We have been to Texas three times since we bought our coach. The first time we stopped in NAC and then headed to Big Bend National Park. The second time we stopped in NAC, then in the Hill Country north of New Braunfels (think of German, Texans and accordions) and then on to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We have friends who suggest we come to the “Valley”. This is the very southern tip of Texas in the Mission area. It is an hour or more from the Gulf. It is tempting but we wanted to try some Gulf Coast locations first.
Quintana Beach County Park popped up on our look at list pretty quickly. It had been recommended by others and when we did a search for County and City campgrounds on our AllStays Camp and RV app there it was.
Quintana is a small island community (population 56) right on the Gulf near Freeport TX about 100 miles down the coast from Houston. It has been here since the 1500’s and is named after a Mexican General. During the Civil War there were more than 2,000 people living here. After a series of hurricanes in the early 1900’s only three homes survived. Two of them are now located in the County Park. Today there are a few beach homes, a 50 acre RV park and more than six miles of beach. It is located next to the main ship channel leading into Freeport area. There are automobile unloading docks, chemical docks, LNG docks, container docks and more.
We had to go high over the Houston Ship Channel on a cable stayed style of bridge. This one was high, wide and long. For ships to go underneath it needs to be about 200 feet above the water. I thought this was interesting because this style of bridge was considered for the Hastings bridge during the design process. It came in second.
One thing in common all along the coast is endless construction. down the road from the campground they are building huge LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) facilities where the natural gas is compressed into a liquid and then loaded on to ships.
From out on the jetty in clearer weather you can see the LNG plant going up. Further down is another plant going in. The cooling fans on the right are about 80 feet tall.
We had a nice campsite, they are spread out and roomy. Full hookups for $22/night.
And the beach. High 60’s and 70’s so nice for walking on the beach, not so much for swimming. And there were alligators perhaps but we never saw any.
Lots of beach and a fishing pier.
And kite flying.
And ships going by.
And leftovers from WWII protecting us.
While we were here we celebrated our 42nd anniversary with a nice dinner at a local fish place.
And came back to see the Moon and the International Space Station.
The moon was much more yellow and the Space Station was very bright. If you watched for a bit you could see it moving.
That’s about it from 10 days at Quintana. Nice to just stop for a while with nothing scheduled. A very nice place, we would go back. On to Mustang Island State Park on Padre Island, further south.
Thanks to Susan for editing.
More later,
Roger and Susan
Home2 with Roger and Susan 