Sunday, September 03, 2006

South Padre Island



Lewis and I spent a week at South Padre Island.

My family has been going on vacation to SPI for over 20 years. My parents have a timeshare at a resort RIGHT ON THE BEACH. We used to go the last week before school started, but then school kept getting pushed back earlier in August, so we couldn't go. So lately, the week either gets deposited or one of us uses it. The last two years, I have gotten it. Woo Hoo for my job flexibility!

When I was younger and all 6 of us went, we'd take everything but the kitchen sink. We'd have a tent, a full size shovel, at leat 2 umbrellas, chairs, towels, coolers..pretty much anything you could want, we'd haul to the beach. This time around, with it just being Lewis and me, it was very spartan-like. We only took the basics...like a towel, some drinks, sunscreen, and some books. It was so nice to not have to haul things up and down from the hotel.

We walked on the beach a lot. The last day we must have walked at least 5 miles. We also worked out while on vacation. He ran on the beach, and I, after running on the beach one day and about dying from the humidity and heat, decided to get a 3 day pass at the local gym. I took some spinning classes there.

Lewis and I also ate at some local places. There is a great hole-in-the-wall seafood place called "Dirty Al's". We ate there twice. Great fried food and pretty cheap. We also ate at an Italian place in Port Isabel called Gabrielle's. Lewis got a dozen oysters there for $4. Cheap! The food was good there, too. We ate at a place called "Bigo's, where the service was AWFUL and at a place called El Dorado. A girl I met at a spin class works there and recommended it. It was good, too.

We also went to Mexico twice. The first time was to Progreso. It is a lot less touristy than Matamoros. It's one long street about 6 blocks long, with vendors on both sides. We ate at Garcia's and bought some tequila and other stuff. In Matamoros, we went strictly to eat, though a vendor tried to sell us a wooden bowl for $50. It was originally $75, so I guess we should have felt honored he lowered the price. Needless to say, we did not buy it. Lewis wanted to try the food from the street vendors. He ate tacos de res, de barabcoa, and de bistec. he also had gorditas with picadillo. He liked it all. Lunch was inexpensive in Mexico.

We also saw two movies while we were on the Island. Talledega Nights and Invincible.

Overall, we had a great time. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.




This was one of our first days at SPI. Thanks to Chad, I am okay baring skin in a bikini.





I caught Lewis off guard as he was coming up from underwater. He wanted to see the fish, but it was too cloudy.


Wow, isn't Lewis tall? Or would it be that I'm short? Regardless, here we are on the beach.


We went to Progreso Mexico. It's less touristy than Matamoros. Lewis debated whether he should buy this hat. Much to my dismay, he decided he could live without it. *grin*

This is the hat I tried on. This is also my "tah-dah!" pose. I walked away without the hat.





Lewis and I ate at a really good Italian restaurant in Port Isabel. It is called Gabrielle's. We wanted to eat there on Monday, and when we showed up, it was closed. So we went on Wednesday.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pics. Reminds me that I am overdue for a trip to the beach.