The Beach

With this year being so crazy, we found ourselves almost at the end of August and we hadn’t even been to the beach!  What?!  So we took off to Surfside just an hour and a half from our house.  Surfside isn’t known for its beautiful water.  It is rather brown.  But I do love the beach.  

We found hermit crabs galore!

Look at the variety of shells!  It was ironic that all the pretty shells we found were already inhabited.

Since we had the time we drove 5.5 hours to South Padre Island, known for its beautiful beaches.  We picked a weekday to beat the crowds and got an apartment right on the island.  Turned out the island was far bigger than we expected.  A veritable town.  We drove on a long bridge to get there.  See the skyscraper hotels?  Let’s just say it was far different than the islands in Australia we stayed on.  

The largest sandcastle in the U.S. (or something like that) in the middle of town.

We checked into our apartment to change and headed for a late afternoon swim.  The water was definitely bluer than our Surfside, but from what I heard it wasn’t as clear as it usually was.  That probably had something to do with Hurricane Laura going through the gulf just the week before.  

Snack break!  I tell you, cold watermelon on the beach is the best.


The sand was fine and nicely buildable.

My favorite part about this picture is Isaac’s reflection.  I couldn’t reproduce one that clear no matter how many pictures I took.

See?  (Look at all those beachfront hotels.)

Eventually we realized we needed to eat dinner so we headed back to our apartment (NOT beachfront) and while the kids bathed, Mike and I made a gourmet dinner (a box of pasta, jar of pasta sauce, and some sliced cucumbers).  After the kids crashed into bed Mike and I decided to walk along the beach in the moonlight.  It was so dark!  I expected the light of all the hotels to make it bright, but it didn’t.  It was nice anyway.

The next morning we got up and ready to watch the sun rise over the ocean.  Everyone agreed that was their favorite part of the trip.  The beach was so quiet.

Waiting. (A photography lesson in light positioning.)

Almost here...

Behold Evelyn’s power!

And because I’m kinda dorky.

We had a wonderful morning at the beach.  Then back to the apartment to bathe and change and check out.  Before leaving the island we visited the Sea Turtle hospital.  They take in injured sea turtles to get them back out to the wild.  They also have 4 injured resident sea turtles that live there and are part of a neat exhibit.

South Padre Island was neat.  We all had a good time on our trip, but I think we all agree that, as far as beaches go, our closer Surfside is just fine.