Whooping Crane Festival

[TheRealRoland]

Couple years ago we did a humongous road trip from Chicagoland to Phoenix, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, through Texas and then over to New Orleans, then Memphis and back up. Hotels, no camping.

We stopped for a day at Port Aransas, went to the Refuge, and saw three of them, way out in the wetlands! Bring binos, and wellies. Some of the paths you walk through may be muddy.

That was a week after the festival i guess. Dunno if we were early or late that year, but so glad we got to see them!

[papermakermd]

papermakermd, we are at Pioneer Rv now until the end of March. Come see us at site 455 when you get here.

Thanks for the invite Silverbeard sounds like a plan.

[papermakermd]

We are at site 483. Stop in and say hello!

We sure will. Thanks for the invite!

[papermakermd]

Couple years ago we did a humongous road trip from Chicagoland to Phoenix, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, through Texas and then over to New Orleans, then Memphis and back up. Hotels, no camping.

We stopped for a day at Port Aransas, went to the Refuge, and saw three of them, way out in the wetlands! Bring binos, and wellies. Some of the paths you walk through may be muddy.

That was a week after the festival i guess. Dunno if we were early or late that year, but so glad we got to see them!

Yeah the timing is up to the birds. I hope we get a chance to see some up close. That sounds like a nice trip you took. We are planning to travel Rte 66 from East to West later this year. We have been spending our winters in Texas for the past four years. We have also been to AZ and NM over the past several winters. We stayed in place in the Rio Grand Valley last year be cause of Covid until April.

[YaDerHey]

Spent 2 weeks in the area this last February. There are many RV parks in the Rockport area that are a lot closer to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge than Port Aransas is. To get to and from the Wildlife Refuge from Port Aransas you will have to take the short, free ferry ride across Aransas Pass, then drive across the estuary to the town of Aransas Pass, then up through Rockport. I realize the attraction of the festival and the events that draw you to Port Aransas, but frankly, we saw no Whooping Cranes in the parks and areas around Port Aransas. The only places we saw them were around and north of Rockport. Others may disagree but that's my observation.

[papermakermd]

Thanks for the info YaDerHey . I have already booked my reservation but your info will help me in spotting Cranes.

[KLR650goldwing]

[QUOTE=papermakermd;406403]We are thinking about going to the Festival in February. Can somebody give me names of some nice places to stay in the area ?[/QUO



On The Beach RV Park. It is right on the beach.

[Sportsdad60]

Some things about Pioneer and Port A that you may or may not know.

Pioneer staff will pick up your trash if you leave it at the end of your rig near the street, daily. Be warned the Grackles will tear those thin garbage bags open before they pick up garbage daily and spew your trash everywhere. You can also go to the trash bins near the office and discard yourself.

If you need propane filled, leave the bottle out on the street with your site number written on the bottle. They will refill and bring it back to you.

There are two pools and a hot spa. Both are maintained very well but the pools are chilly. We only use them if its above 80 deg.

They are building a new laundry facility that may be ready by the time you arrive. The old laundry facility has a lot of shortcomings, such as older units and too much use. We use Wacky Willie's laundry in Port A about 5 miles from here, that is, until the new laundry facility is completed.

Pioneer expanded the walkway to the beach about 50% complete, double lanes now for golf carts and foot traffic. They are waiting on permits to complete the board walk upgrade so right now it's a "Two lane reduced to one lane" LOL.

Speaking of golf carts, if you rent one, the best place in town is Texas Red. We own ours but in years past we've rented.

Best Mexican restaurant is La Playa followed closely by San Juan. La Playa doesn't open until 5pm so get there early. Its always a wait for a table after 5pm. Open Tue-Sat.

Best sushi is Blue Water Cowboy. They have other great food too but on the expensive side.

Moby Dicks is a fun touristy restaurant and the food is average. All-you-can-eat shrimp on Wed.

Port A beer hut is a great outdoor place to take in a beer/wine and is dog friendly. Bring the dominoes and play some games sipping a beer!

Many other good restaurants here I've not mentioned. Yelp is your friend. We've eaten at all the restaurants here and the ratings are pretty spot on.

I suspect you'll regret only booking 1 week once you're here. We stay here from Dec 1st through April 1st and have developed some lifetime friendships with our snowbird comrades here at Pioneer.

[papermakermd]

Some things about Pioneer and Port A that you may or may not know.

Pioneer staff will pick up your trash if you leave it at the end of your rig near the street, daily. Be warned the Grackles will tear those thin garbage bags open before they pick up garbage daily and spew your trash everywhere. You can also go to the trash bins near the office and discard yourself.

If you need propane filled, leave the bottle out on the street with your site number written on the bottle. They will refill and bring it back to you.

There are two pools and a hot spa. Both are maintained very well but the pools are chilly. We only use them if its above 80 deg.

They are building a new laundry facility that may be ready by the time you arrive. The old laundry facility has a lot of shortcomings, such as older units and too much use. We use Wacky Willie's laundry in Port A about 5 miles from here, that is, until the new laundry facility is completed.

Pioneer expanded the walkway to the beach about 50% complete, double lanes now for golf carts and foot traffic. They are waiting on permits to complete the board walk upgrade so right now it's a "Two lane reduced to one lane" LOL.

Speaking of golf carts, if you rent one, the best place in town is Texas Red. We own ours but in years past we've rented.

Best Mexican restaurant is La Playa followed closely by San Juan. La Playa doesn't open until 5pm so get there early. Its always a wait for a table after 5pm. Open Tue-Sat.

Best sushi is Blue Water Cowboy. They have other great food too but on the expensive side.

Moby Dicks is a fun touristy restaurant and the food is average. All-you-can-eat shrimp on Wed.

Port A beer hut is a great outdoor place to take in a beer/wine and is dog friendly. Bring the dominoes and play some games sipping a beer!

Many other good restaurants here I've not mentioned. Yelp is your friend. We've eaten at all the restaurants here and the ratings are pretty spot on.

I suspect you'll regret only booking 1 week once you're here. We stay here from Dec 1st through April 1st and have developed some lifetime friendships with our snowbird comrades here at Pioneer.

Thanks for all the info Sportsdad60. You may be right about we may regret staying longer. We are still in the exploring stage of our winter travels. We are planning on exploring all the states along the gulf coast this year. We have been staying in the Rio Grand Valley during Jan and Feb the past three years and that is where we are starting again this year. Like you stated we have met a lot of friends at our Park also.

[Silverbeard]

Thanks for the info YaDerHey . I have already booked my reservation but your info will help me in spotting Cranes.

Whooping Cranes have been seen in Port Aransas this fall at Charlie’s Pasture. We saw them in the same area last year. The Whooping Cranes at Aransas NWR tend to be a long ways away and hard to see even with a long lens or good binoculars. One can get closer to the cranes by taking a tour boat out to ANWR. Two Facebook pages that will be useful for finding out where they are at. One is Shutter Bugs Port Aransas. The other is The Island Life in Port Aransas, Texas. Also, if you haven’t already, check out port Aransas.org for more information about the Whooping Crane Festival.