Rockport Culture & Dining

Rockport is located about 25 miles up the coast from Corpus Christi. The Rockport Fulton Chamber of Commerce serves both Rockport and nearby Fulton. Rockport was founded by cattlemen J. M. and T. H. Mathis in 1867. Shipping and fishing provided the primary economic base of the town in its early years. The railroad arrived in 1888 and with it came a decline in the shipping industry, although shipyards were in operation during WWI and WWII. Their emphasis on the railroad has made Rockport more economically stable than the other coastal towns that depend upon the fishing and shipping industries that have declined in the last few decades. Rockport has been a popular recreation center over the years, and tourism continues to be important to the local economy.

Rockport is also fortunate to have a progressive city council that doesn't prevent change and new developments like Corpus Christi. They recently approved an Economic Development Study that focused on 17 areas of undeveloped property on the Rockport harbor front owned by the Bass family. It always helps to have a few billionaires involved in city development. The study determined the best use of the property is to construct a marina with high-density housing along with mixed-use structures, including retail.

Rockport Center for the Arts

The Art Center, located between the Rockport Harbor and Aransas Bay, is the center of Aransas County's art community. Invitational exhibits include original art, prints, pottery, stained glass and other art forms by local to internationally recognized artists. They also have a visual arts studio and pottery/sculpture studio for working artists, classes and workshops. For 40 years the Art Center has contributed to Rockport being ranked as one of the top 100 best small art towns in America. The Art Center does not allow photos to be taken inside.

Atmar Atkinson sculpture

Atmar Atkinson was a well-known architect who owned an architectural firm in Lubbock. His work included designing buildings at Texas Tech University and for Southwestern Bell Telephone and Methodist Hospital. He also designed the George Mahon Federal Building in Lubbock and many schools and churches throughout Texas. He retired to Rockport in 1983, where he became an active member of the art community. He was famous for saying this about designing churches: "It's about the only job left where an architect can win a set of dishes." He was commenting on the sorry state into which the design professions had sunk under the burden of codes and criteria imposed on them.

Rockport has a large number of art galleries and upscale craft shops

Texas Maritime Museum

The Texas Maritime Museum houses a variety of exhibits that strive to tell a complete story of Texas' maritime history. They include exhibits in the areas of commercial and sports fishing, lighthouses of Texas, oil and gas exploration in Texas Coast and Gulf waters and the first exhibit of The La Salle Odyssey. The La Salle Odyssey tells the story of Robert La Salle's French expedition and failed colonization of Texas in 1684. The highlight of the exhibit is a 1:12 scale model of La Salle's flagship La Belle. The La Salle Odyssey is a coalition of eight institutions and seven museums located in six counties. The La Salle expedition is so large a chronical that each museum will only tell a portion of the larger story.

Another view of the Texas Maritime Museum

Views from the Texas Maritime Museum observation deck

The Texas Master Gardener program is an educational activity conducted by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System. The program is designed to increase the availability of horticultural information and extend horticultural projects throughout the community. These goals are implemented through the training and use of local volunteers known as Master Gardeners. The Texas Master Gardner program is the largest in the nation. BTW: The yellow bush is an Experanza. Sometimes it is called Yellow Bells or Hardy Yellow Trumpet. It is a favorite landscape plant throughout South Texas because it is very drought tolerant.

Century Plant

Spirit Columns

This world class sculpture was created by Jesus Bautista Moroles, internationally acclaimed granite sculptor, whose works originate from his studio in Rockport. His sculptures appear in museums, galleries, private collections and public areas across the globe.

Dining

The Diner in Rockport is a local favorite restaurant that I liked. Down home southern cooking plus a few seafood and Tex-Mex entrees. Very crowded because they have good cheap lunch specials every day.

Paradise Key Island Grill located at the Marina on Key Allegro in Rockport is my favorite seafood restaurant so far. Finally some decent crab cakes. You know it's a serious seafood restaurant when they have a sign saying you can bring your own fish and they will clean and cook it for you. For lunch I had a shrimp & crab cake with remoulade sauce and a spinach salad.

Big Fisherman Restaurant is between Aransas Pass and Rockport. It's the tourist and RV crowd favorite. HUGE crowds and HUGE meals. For lunch I ordered their mini seafood platter. It included stuffed crab, stuffed shrimp, fried shrimp and lots of fish. I took enough back to the motel for another large meal. The seafood was okay but not as good as the Paradise Key.