TRAVEL TEXAS (South Padre Island)

We are back from our annual South Padre trip!  (the week that I look forward to all year)

I’ve been posting pictures for days, and I’ve been trying to answer lots of questions.  Here’s the scoop, in case you have more…

 

 

 

 

We have found that six days is good for us.

That’s one day of packing up, driving the five hours, and spending an evening in the sand.

It’s four days of exploring and playing.

And it’s one day of packing back up, driving the five hours back, with our one favorite pit stop.

 

 

 

We stay at Seabreeze Beach Resort.  Each condo is individually owned, updated, and decorated.  The first floor has EASY access to their two pools and jacuzzi.  The second to sixth floors have amazing views.  They have one-bedroom and two-bedroom options.  I believe they all have full kitchen and laundry rooms.  Some are pet friendly.  The really cool thing about booking is the fact that their website lets you pick and choose the details of your room, then even provides pictures of each so you can choose your favorite.

This year we needed a two-bedroom that was dog friendly (since my parents were staying with us the whole time).

 

 

And even though we only ended up getting a second floor room, check out the still amazing view!

 

 

This view is from the water, looking back at the condos.  (the two tall buildings on the right)

 

 

What do we pack?

To save money, we cook every meal in the kitchen.  So we bring big jugs of water, juices, breakfast items, everything we need for sandwiches, and several different dinners.  Of course, I always bring along some kind of homemade sweet.

To have fun at the beach, we haul our wagon with us.  This helps us get our beach umbrella, boogie boards, shovels, sand toys, sunscreens, towels, snacks, and waters to the beach with us.  (We typically set up every morning around 9:00, enjoy the water for several hours.  We leave everything there as we go in for lunch, do our daily froyo run, and stay out of the hottest time of the day.  And then we head back to the water from 5:00 to 8:00.)

And boy, do we love our beach time.  We dig pits, bury each other in the sand, jump waves, boogie board, build sandcastles, feed the seagulls, and just sit and relax.  Floating in the cool water or just taking in the sounds does me SO good!

(Oh yeh, and if you love the adventure and silliness of crabbin’, do it!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And when we’re not at the beach?

Evan loves swimming at the pool.  We run up to Umix for frozen yogurt every single day we’re there.  We go mural-searching.  We play tourists.

 

 

 

 

 

And there’s plenty more to do!  Everything from go-kart racing, parasailing, and putt-putt golf, to catching a movie, renting a golf cart, and taking a pirate ship cruise.  We’ve gone on a dolphin tour.  We’ve toured the Port Isabel light house.  We’ve caught a sea turtle release.

This visit, we took my mom to the Sealife Nature Center.  It’s a simple building with just a handful of cool aquarium displays and touch tanks.  But I love going back every year to visit Domino, their resident tortoise!  She’s a sweetheart.  She loves snacking on lettuce.  And she’ll crawl in your lap if you sit on the floor and give her the opportunity!

 

 

 

We also took my sister to Sea Turtle, Inc.  The front building is still filled with the older tanks and a handful of sea turtles that they’re caring for.  But I was pleasantly surprised to see that their new beautiful building is completed and open.  We headed back for the gift shop, aquariums, and the huge tanks (housing some of their most famous residents).  Was so fun to see Gerry again!

 

 

 

 

 

Something special that we happened upon this year was an incredible sandcastle that showed up the night before we left.  By a group that had hired a local building master, to teach them the art of sandcastles!  (We totally pretended like we made it, the next morning)  😉

 

 

And what’s our traditional pit stop on the way home, for THE BEST fried shrimp in Texas?

King’s Inn in Riviera!  It’s not much of a detour off the highway… and it’s worth every penny.  Fresh, huge, perfectly breaded, and perfectly cooked.  Plus, their spicy tartar sauce is the bomb!  (This time, we got the bombay salad, the onion strings, and five pounds of shrimp to split between the six of us.  My parents and sister weren’t as excited about our annual challenge as we were.  So I came in 3rd, with 10 shrimp.  Ben ate 11.  And Evan won for the first time, with a dozen!!!)

If you go, note that everything is sold by the pound.  I hear that the fried catfish and their oysters are great.  But the shrimp is what you go for.  And it’s an expensive meal.  But you won’t regret stopping and enjoying every single bite!

 

 

 

Links, links, and more links!

South Padre Island

Seabreeze Beach Resort

Umix

Sea Turtle, Inc.

Sealife Nature Center

SPI Sandcastle Lessons

King’s Inn