South Texas Institute for the Arts

  This museum has taken an unusual direction with their temporary exhibitions. All of the artwork in the main galleries is by the same artist – Dorothy Hood when we visited – a little too much of a good thing. A small permanent gallery houses a collection of Spanish Colonial art and a space on the second floor houses temporary exhibits – during our visit, an amusing collection of paintings by Ed Wheeler who has inserted himself dressed as Santa Claus into copies of famous paintings. Photography is not permitted in most areas of the museum.

  The museum is accessible but the entrance doors are a little heavy.

  RVs will fit in the lot off of Hirsch St or in the waterfront lot along Shoreline Blvd. Both lots have long ADA compliant ramps that lead up to the museum.

Museum  27.81051, -97.39366

Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

  The museum has very good exhibits about the discovery of two Spanish ships that wrecked off of the coast of Texas in 1554. The ships were returning to Spain from Mexico, carrying several hundred passengers and millions of dollars of silver and gold. Many recovered artifacts are on display along with a short history of Spain’s involvement in looting Mexico’s treasures. 

    Another exhibit covers La Salle’s voyage from France in 1684 and his mission to start a colony in the mouth of the Mississippi and claim it for France. This venture ended badly with one of the four ships getting captured by pirates, one returning to France, another running aground and the last, the Le Belle, sinking. The resting spot of the Le Belle was found in 1995 and many of recovered artifacts are on display at the museum.

  Besides the shipwrecks the history galleries have exhibits about early Corpus Christi, the Aztecs, and how diseases have affected native populations. These exhibits are a little scrambled but still interesting. The science galleries could use some updating. The mineral section is pretty good. The hands-on children’s gallery is bright and colorful and looks like a lot of fun.

  The museum is accessible.

  All of the parking in the main lot is angle-in and too short for RVs. We parked in the lot south of the traffic circle. The entrance/exit is rough with a dip and the crosswalk does not line up which makes it difficult for wheelchair travel.

Museum   27.81074, -97.39565

Texas Maritime Museum

    Ship wrecks, ship building, fishing and deep sea oil rigs are all touched on in this museum. The museum is pretty small so nothing is explored in depth. An observation deck overlooks the harbor.

  Everything is accessible.

  RVs can be parked along the street or in the triangle formed by the intersecting streets.

  From the same parking spot it’s easy to go to three more small museums – the Rockport Center for the Arts, the Bay Education Center, and the Aquarium. These are all free, unlike the Maritime Museum which has a fee. We visited the Center for the Arts which is very small with one main gallery.  The accessible entrance is in the rear of the building. In the same area look for the World's Largest Blue Crab, a fiberglass sculpture elevated on high posts.

Museum   28.02614, -97.04811

Port Aransas Nature Preserve

  Early residents used these grassy lowlands as a pasture. Now the coastal prairie and tidal saltflats are a protected sanctuary for many birds, both year round residents, and spring and fall migrating species. The most abundant birds on our visit were white pelicans and long-billed curlews which are fun to watch.

   

  The main parking area is at the end of Port Street. From there the trail branches to the east and west. Both sections are about a mile one way and are a combination of pavement, hard packed sand and boardwalk. All surfaces are accessible. Bring sunscreen, water and insect repellent. The eastern section has more vegetation and less of a breeze to keep the mosquitos away. 

The parking lot is not large enough for RVs but it does have a turn around loop. RVs can be parked along the street.

Preserve    27.83402, -97.0864

Presidio La Bahia

 

   The Presidio (fort) La Bahia was built in 1749 to protect the Spanish missions including Mission Espíritu Santo which is just across the San Antonio River. The soldier’s chapel is the only part of the fort that did not suffer a lot damage over the years. The rest of the fort, the compound walls, commanding officers’ quarters, arsenal, guard house, workshops, and bastions were rebuilt in the 1960s to their 1836 appearance.  Even though the mission and the fort are closely connected the fort is managed by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria and has a separate entrance fee.

  The fort played a big role in Texas War for Independence. The history of Texas and especially the involvement of US citizens is confusing but basically Mexico (which included Texas and a vast swath of land west to the coast) won its independence from Spain in 1824. The new government invited foreigners to settle in Texas. A large group of slaveholding US citizens settled in east Texas however by 1830 further immigration from the US was banned. In 1833 Santa Anna overthrew Bustamante, the Mexican president, and Texans, fearing more restrictions, pushed to make Texas an independent state.  In 1835 Texans marched to Presidio La Bahia and took control of the fort but in March 1836 the garrison under Colonel James Fannin was ordered to retreat to Victoria, Texas ahead of a large, advancing, Mexican army. They did not get far. Fannin and his troops were captured on March 19 and on March 27 all 400 hundred were executed as ordered by Santa Anna. A large memorial marks their burial spot.

