A Journey Through the Texas Gulf Coast Reveals Compelling Group Options

 

Since first visiting Texas in 2008 for our inaugural Meetings Today Texas that year, the Lone Star State keeps calling me back.

Starting in Corpus Christi and ending in Houston by way of Port Aransas, Padre Island, Rockport and Galveston, my latest larger-than-life adventure was an eight-day, 900-mile road trip along the Texas Gulf Coast. 

Spanning 367 miles of coastline and 3,359 miles of shoreline, this is maritime Texas, an escape of beaches, barrier islands, bays and intercoastal waterways where mariners, artists, conservationists, educators, vacationers and marine life of all stripes follow the rhythm and weather the waves of restless tides and tempestuous storms. 

The Texas story is the sum of distinct regional voices and personalities all speaking from the heart. For groups, the coastal conversation centers on community, unique encounters and experiences where inspiration and imagination come alive.

[Related: Frisco, Texas, Has Arrived Via Major New Meetings Offerings]

Corpus Christi

As the largest city on the Texas Coastal Bend, Corpus Christi and its curving shoreline, glistening bays and barrier islands are anchored in maritime heritage. In 1519, Spanish explorer Alonzo Álvarez de Pineda sailed into these waters on the feast day of Corpus Christi, giving the city its name. 

Integrating 138,000 square feet of convention and exhibition space with a 10,000-capacity arena and the 2,500-plus capacity Selena Auditorium, after late “Queen of Tejano Music” Selena Quintanilla Pérez, the versatile American Bank Center anchors an extended campus of accessible waterfront group venues.

Scenic spaces include the Harborview Room, where my visit coincided with a colossal cargo vessel entering the deepwater ship channel adjacent to the facility. Gallery rentals at the adjacent Art Museum of South Texas also offer water views. 

The 475-room Omni Corpus Christi offers 24,000 square feet of space in 11 meeting rooms. Celebrated at the annual Mural Fest each June, giant murals add vibrancy to the historic-meets-modern downtown core.

Since 1983, the energetic Oyster Bar has anchored the group-ready Water Street Market, which offers event catering, private dining and buyouts at restaurants including the Sushi Loft, Margarita Garden and elegant Elizabeth’s.

Group coordinates across the harbor channel include the conservation- and education-focused Texas State Aquarium. From birds and jellyfish to sea turtles and sharks, animals from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea provide mesmerizing backdrops for large-scale events. 

Corpus Christi is a proud military hub. Founded in 1941, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi (NAS-CC) is renowned as “The University of the Air” for training Naval, Coast Guard and Marine Corps aviators, and as home of the Army Depot aviation maintenance facility.

Anchored across from the aquarium, the absorbing USS Lexington Museum is an epic stage for honor and inspiration. Coming from a U.S. Navy family, my four-hour tour of the National Historic Landmark with Captain Steve Banta, USN (Ret.), an aviator with 26 years of service who commanded NAS-CC before becoming the museum’s executive director, resonated fathoms deep. 

Commissioned in 1943, she was the fifth ship named after the Battle of Lexington in 1776 and the Navy’s full-sized fleet carrier. Steaming 209,000 miles, the equivalent of eight times around the globe, she went farther and served longer than any carrier, including seeing heavy action in the Pacific during World War II. Japanese propagandist Tokyo Rose named her “The Blue Ghost” when she reappeared after four reported sinkings.

Five self-guided tour routes reveal one inspiring showcase after another, such as the hologram of Naval Captain and Pearl Harbor survivor Robert "Bob" Batterson. Before passing away at 102 in 2023, Batterson, who volunteered for 30-plus years aboard the ship, recorded his presentation in holographic form as part of the multi-media Pearl Harbor exhibit. Another display commemorates the Oscar-winning movie Pearl Harbor (2001), with key scenes filmed aboard the ship.

Guided “Hard Hat” tours go behind the scenes on the lower decks. From military ceremonies to corporate events, the ship offers 40,000-plus square feet of versatile space for 10 to 2,600 people. The event team welcomes a challenge—in 2020 and 2021, the USS Lexington loaded over 750,000 pounds of dirt and steel—and bull— on the flight deck for the Professional Bull Riders’ “Cowboys for a Cause” charity event.

