Joe Vega’s family connections to Port Isabel and South Padre Island go back to the early 1900s when his great-grandfather, Jesus Vega, ran and owned a restaurant and hotel on what was then called Tarpon Beach. An old photo the parks director shares shows his forefather amongst a group of men in front of the “Restaurante, Jesus Vega,” with a balcony overhang providing shade from a summer sun. Tarpon Beach…
The road to Isla Blanca Park being named USA Today’s Best Beach in Texas for 2024 began decades before when the South Padre Island park’s old pavilion featured a lean-to metal roof and an open view to the Gulf of Mexico. Isla Blanca Park for decades was the place for Rio Grande Valley families to gather with homestyle picnics. The venue provided a fun and inexpensive getaway. The amenities were…
The view from Isla Blanca Park across a ship channel presents a long lens picture similar to that of Cape Canaveral in Florida. In South Texas, it’s SpaceX off in the distance at Boca Chica Beach. It’s still close enough that with a smartphone camera you can zoom in and get a clear view of a silver rocket being built for liftoff in the months ahead. “I tell people that…
Hotelier Barry Patel is upping his ante in the South Padre Island tourism economy with the construction of a Courtyard by Marriott near his Hilton Garden Inn on the north end of the coastal town. He is wagering the Island’s future will deal him a full house. “I am very optimistic about the Island,” said Patel, a former mayor. “The things that the city has done in the last three…