Texarkana Trip 2026 - Day 7 (Victoria, TX - Padre Island - San Antonio)

Day 7 started out dreary and had the possibility of rain. We stuck with the plan of leaving our hotel in Victoria and driving 2 hours to the coast to visit the Padre Island area. We decided to drop down into Port Aransas and drive along the coast line, into Padre Island. This decision was THE BEST decision that we made for the entire trip. 

As we approached Port Aransas, we were surprised to see a ferry! Luckily, it was free and short. From what we could see, the city had 6 ferries going. The workers ran the operation smoothly and we were on and off again within minutes. 

Here's the view from the ferry, ha!

As we drove through the town, Matt noticed a jetty/pier in the water. We drove on to the beach (on sand!) and decided to walk on the jetty a bit. As soon as we got out, we noticed dolphins in the passageway . . . then Matt noticed sea turtles! We walked out on the pier quite a ways and then watched the dolphins and turtles for a long time! We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the pier! By the way, it was WINDY!!! (listen/watch the videos).

Notice the flock of birds on the beach (as mentioned in the above sign).

This guy came up next to our car as we got out.

We made the hard decision to hit the road (we could've stayed there all day!). Ultimately, we were hungry, LOL! We found lunch on the island and then stopped for some fun photo ops and shopping. 

Driving on a sandy beach was crazy.

As we drove off the beach (it was very packed sand and we never felt that it was dangerous to drive on . . . it was considered a road/parking lot), the car displayed a "Faulty Steering, Service Now" message. That is never something you want to see . . . definitely not on vacation. We pulled over and looked up a local dealership to go to. In the mean time, we turned the car off and let it sit for a few minutes (praying and pleading while we waited). Turning the car on, we were thrilled, and so thankful, that the warning was gone! We started to drive and determined that the steering felt fine. Thank you, Lord!

We left the Islands and headed back onto the mainland - next stop would be San Antonio (about 3 hours north). 

We visited San Antonio a few years ago (2022) as a family. While there, we saw the Alamo (sadly . . . no bicycle, nor basement), walked the River Walk and did the River Walk Boat Tour. The only thing we didn't get to do was walk the River Walk at night (in an ideal world, we would've stayed overnight in a hotel right along the river . . . but that wasn't in the works for us during that trip). So, Matt & I put that item on our travel list for "next time we are in Texas" HA! I was so excited that we were able to make it happen during this vacation!

We checked in to our hotel (we found one that was a few miles away from River Walk & The Alamo), freshened up and then left for the downtown area (once dark). We found street parking right next to the river, walked down and enjoyed the walk with all of the night life happening around us (music, lights, tourists, and wonderful food aroma . . . it was a great evening!)

It was really neat to compare the buildings to our daytime pictures from 2022 (see blog post from our 2022 trip). 

Nighttime River Walk did not disappoint! It was beautiful! We were very thankful for the opportunity to revisit the area!

We walked a few blocks from River Walk to The Alamo. Seeing The Alamo at night was a wonderful, unexpected surprise! It was so peaceful! We were also able to take our time and look at the statues and monuments surrounding the area. Our first visit was during the heat of the day and it was very crowded!

Just a couple days before, Day 7 was an unanticipated empty day in our itinerary - what a blessing that we were able to add in Padre Island and San Antonio (night)! This day ended up being one of our top favorites of the trip (if not THE favorite). We never anticipated spending multiple hours at the beach that morning, but we had so much fun watching the turtles, dolphins and wind surfers. All of the fun photo ops were the cherry on top!

Favorites from Day 7

Matt - Turtles, Dolphins, Jetty Park

Becki - Port Aransas (the whole morning)