Texas: South Padre Islands

If you missed the first part of our Texas adventures, Texas: San Antonio Riverwalk and Houston Space Center.  You can read about it here <—

We made the drive from Sugar Land to South Padre with a planned stop for breakfast at Grandy’s in Victoria.  Kenyon took me there on our last trip to Texas and we were looking forward to their yummy breakfast steaks.  They were delicious.  We continued to Harlingen where we met up with Phoenix and clan at the big Texas grocery store called H.E.B.  We had seen semi trucks all along I-10 and were eager to check out this store.  We loaded up on groceries for the week and made the very long drive to South Padre because…you guessed it…traffic!  OMG it took forever to make that last 23 mile stretch.

We were happy to be at a place for a few days were we didn’t have to drive.

I can’t say it enough.  If you can afford it, go for the condo on the beach.  Having six adults on this trip allowed us to have such lush accommodations.  We booked our condo through VRBO and it is connected to LaCoppa Inn Vacations, which meant we had included breakfast at their main hotel.  It was basic and so so delicious.  I loved the refried beans and the tacos.  After we drove the first day and had a tough time parking, we rode the bus the remainder of the days as it stopped right in front of our breakfast spot.  We continue to use the bus the remainder of our trip as it is free and easy to hop/hop off.  The bus also goes onto Port Isabel Island.

Our first night was dinner at Longboard Bar & Grill where we had the best view of the sun setting.  We also saw a beautiful boat come by.  

The adults wanted a night out afterwards so we met up with a friend of Stacey’s who was in town for the weekend.  We didn’t go anywhere real great but enjoyed the company.  We redeemed ourselves a few nights later when we went back down to the waterfront and hit up several bars/restaurants in a row.  I loved the mixed drink options and the live music atmosphere.

One day we took in the farmer’s market and Sea Turtle Inc., a conservation, rehabilitation, and education center, were we visited their “resident turtles” unable to be released back into the wild.  The had to build a prosthetic fin for Allison.  I am so glad we got to see her.

Phoenix signed her kids up for surf lessons, which they really enjoyed.  A few days later she rented two surf boards so they could play in the ocean in front of the condo.

We tried a lot of new restaurants and bars making sure we hit up happy hour for the best deals.  We also visited South Padre Island Brewing and shared a flight.

I’m telling you, the mixed drinks were amazing!

One after breakfast we boarded the bus and headed to Port Isabel Island to tour the light house and walk around their area decorated in a pirate theme.  Phoenix and I did a tasting at the distillery and the kids and I got some ice cream.

Phoenix had signed up for a morning boat fishing excursion that was canceled due to the weather.  Maybe next time!  We headed home a day earlier than they did so we missed seeing them go parasailing.  I plan to do that in January on our cruise.  

If we weren’t out doing stuff we were taking in the amazing vies on our patio where we enjoyed morning sunrises and people watching through out the day.  This was a really wonderful trip and I would love to visit the island again.