Wednesday Away ~ Rockport/Fulton

I love Rockport/Fulton, Texas for a variety of reasons! First of all, whenever we take a weekend-get-away trip down there, it really feels like a full blown vacation! I love that feeling that comes over me as we drive into Rockport! I see wooden piers everywhere, beach-style homes lining every road and facing the ocean, tall palm trees shaking in the sea breeze, green-blue water gently lapping into the bay, every type of boat you can imagine, egrets perched on pilings, joined by white and brown pelicans, and a slow, soothing vibe you might sense while wandering around Mandeville, Jamaica. But best of all, Fulton Harbour is the amazing place where I saw dolphins in the wild for the first time! What an incredible experience!

This photo shows the exact pier in the bay where I first saw the pod of dolphins! We were setting up our food to enjoy a picnic overlooking this spot, when I glanced out on the water. Whoa!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing!! Real dolphins! Awesome! I shouted out, "dolphins!" like a ten-year-old and went running over to the pier to get a closer look! My husband cracked up laughing as I ran without abandon! They were so beautiful and so amazing to me. I just stared and stared at them, wide-eyed and utterly speechless. I returned to our picnic saying, "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen . . . that was just so amazing . . . can you believe it . . . real dolphins!"


Rockport/Fulton area is located off the coast of Southeast Texas about 20 miles north of Corpus Christi.

We stayed at this gorgeous Lighthouse Inn while we were there last time! They had the most amazing room waiting for us. We were on the ground floor, and when we opened our patio door the picture below is what we saw. It was really beautiful, and just perfect. We could walk down to the water's edge and wait for dolphins to swim by and boats to exit the harbour. We could sit and relax in one of those white rocking chairs. After dark, there were lights down in the water, so you could walk out on those covered piers to watch fish swimming around in the ocean.

We took a bird-watching boat tour out of Fulton Harbour! Captain Tommy took our tour group out to specifically see the endangered Whooping Cranes. We headed out into the open waters and then turned into the Intracoastal Waterway. As we cruised along we saw huge tugboats pushing loaded barges, and gigantic tanker ships. We watched great white egrets, great blue herons, roseate spoonbills, and snowy egrets feeding in the marshy areas along the shore. We spotted the evasive Whooping Cranes on a small peninsula. They are huge, fascinating birds! Whooping Cranes stand about 5 feet tall and are the tallest birds in North America!

On the return trip, we watched a pod of dolphins catching fish. They work together by swimming around and around a large school of fish until they have formed a tight, swirling fish ball in the water. Then the dolphins take turn "biting off" some fish from the teeming mass. When they do this, you can watch the water being swirled around and then notice that dolphins are taking turns diving into the same spot in the water over and over. It was an incredible scene to watch! There were also two or three dolphins swimming up to the boat and jumping in the waves at the sides of the boat as we sped along. As if seeing my first dolphin wasn't amazing enough, watching them swim, feed, and jump out of the water was so, so wonderful! I love Rockport/Fulton!