       

   The Presidio La Bahia is partly accessible. The museum, housed in the officers’ quarters, is accessible but has a steep ramp between the rooms. The chapel is accessible. The rest of the fort has many difficult areas including narrow doors, rough ground and ramps that are not functional due to poor design.

         

  RVs will fit in the parking lot if parked lengthwise across the spaces.

Fort   28.64778, -97.38315

Goliad State Park - Mission Espíritu Santo

The Mission Espíritu Santo was established on the Texas coast in 1722 to convert native Karankawa Indians to Christianity. The Karankawa were not receptive to this new religion and the mission was moved two times before it settled along the San Antonio River near present day Goliad, Texas. The native Aranama in the area converted to Christianity and accepted a life of farming and ranching in return for food, shelter and protection from more aggressive tribes. The mission became the first large cattle ranch in Texas, with nearly 40,000 free roaming cattle. It was closed in 1830, slowly crumbling, until  the 1930s when it was restored by the CCC under President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs.

 

The mission is part of Goliad State Park and includes the restored church, a small museum and a mission school building with exhibits on the crafts taught to the Aranama. The park also has two RV campgrounds and two tent only campgrounds.

  To access the paved path to the mission enter through the front door of the ranger station and exit through the back door. The church is accessible. The museum is accessible but has a steep ramp between the rooms. A packed gravel path leads to the school building. Follow it around to the rear of the building to access the ramp. We did not stay at the campground.

The parking lots are large enough for RVs.

Park   28.65705, -97.38669

Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo

  If you like snakes you’ll love this place – over 300 hundred of them housed in two long rows of terrariums. The zoo also has a small collection of other animals including birds, lions, a camel, hyenas, and monkeys. Many of the animals are rescues. Enrichment activities are a daily event. Most of the enclosures are adequate in size and some are in the process of being enlarged.

  The zoo is not completely accessible. The snakes in the top tier are too high to be viewed from a seated position. The ground in the outdoor section is gravel and dirt which becomes very muddy in wet weather where it’s not protected by shade roofs. The petting zoo gets so muddy that it’s not really opened to anyone in wet weather.

The parking lot is large enough for any RV.

Zoo   29.65561, -98.18696

The Briscoe Western Art Museum

  Even though the museum has three floors none of the galleries are large so the entire museum can be visited in about an hour or so. Exhibits include western artifacts and history along with painting and sculptures. The diorama of the battle of the Alamo is  very detailed and shows the location of all of the key figures.

 

  The entrance door is very heavy. The interior of the museum and the sculpture garden are accessible.

  Most of the parking lots in downtown San Antonio do not allow RV parking but we found a very good lot on East Houston Street under I-37.  It’s large enough for RVs but the entrance/exit is narrow so use caution if you’re driving a large RV. The sidewalks and curb cuts are in fairly good condition but there are places where back tracking or traveling in the street may be necessary.

Museum   29.42314, -98.48911

The Alamo

  In its 272 years of existence the Alamo has been a Roman Catholic mission, a military fortress, a quartermaster’s depot and a wholesale grocery store but it’s most famous as the site where over 200 men died while defending the fortress during an attack by  Mexican soldiers in the fight for Texan independence from Mexico.

  A nicely landscaped park surrounds the mission/fort building. Also on the grounds are the missionary living quarters, a gift shop and a research library. The mission building has a few exhibits but is mostly empty. The living quarters have artifacts and exhibits. Large story boards outside give historic details on the mission. Photography is not permitted inside the buildings.

The entire site is accessible. The living quarters are long and narrow so it can get congested making maneuvering a wheelchair through the crowds challenging.

  Most of the parking lots near the Alamo do not allow RV parking but we found a very good lot on East Houston Street under I-37.  It’s large enough for RVs but the entrance/exit is narrow so use caution if you’re driving a large RV. The sidewalks and curb cuts in downtown San Antonio are in fairly good condition but there are places where back tracking or traveling in the street may be necessary.

Alamo   29.42575, -98.48632

Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History

  This is a very small museum, consisting of two rooms with exhibits and a hands on room with live reptiles. The exhibits are a mixture of natural and human history which includes the fossilized tail of a hadrosaurid dinosaur complete with skin imprinting and a storage box used by Santa Anna.

  The museum is accessible.

   The parking lot is large enough for RVs.
Museum    30.66631, -96.3203