In 1980, the USS Lexington was flagged “Lady Lex” as the first heavy attack carrier with women crew members. Slated for late 2024, a major new exhibit, “Women in the Navy,” celebrates a century-plus of women Naval pioneers and leaders.

[Related: The Group Dining Scene in Texas Features Cross-Cultural Ingredients and Influences]

Mustang Island

For generations, vacationing Texans from as far away as Dallas and Austin have journeyed to Mustang Island. Stretching 18 miles from Corpus Christi to historic Port Aransas, locally Port A, the uninterrupted sandy beaches and laid-back lifestyle of this slender barrier island, originally Wild Horse Island after the mestenos brought by Spaniards in the 1800s, are equally a siren call for groups.

Skirting east from Corpus Christi along the commercialized Highway 281 corridor, urban hustle gave way to island vibes as I crossed the JFK Causeway over the waters of Corpus Christi Bay and Laguna Madre onto Mustang Island. 

In the hazy sunset, Highway 361 was a road to infinity on another planet, cutting through a mesmerizing dunescape dotted with brightly colored homes and resorts. 

Arrival at Cinnamon Shore only accentuated the otherworldliness. Following the New Urbanism model of walkable, environmentally friendly mixed-use neighborhoods designed to foster relationships and build community, this master-planned vacation resort offers a singular village-like setting for connecting, networking, brainstorming, strategizing and relaxing. 

Since opening in 2007, the original Cinnamon Shore North development has attracted educational groups, family reunions, corporate meetings, sales incentives and more, with global brands among the clientele. 

Laid out on broad streets among lakes, swimming pools and green spaces, spacious contemporary lodgings include fully outfitted homes and townhouses that are ideal for executive teams and families. 

Case in point was my four-bedroom, four-bathroom townhouse overlooking the Town Center. This circular area features an outdoor theater for movie screenings, performance stage, programmable lawn and event-capable Lisabella’s Bistro, for inventive coastal cuisine such as the Mermaid Soup of lobster coconut broth, shrimp and curry spices.

Other group spaces include a lakefront infinity-edge pool and the wide Gulf-facing beach. Accessed via wooden walkways over the dunes and stretching to infinity in both directions, this sandy expanse is the ultimate escape. Greeting the sun there each morning with squadrons of pelicans flying overhead and seabirds swirling in all directions, I felt in tune with the entire universe.

In development since 2018, the new 147-acre Cinnamon Shore South community will add even more group amenities including a dedicated event venue. As of July 2024, the sibling communities offered 316 rental properties, with more on the way.

Nearby Palmilla Beach is a similar lifestyle-driven resort and golf community with its own distinctive amenities, dining and more, including new event venues in development. 

Over lunch at Palmilla’s signature Black Marlin Bar & Grill restaurant, Brett Stawar, president and CEO of Port Aransas Tourism & Chamber of Commerce, shared the destination’s essential group appeal.

“With a growing inventory of guest houses, condos and room rentals, and a robust list of attractions, restaurants and venues with group-friendly spaces, picturesque Port Aransas is ideal for corporate retreats, meetings, weddings and reunions,” he said. “The spirit of welcome includes a network of residents and business owners who work together to ensure that visitors and groups have amazing experiences.”

Port Aransas is a leading birding, conservation and eco-tourism destination   with beach clean-ups and like programs available. Irresistible, too, are the opportunities to unwind and let go.

“Cinnamon Shore, Palmilla and our other luxury resorts offer fully curated beach group experiences,” continued Stawar, whose efforts to extend Port A’s reach include a partnership with the Dallas Cowboys and The Star in Frisco, the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

“Whether playing games, gathering for a shrimp boil on the beach or simply parking in a beach chair under an umbrella, Port Aransas allows groups to fully experience island life on the Gulf Coast.”

Located on Mustang Island’s northern tip, the original fishing village of Tarpon (after a local game fish), renamed Port Aransas in 1910, radiates authentic island charm. Constructed on the site of a Civil War barracks in 1886, the 24-room Tarpon Inn is a transporting Key West-style time capsule offering event spaces and fine dining at Roosevelt’s, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s visit in 1937. 

Redeveloped following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Fisherman’s Wharf, a community staple since 1971, is the departure point for sunset and dolphin cruises, fishing charters, party boats and more. Grumbles Seafood Co., also rebuilt, is a lively option for Gulf-caught seafood and prime sunset and harbor views.

