Beyond the Sea
igh atop a sand dune in Port Aransas, a small white sanctuary overlooks the ocean. Seagulls glide in the salty air above swaying sea oats and flowering cacti. The Chapel on the Dunes is the oldest continuously functioning church on Mustang Island, and over the past eight decades, as visitors and hurricanes came through, it has become a symbol of strength and longevity in this coastal community. “It’s like our own little Sistine Chapel,” says Cliff Strain, executive director of the Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association. The group lists the chapel as one of its “Eight Wonders of Port Aransas,” a collection of
