If you love the small town life and open seas, well of course the Coastal Bend is the place to be. But one city ranked third for the best coastal town, and that is Rockport.
According to USA Today, Rockport was ranked third for the best coastal small town because of the pedestrian friendly downtown, which is full of shops, restaurants and art galleries along Austin Street, which makes vacation a walk in the park.
“I believe that if Rockport is ranked the third highest, it's because of the kindness. The people that live here in Rockport are very kind and very loving," said local Raquel Moreno.
“Very family orientated town, it's a very laid back town," Mike Baker said.
Mayor of Rockport Patrick Rios said tourists come to visit Rockport for their fun water activities like boating, swimming, crabbing and their blue wave beaches.
“We’re known for so many different things. We have so many different projects, too, that will help people that visit us feel more welcomed and at home," Rios said. "We have the Aransas Pass pathways project which incorporates bike trails, kayaking, history."
Rios said the city has been rebuilding ever since Hurricane Harvey, and their construction is about 70-percent finished.
The replacement of city hall and the Aransas County court house will have a plaza and community center in between the buildings for folks to enjoy outside.
“More events, more venues, festivals, all kinds of markets, street markets and things like that. Things that people like to do in their spare time, looking to have fun," Rios said.
With the Rockport Center For the Arts building being rebuilt, Elena Rodriguez said the art community cannot wait.
“It’s been about five years from Hurricane Harvey now," said Rodriguez. "Even though we lost our building we didn’t lose our artists; we didn’t lose our art community."
Rockport was the only Texas city ranked in the top ten list, according to USA Today.