[Related: Hurricane Beryl Pounds Texas: Everything You Need to Know and What It Means for Meetings]

South Padre Island 

Mustang Island’s southern end connects to the 66-mile Padre Island National Seashore, the world’s longest barrier island. The 30-mile drive there included the solitude of a vast landscape that invited deep reflection. In Texas, meetings include with one’s self. 

Managed by the National Park Service (NPS), Padre Island protects one of the nation’s last intact coastal prairie habitats. Marine life abounds, including sea turtles. Yet, like most Texas beaches, the seashore is considered a public highway and is accessible to cars, subject to regular rules of the road. Adventurous groups with a four-wheel drive vehicle, NPS or day pass (available at the gate), recommended supplies, knowledge of the tides and awareness of hazards can drive the length of the beach, with several primitive camping sites. 

Four hours to the south, South Padre Island (SPI), boasting 34 miles of sandy beaches along the Gulf and Laguna Madre Bay, is Texas’ tropical island. To get there, you must drive inland or fly to Brownsville/SPI International Airport, because while once continuous, Padre Island is now divided by the Mansfield Channel. 

Winner of “Destination of the Year” at the 2022 Texas Travel Awards and again in 2023, SPI enjoys strong in-state awareness. Accolades at this year’s event include best state-wide views for the sunsets at the award-winning beach bars of the Entertainment District; best small- to mid-market food festival for September’s Tacos & Tequilas; and best small- to mid-market outdoor activity for tours with Black Dragon Cruises. 

With its breathtaking coastline and consistent waves, SPI is a top destination for surfing, attracting events like the Texas State Surfing Championship, as well as fishing, windsurfing, kiteboarding and skydiving. Wildlife encounter venues include the SPI Birding, Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary. 
Blake Henry, executive director of Visit South Padre Island, is an industry veteran who, as general manager, helped oversee the $200 million-plus renovation of the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville before coming to SPI in 2022. 

Henry brings that same mindset to getting SPI on the national map. Following feasibility study findings that expanding the 2,500-capacity South Padre Island Convention Center could boost direct and indirect revenues by 82% within five years, Mayor Patrick McNulty announced plans for an estimated $110 million expansion of the center at his annual state of the city address this May. 

Henry had earlier presented the city council with a multi-phase plan for the “complete overhaul” of the facility, with timelines still in development.

"Our vision is to transform the South Padre Island Convention Center into the best venue for small-group meetings in South Texas,” Henry said. “By doubling the size of our exhibit hall, we are creating a space that is both versatile and welcoming, designed to host a variety of events from corporate meetings to youth sports tournaments. This expansion is a critical step in attracting more visitors and promoting economic growth in our community.”

[Related: South Texas Rules the Roost for Birding Tourism]

Rockport

My first impression of Rockport’s cinematic main drag, Austin Street, was of Marfa. 

Admittedly, I’ve yet to visit tiny Marfa, the fabled West Texas desert town renowned for its art scene, UFOs and as the filming locale for countless productions include the 1955 James Dean-Elizabeth Taylor classic Giant and Oscar winners No Country For Old Men (2007) and There Will Be Blood.

Marfa’s reputation precedes, though, and even if I had the semblance wrong, there is plenty to fancy about the walkable Rockport Cultural Arts District’s art galleries, outdoor art installations, murals, boutiques and funky low-slung frontier-style architecture.

Attracting wealthy and wintering Texans since the 1800s, this former fishing village on Aransas Bay, recast as a nationally recognized coastal art colony and small art town starting in 1969, offers exceptional creative spaces at the Rockport Center for the Arts.

Forming a compact campus in the heart of the district, the center faces the Rockport Conference Center (ROCC), across an outdoor sculpture garden that links the two contemporary buildings. Groups can tour the center’s galleries and take hands-on classes and workshops in painting, drawing, jewelry, photography, mixed-media, sculpture and new media. Offering a 4,400-square-foot ballroom and culinary arts kitchen, the ROCC flexibly hosts an array of group programs. 

Signature events include the annual Rockport Art Festival, a summer staple since 1969, and monthly Austin Street Art Walk. Other points of interest include the Texas Maritime Museum, Fulton Mansion and Aquarium at Rockport Harbor. 

