K.A.
Stay in Port Aransas, Day trip to Corpus to visit the aquarium. It is a very neat aquarium, very good for younger kids. Day trip to Rockport. Rockport has a very nice beach. It is great if you have little kids because there are no waves. There is a good playground there, as well as bathroom facilities, etc. However, the fact there are no waves also make you feel like you are at the lake. We stayed in Rockport for a week two years ago. I REALLY missed the waves and surf. In Port Aransas, there is a nice playground area right when you get off of the ferry. They have expanded the bird watching area with lots of trails and they have added bathrooms. Shopping is pretty much standard beach town shopping. You can go bay fishing, deep sea fishing and dolphin cruises. If you want to stay within walking distance of restaurants, etc, try the Tropic Island. We usually stay at the Courtyard. It is a couple of blocks from the beach and is a little bit farther out of town (A1A), but there is a convenience store on the corner and they have a nice pool and picnic area. That said, we also drove to New Orleans one time and drove into Bay St. Louis. Very cute little town and really pretty beach. We didn't get to stay for long, but I would love to go back.