On the ‘mainland’ side of Texas, across from South Padre Island, Port Isabel, the Beacon by the Bay and a fisherman’s port town, home of The Mighty Tarpon’s, where I happened to have graduated high school…but seriously, the tarpon is one of the highest prized fishing trophies because of the challenge it presents to experienced anglers. 

The Beacon by the Bay of Port Isabel, being the gateway to the island, located on the Laguna Madre, has plenty of shorelines meaning copious inlet communities to consider and bayside home choices. 

It is a town as a great place to raise a family; it is quiet, boasts a next-to-nil crime rate, and is ideally located to hospitals and regional airfields in either Harlingen and Brownsville — where I suggest you hit up El Rey Del Taco for…well, awesome tacos. 

Rumored to have harbored pirates long ago, the Beacon by the Bay is at a locus of Texas history, including the pirate legends, Palo Alto battlefield, and Palmito Ranch, the last battle of the Civil War. 

Before taking the bridge to the island, Manuel’s near the lighthouse is worth visiting for gargantuan homemade tortillas with your Mexican breakfast. For local art and souvenirs, Wendy Hauschilds, a childhood friend of mine, opened Artsy to sell her creation and other local artists; a few steps down, made to order coffee and drinks at Causeway Cafe is a great place to relax and catch up on reading. 

That’s the Beacon by the Bay in a nutshell. Care to know more, call me…Just. Call. Carmen.  

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