introduction

Introduction

Padre Island lay in the lane of history for four centuries yet it remained a remote part of the Gulf Coast region until the decade between 1950-1960 when causeways were built connecting both north and south ends with the nearby mainland. The 110-mile long barrier island is an ideal place to get away from it all. One minute you can be in a city-like setting and after a few minutes drive you are in an area as remote as if it were in the South Seas. It is possible to camp back in the dunes where you will hear the yap-yap-yap of the coyote; even see him venture near your fire at night. The fire will have green-tinted flames from driftwood that may have washed ashore.

As the sound of the breakers lulls you to sleep, you may anticipate activities for the morrow. Whether to wade out in the surf to fish or just roam Gulf or bay side beaches, finding curious shells; or perhaps search in the dunes for buried pirate treasure; or better still, glimpse an old Spanish coin gleaming in the wet sand in the wake of a wavelet.

Along the beach there always are surprises. Besides the sea life forms, other objects wash in. A seabean perhaps, or a coveted shell, such as the sand dollar; or a bit of driftwood perfect for creating an art object. Beachcoming possiblities are endless.

Each day on the island brings evidence of habitation in a much more ancient era. In the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory at Austin is a cast of a tooth of a mammoth about the size of a football which was brought up from 180 feet of water off Padre. Beachcombers occasionally find artifacts which they wisely turn in to the marine laboratories on or near Padre Island or to nearby universities. Indian middens have been discovered in exposed layers of tall sand dunes.

Introduction
Padre Island lay in the lane of history for four centuries yet it remained a remote part of the Gulf Coast region until the decade between 1950-1960 when causeways were built connecting both north and south ends with the nearby mainland. The 110-mile long barrier island is an ideal place to get away from it all. One minute you can be in a city-like setting and after a few minutes drive you are in an area as remote as if it were in the South Seas. It is possible to camp back in the dunes where you will hear the yap-yap-yap of the coyote; even see him venture near your fire at night. The fire will have green-tinted flames from driftwood that may have washed ashore. As the sound of the breakers lulls you to sleep, you may anticipate activities for the morrow. Whether to wade out in the surf to fish or just roam Gulf or bay side beaches, finding curious shells; or perhaps search in the dunes for buried pirate treasure; or better still, glimpse an old Spanish coin gleaming in the wet sand in the wake of a wavelet.
Along the beach there always are surprises. Besides the sea life forms, other objects wash in. A seabean perhaps, or a coveted shell, such as the sand dollar; or a bit of driftwood perfect for creating an art object. Beachcoming possiblities are endless. Each day on the island brings evidence of habitation in a much more ancient era. In the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory at Austin is a cast of a tooth of a mammoth about the size of a football which was brought up from 180 feet of water off Padre. Beachcombers occasionally find artifacts which they wisely turn in to the marine laboratories on or near Padre Island or to nearby universities. Indian middens have been discovered in exposed layers of tall sand dunes.