Saturday, September 1, 2012

Port Aransas

Last week we took our last mini vacation of the year to Port Aransas, Texas. Typically when we go to the beach we go to Corpus Christi/Padre Island but this time I chose to book us in Port A for no other reason than I wanted to cut off the extra 20 miles it takes to get to Padre Island in Corpus. As far as I am concerned the beach is the beach and when you have been in the car for 4 hours with a kid and a dog 20 miles extra is not worth it.

Since we do beach trips only 2 to 3 times a year it's always hit and miss as far as beach conditions/weather goes. This trip I was a little concerned that  Hurricane Isaac would have the beach full of seaweed and the water conditions too rough. Matter of fact, there were advisories on my weather channel app that warned of rip currents, and rough conditions.
Turns out, once we got down to the beach it was in the best condition I had ever seen it. The waves were perfect, there was little to no seaweed and the water was so clear you could see to the bottom at several feet. It also had an almost green tint to it.....rare for Texas beaches. It was so perfect that I was out there splashing around in it myself, rather than my usual position of standing on the edge scanning for jelly fish and other unknown creatures floating around.

Before we left on our trip I had everything worked out in my mind how things were going to flow and by golly they actually flowed the way I wanted them to. Did I say yet this was a PERFECT mini vacation???

The Mariner Inn where we stayed was conveniently located right across the street from the Nature Preserve which was great because it would give me a place to walk Bo....or so I thought until I saw the sign that said "No Pets Allowed".  It turned out okay though because right behind the Inn was a little quaint beach condo neighborhood where I ended up walking him.  As I walked him I really loved looking at all the beach houses so cute, colorful and beachy looking. I even pulled out a sales flyer out of the front of one of them just to get an idea of what they were going for nestled right there on the beach...$300,000...one can still dream anyway. :-)

I was still itching to take a walk into the Nature Preserve across the street and since I couldn't take Bo Summer volunteered to go with me for an evening walk.
We had fun balancing the pier, pointing out different wildlife and vegetation, taking pictures, and racing back to the room before the sun set.

                                   



The next day we were beach bound, but first I wanted to check out the Leonabell Turnbull Birding Center that was close by. We got lucky and walked into a group of bird observers. It was a great learning experience for all of us and I was glad that the bird folks took on Summer as one of their "students".







After our bird adventure we ate lunch then moved on to the beach.  We were lucky to find a pet friendly Inn only about a mile from the beach so we could easily bring Bo back to the room once we had enough of him. Bo has tendency to chase shore birds and get diarrhea when he swims.  He can become a real pain in the ass early on so it was nice for me to be able to run him back to the room when we got tired of dealing with his over zealous personality.









In between beach trips and birding we played ping pong and pool in the game room of the Inn and did some souvenir shopping at the local souvenir shops. Summer got pretty good at ping pong but, like her mom, pool isn't her game.

We had so much fun on the beach that we decided to go once more on our way back home. The water was just as perfect but was much calmer...much to Summer's dismay. She was really enjoying surfing those waves on her boogie board the day before. She didn't let it stop her from riding the little waves though. The kid should have scales and gills. Every time we go to the coast she comes home wanting to move to the beach. The little secret around here is that if and when we ever move closer to the coast it will be Florida...NOT the Texas coastline...

                                    





Out of all my years living near the coast, I have never seen a "live" sandollar nor have I ever seen any shells like these two below...




Bo says "There's not enough shade around here."
Yes, always a wonderful memory in my mind will be our trip to.....




1 comment:

  1. This looks like the perfect end to summer. Loved the water pics and Bo seemed to be having a good time, too. Life is Good!

    ReplyDelete