A La Playa

For BH's birthday, I orchestrated a trip down to the coast--for just the two of us. It was going to be a surprise, but then when all of the thyroid b.s. came up, I felt like I needed to tell him because, there was a time when I wasn't sure we'd be able to go.

It had been at least 20 years since I'd been down to Port Aransas, and longer than that for BH. As I've mentioned before, he's an avid birder, and Port A is known as a great birding destination, especially in the fall/spring when migratory species are passing through. And me? I just like what the ocean air does to my hair. So I knew it was going to be a win-win as far as we were concerned.

We took off on Thursday morning, and 200 miles and 1/2 tank of gas later, we were there. We stayed at a nice studio apartment in a big ol' beach house that was not beachfront but only required a short walk to stick one's toes in the surf.

We went and watched birds.

We drank fruity drinks.

We ate insanely unhealthy and inexpensive breakfasts.

We watched more birds.

We visited Mustang Island State Park as well as the Padre Island National Seashore.

Then, the next day, we went to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where we saw a pair of whooping cranes and some alligators. And we saw hardcore birders, which are kind of a species unto themselves, what with their spotting scopes and "birding talk" and all.

We saw the moon rise over the ocean.

The weather was excellent and the crowds were thin. All in all, it was pretty perfect.

On the way back to Austin on Sunday, we came back via Goliad and stopped at Goliad State Park to check out the mission and the campgrounds. Very pretty.

And the whole way there and back, we saw INSANE amounts of gorgeous wildflowers. Hwy 123 between San Marcos and Seguin was absolutely breathtaking.

What a GREAT way to spend the weekend.

Where was I...?

Oh yes. At the beach. Only a few short daze ago.

Truth be told, this past weekend was originally the weekend we'd planned to get married. But life happens, and we postponed the Big Day, and haven't managed to reschedule yet. So we decided that even though we weren't getting hitched this past weekend, we at least deserved a long weekend away together. So Dah agreed to keep The Geej, and we hopped on a plane for a short ride to the southern tip of the state for some R&R.

It was a great trip. We relaxed. We people-watched. We read. We rode around in this (with the top down, of course):

We walked on the beach where we saw some of this (kite boarding). It looks so fun, but SO hard. And it was perfect weather for it on this particular day, i.e., windy as hell.


We also saw a LOT of this:

Seriously, smokers. What the FUCK?! It's bad enough when you throw the butts out of your car window and think it's not littering, but on the beach? Really?! Shame on you.

We saw a few of these


Tangled up in a lot of this.

I'm not sure what was going on, but on day 3 we were there, the tide brought in TONS of this stuff. It was less than pleasant.


We also went birding. This was a first for me, but BH is all about our fine feathered friends. South Texas is supposed to be a primo migratory birdwatching spot this time of year. (This is the type of thing you learn when you're in love with a wildlife biologist.) However, they haven't gotten substantial rain down in the valley for months, so everything is dry as it can be and, as a result, not very appealing to migratory birds. We did see quite a few species, but not the overwhelming multitudes that are usually down there during mid-April.

One preserve we went to actually suffered a major fire (a result of the dry conditions) two days before we went there to check it out. Luckily, there were other parts of the preserve that were unharmed. The palm forest, for instance. I got to see green jays and chacalacas and indigo buntings buff-bellied hummingbirds and numerous other birds for the first time ever.And also, at this preserve, I got to see the Rio Grande for the very first time.
We were also surprised with fireworks while we ate dinner on a pier on the bay our first night there.

One night, we even pondered the Great American Dilemma:

We were lucky enough to see a couple of amazing sunsets.

Basically, we had a very, very nice time.

We'll go back again. Hopefully soon...

Yes, she made it.

Sorry to leave you hanging with that last post.

The good news? She made it to the potty in the nick of time.

So why the absence from the interwebs? I swear, this time wasn't activity-induced laziness. The fact of the matter is that BH and I escaped and went here for a long weekend.

The weather was (almost) perfect, and we had a very, very nice time. I'll fill in the gaps tomorrow, but for now, I'll leave you with a few more beauty shots.


Night night, friends.

The Beach in Four Movements.

Movement one: The Arrival

Movement two: The Immersion

Movement three: The Continuation (Omnipresence)

Movement four: The Departure

We'll be back. And next time, we'll bring friends.

I swear I'm gonna write about our trip soon, but first I must pose a question:

Why oh why do (most) people who own beach houses/condos feel the need to decorate them in such a ghastly way?

First: You really don't HAVE to go with a lighthouse/sea shell/nautical theme if you don't want to. We're already at the beach, so it's sort of redundant.

Second: Why all the horrible silk floral arrangements? All they do is collect dust and look terribly depressing--like someone's untended grave. Just don't do it.

Third: If you're going to spend the dough to update your condo with really nice ceramic tile, sisal rugs, new cabinetry, and silestone countertops, why the HELL don't you do something about the ghastly wallpaper in the master bedroom, the master bath, and the second bath. And just a hint--if the wallpaper is peeling off in big-ass sheets, maybe it's time to get rid of it altogether.

Fourth: Some sort of window coverings besides sheer drapes might be appropriate since this is a vacation spot and most people would like to be able to sleep in a bit later than normal.

Fifth: Rattan furniture? Really?

Sixth: Why not go ahead and splurge on a) a mattress cover and b) a fitted sheet rather than putting a flat sheet on the bottom, tucking it in, and calling it a day.

All in all, our place was nice. It was clean, and quiet, had a fabulous view (see below), and the grounds were lovely. It's just that the way things were done in our particular condo were kind of...half ass? Tacky?

More soon...

We're back from the beach. It was pretty awesome. Getting to experience the sand and surf through the eyes of a two-and-a-half year old is really, really cool. More tomorrow when I'm not so wiped out and sunburned.