Visitors sit in the backyard of an old home and listen as volunteers discuss turtles. Assistants display examples for inspection. The most endangered turtle is the Kemp's ridley, which nests only on an isolated beach in Mexico. Fine restaurants border the lagoon side of the island. In March, South Padre attracts hordes of collegians celebrating Spring Break.
Summer brings vacationing families.
When frost dusts the North, Canadian snow- birds flock south to become Winter Texans. Besides providing RV grounds, the enclave offers a channel-side venue for watching fishing boats and shrimpers motor out to sea. As a shrimp boat approaches, Capt. Soon, two dolphins arc through the water. The cruise eventually returns across the southern end of Laguna Madre.