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| SPI Hwy P100 |
One of our favorite "short rides" from the upper Rio Grande Valley in Mission is to head over to
South Padre Island via
Military Hwy so named for its original purpose of connecting the valley's two forts,
Fort Brown in Brownsville and
Fort Ringgold in Rio Grande City.
Fort Ringgold not named after the famous Beatle, Ringo Starr was settled in 1848 served until its closing in 1944. Likewise, Fort Brown, not named after famous singer James Brown was settled in 1845 and was decommissioned in 1946. Connecting the two forts is Military Highway which was originally laid out for General Zachary Taylor in order to get supplies from Fort Brown to Fort Ringgold. It wasn't until the 1960s when the entire
Military Road Highway was paved.
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| View from Wanna Wanna's Bar |
We're in Mission so when we hookup with Military Hwy we're at the halfway point between Brownsville and Rio Grande City. It's a much longer ride especially in time taking Military verses staying on Expressway Hwy 83, but the ride is much more scenic especially at this time of year when there are fields upon fields of winter vegetables growing and being harvested. Unlike the hectic and crowded expressway, the Military Hwy route is a much better ride. We turn off Military heading north and coming out at the intersection of Expressway 83 and Hwy 100 then its about thirty miles to South Padre Island.
Once at
SPI there are quite a few things you can do including riding up the highway to the pavement's end on the north end of SPI. Usually its a nice quite place to go except for an occasional RV along the side of the road parked for the night there isn't much to distract from the great view of the dunes and seashore. If you like to sit back, have a nice beer or soda, and listen to some live outdoor music then the place to be at is WannaWanna's. It's a small hotel
http://www.wannawanna.com with an outdoor deck and thatched roof bar overlooking the seashore. It's a great place to spend some time before heading back home.
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| Ed rolling past huge dunes on P100 |
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| End of SPI Hwy P100 |
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