beach

What Happens When the “Port Aransas Sandcastle Guy” Can’t Go to the Beach?

July 30, 2020 | By Paul Brown

For the past 13 years, Mark Landrum has been known as the “Port Aransas Sandcastle Guy.” The sand artist teaches lessons on how to build sandcastles, but is also commissioned to create custom works for marriage proposals, businesses openings, family greeting cards, and more. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Landrum has had to face the ultimate challenge to his way of life: How do you work with sand when you have limited access to the beach?

Summer for Procrastinators: Surfside Beach

July 11, 2019 | By Anna-Kay Reeves

The village of Surfside Beach attracts fewer tourists, so those that do find their way there can focus on enjoying the beach.

Photo: Vintage Postcard Depicts Galveston’s Seawall Boulevard in the 1940s

May 22, 2019 | By

The balmy excitement of a summer evening on Seawall Boulevard suffuses this vintage Galveston postcard. While the image is undated, the buildings point to the era of the 1940s and ’50s. Existing landmarks include the seawall, which the city constructed after the hurricane of 1900; the 1911 Hotel Galvez, still in operation; and Murdoch’s Bathhouse, a souvenir shop that has been rebuilt multiple times since the late 1800s. The postcard also depicts landmarks lost to time: the wooden Mountain Speedway roller coaster, built in 1921 and knocked down after Hurricane Carla in 1961; the 1929 Buccaneer Hotel, an 11-story building demolished in 1999; and, stretching over the water, the 1923 Balinese Room, a pier that succumbed to Hurricane Ike in 2008 and was famous for its history as an illegal casino.
Know of any fascinating vintage Texas photographs? Send copies or ideas to [email protected].

There’s Nothing but a Beach on St. Jo Island, but What More Do You Need?

May 30, 2018 | By Wes Ferguson

With miles of undeveloped shoreline, San José Island offers room to roam.
When Hurricane Harvey struck last summer, it made landfall on San José Island, a coastal retreat where U.S. presidents have come to fish and fundraise, and everything but a broad and empty beach is owned by a family of billionaires.

Babe’s Beach Dedicated

June 6, 2016 | By

School’s out. The sun’s out. So the timing is right as Galveston unveils a new beach area – Babe’s Beach – which gives visitors much more room to dig their toes in the sand, play volleyball or simply stroll the coastline.

Hello Beach!

May 13, 2015 | By Robb Walsh

After years of visiting Texas beaches whenever I could, this spring I made the leap and moved my family to Galveston.

A Day at the Beach

April 12, 2015 | By Helen Anders

In a family-vacation photo taken in the early 1900s, a family of seven poses at the edge of the surf at South Padre Island.

Beaching on the Cheap

June 1, 2010 | By E. Dan Klepper

I confess. I am a dreamer. A grasshopper in an anthill world. Each month, as soon as I pay the bills, I take the money left over and go hiking or mountain biking.

beach

What Happens When the “Port Aransas Sandcastle Guy” Can’t Go to the Beach?

Summer for Procrastinators: Surfside Beach

Photo: Vintage Postcard Depicts Galveston’s Seawall Boulevard in the 1940s

There’s Nothing but a Beach on St. Jo Island, but What More Do You Need?

Babe’s Beach Dedicated

Hello Beach!

A Day at the Beach

Beaching on the Cheap

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