Black Skimmers

It looked to us like the seagulls took over the nesting area of the black skimmers.  The nesting grounds where they were last time have signs keeping people away from the nesting sea birds.  Now there are a lot of nesting seagulls there and the skimmers are just wherever else they decided to nest in the park.

Brown pelicans

We ate dinner at Charlotte Plummer's Seafare Restaurant.  It is a pretty fancy place along the shore with a nice gift shop across the street.  We were not thrilled with the food at all.  I ordered a shrimp sandwich and I had to send it back.  The shrimp tasted really bad.  It had definitely been sitting around for too long.  Lee had a shrimp po boy which he ate but the shrimp was tasteless and looked like it was one step away from the shrimp I sent back.  We definitely would not recommend the place!