South Padre Island

June 6-8 2008

We decided if we couldn't live on an island with crystal clear waters and bum around all the time then we should find a place, with in driving distance, that could provide us with a temporary since of paradise.

Our first destination: South Padre Island.

"Padre Island is a 34-mile long barrier reef island located at the southernmost tip of 625 miles of the Texas Gulf Coast. Approximately ½ mile wide at its widest point, the Island is surrounded by the warm waters of the Laguna Madre Bay to the west and the ocean surf of the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Five-mile stretch of land comprises the Town of South Padre Island; the additional 29 miles consist of undeveloped, virgin beach."

We drove North of town and this is what we saw!!!

We decided to go for a walk on the beach - I have never seen so many whole shells and thick ones at that! They are heavy in weight and large in size!

This gives you a good idea of their size and how many were on the beach. The water was "rough" as they have had storms all week. It looked dirty too :( When we finally lugged our umbrella/mats/books/hats/sunscreen/drinks/camera/phones to the beach - it STORMED on us after just being there a 1/2 hour! So now we weren't just covered in sunscreen but sand and rain! We raced to the car - I've never seen the beach clear off so fast! By the time we were in the car and 1/2 way into town the sun came back out! We decided not to tempt fate - so we sat by the hotel pool; read and slept to our hearts content!!!This was at the end of one of our "nature trails".

On our way home we decided to detour through Corpus Christi and explore Mustang Island - Head North up the island, take 361 across at Port Aransas - back to the mainland

Crossing to the island - it seemed like one lonnnnng bridge over many miniature islands with harbors.We saw several of these HUGE stores in S.Padre as well - This time we stopped to take a photo. The ones we went into in S.P. weren't all that great - the outsides were! Marketing! or should I say "false advertising"?This "Sand Castle" is actually a store front - We have never seen anything like it. There were at least 4 very interesting ones - this was the last one we saw. We didn't go in - we still had a long drive ahead of us.

Mustang Island - lots of grass and sand dunes. To the south the only building was the park entrance hut!

We drove North to Port Aransas - this is the beach!My first sighting of a "Man of War" jellyfish!! I was so amazed I must have taken 7 or so pictures! They glistened in the sand and were very very colorful!My first sighting of an offshore rig!The map said that the highway (361) went across at Port Aransas - This is the freeway - yep - a car ferry! It was fast/efficient and fun! There were 2 ferries working - and bays for up to 8!!!My hubby :) feeling right at home!This was the "South" bound lane. :)

This week the workers are coming for a night - so off to cleaning I go. I have told a few of you about the Crepe Myrtle trees that are in bloom. I will try and get a photo to post when I am out running errands. Hugs to all!