Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and with any luck you'll get to hear some excellent commentary and personal anecdotes
from the tour guides, who are often retired ranch employees.
Tours depart from the visitor center (
Click here
)
, which is just inside the rather modest
entrance to the ranch on the west side of Kingsville at the end of Santa Gertrudis Ave.
In addition to the standard tours, there are guided bird-watching and wildlife-spotting
tours across the unspoiled expanses of the ranch, lasting from 2½ to nine hours ($45 to
$300). Schedules change seasonally.
King Ranch Museum
( 361-595-1881;
www.king-ranch.com
;
405 6th St; adult/child $6/3; 10am-4pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun)
Housed in a renovated ice-storage house downtown, the King Ranch Museum covers the
history of the ranch. Be sure to follow the minor family dramas of the first generation; it's
just like a movie (foreman marries King's daughter etc).
MUSEUM
1904 Train Depot
( 361-592-3212; 104 E Kleberg Ave; 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat)
Downtown, the old
train depot has been beautifully restored and is filled with historical items, especially
those relating to a time when you could board a train here and connect to the rest of the
nation.
HISTORIC BUILDING
Eating
Harrel's
( 361-592-3354;
www.harrels.com
; 204 E Kleberg Ave; mains from $5; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sat)
Besides capsules with cold and flu remedies, this pharmacy serves up a time-capsule in
the form of a soda fountain that hasn't changed in decades. The hash browns at breakfast
are real, the burgers juicy and cheap and the soda sweet and tasty.
CAFE
$
Shopping
The downtown has a few antiques shops.
King Ranch Saddle Shop
CLOTHING