Billed as “nine rooms with a pier,” Reel 'em Inn offers a peerless group sanctuary. Reviving a 1950s-era motor court motel at the end of a waterfront residential street, the four kings with Gulf-facing patios, four double queens and Reel Suite surround a courtyard with barbecue for guest use. For corporate retreats, reunions and other gatherings, the property presents a singular buyout opportunity complete with concierge offerings including private chef services, golf cart rentals and kayak rentals.

The contactless experience includes key-coded access to a private thousand-foot-long wooden pier with fishing stations, custom benches and nighttime green lighting.

Traversing the narrow walkway is like walking on water. Standing alone at end of the pier from midnight to 3 a.m. and again as the sun rose was like dreaming while awake amid the swirl of seabirds, lapping waves and twinkling lights on the darkened coastline. I can always count on Texas for rapture.

[Related: Key Texas Airport Expansions and News for Business Event Travelers]

Galveston 

My penultimate leg, a 200-plus mile inland drive from Rockport past endless farmland, massive oil and gas terminals and historic towns, was the prelude to an appointment with one of Texas’s most majestic hotels. 

Following the devastation wrought by the “Great Hurricane” of 1900, Galveston’s civic leaders fast-tracked the construction of a new beachfront hotel to help bring back tourism. Opened in 1911, the million-dollar Spanish Mission-style Hotel Galvez, with its sparkling pink granite stucco exterior, was crowned “The Queen of the Gulf.”

She was the belle of the ball on either side of WWII, attracting high society, entertainers, celebrities and U.S. presidents before riding out waves of changing times and owners. Her return to the throne began in 2021, when Dallas-born hotelier Mark Wyant purchased the property for $50 million. 

Investing another $50 million in a painstaking restoration of the hotel “to its grand beginnings”, Wyant and his interior designer wife Lorenda reinaugurated the regal resort last year as the Grand Galvez.

Featuring “Queen of the Gulf Est. 1911” in a medallion surrounded by flowers, leaves and shells, the spectacular 43-foot-by- 7-foot Murano glass tile mosaic on the lobby floor signals the exuberant hand-crafted design, decor and homages to history throughout the 219-room property. 

Part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection, the Grand Galvez offers nearly 11,500 square feet of elegant space in six event rooms, including the 400-capacity Music Hall and curving 250-capacity Veranda. Scenic outdoor settings include the Center Lawn and Oleander Garden. Enticing gathering spots include the lobby-level Founders Bar and all-day Monarch restaurant, with a luxury spa and guest-only outdoor pool complex among the resort amenities.

Groups hungry for history are well served at another Gulf-facing landmark from 1911, Gaido’s Seafood Restaurant. Founded by Italian immigrant San Giacinto Gaido as a sandwich shop and relocated to its since much-expanded present location in 1936, Galveston’s original seafood restaurant is renowned for fresh, savory Gulf-caught fare and top-class, old-school service. My charcoal-grilled oysters were divine, along with the legendary pecan pie. Walls of memorabilia tell the restaurant’s rich history, still family-owned and -operated and hosting private dining for up to 300 people in spaces such as the evocative Pelican Club room.

Dubbed “The Wall Street of the South” in the late 1880s for its banks, shipping agencies, warehouses and other commercial enterprises, the Victorian-era Strand Historic District today forms a corridor of locally owned restaurants, bars and shops. 

Galveston’s historic seaport, one block away, is home to the Texas Seaport Museum and its 1877 Tall Ship Elissa. Among the local event venues managed by the Galveston Historical Foundation, this three-masted museum ship is an intriguing time capsule with well-curated details below decks. The ship and adjacent pier can host up to 500-person events.

Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig &   Museum is another compelling harbor-front draw. Housed in a retired jack-up rig that drilled 200-plus wells in the Gulf of Mexico from 1969 to 1984, the facility is packed with exhibits on the offshore oil industry. Reminiscent of the rig from the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, the facility hosts small meetings and full-day, 300-capacity buyouts. 

After checking out the hotel, convention center and attractions at perennial group magnet Moody Gardens, I headed an hour west to Houston for the flight home. Circling past H-Town’s skyscraper core and the George R. Brown Convention Center en route to George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Texas was already calling me back. 

Read more meeting and event news in Texas.