North to South- Padre Island Style!

Corpus Christi, our current location, is on the eastern border of Texas. And what those geography buffs already know, the eastern border of Texas lies on the Gulf of Mexico. We live on the most eastern part of the city, which is called Padre Island. North of us is Mustang Island, and south of us is the Padre Island National Seashore. Keep following the coast south and you will eventually hit that famous southern Texas vacation spot, South Padre Island. Here is a little map to give you a visual.  (our location is just 10 miles north of where it says "park headquarters")

The part of Padre Island we live on is very nice. Its mostly residential, with houses and condos. A few hotels are around as well, but they don't go past 4 or 5 stories tall, so you do not have that high-rise feel like some beach communities. The island is pretty spread out though, so you can't really walk easily from cafes to beach shops. Corpus Christi's Padre Island is still a big Texan vacation spot, but where most of the population flees for spring break, is South Padre Island. But before the migration of scantily clad college co-eds begins, a much different type of invasion occurs. The Snow Birds.

The family on my mother's side has been flocking to South Padre in the last few years. First came one of her brothers and his wife, renting a condo for the winters months after the holidays. Then after visiting a few years in a row, my mom's sister and brother-in-law got a condo of their own this year for the month of February. Taking advantage of our open schedule and the easy drive, we spontaneously decided to make our way south and take advantage of the invitation given by Auntie Barbara and Uncle Phil.

It was an easy 3 hour drive down and it went by quick. We could see the differences in the two locations right away. In Corpus, you drive through the city on a 6 lane hiway until finally you cross the causeway and enter some peaceful beach life. Here you get off the major hiway and go along a very empty landscape for 20 miles or so until finally you see a cute community and then the causeway to the island- which is filled with high rise condos and just screams "VACATION HERE!".

We found Barbara and Phil's place very easily and we got settled in right away. It was a fun few days filled with some GREAT food, both at some local establishments and cooked by Dereck and Phil, as well as some beach time and some Olympic viewing. Sadly we only had one nice day while we were down there, but we enjoyed walking on the beach that day and doing the "people watching" thing. It was fun to get to know my uncle Phil better, since he and Barbara were married just last summer and I haven't really spent much time with him yet. One night we even were able to have my Uncle Mitz (Barbara's older brother ) and his wife over for dinner. There was even a trumpet player that evening that went out on the balcony of one of the condos and played some patriotic and some alma mater tunes. It was so cold tho, about 49 degrees with humidity (which makes it feel even colder) so he didn't play long.  Here are some pictures of that:

If visiting two sets of aunts and uncles isn't enough family for one trip, I got to see my cousin Domenica and meet her boyfriend while we were on the beach (and happened to be visiting her parents that weekend!). Too bad they couldn't join us for that delicious family dinner!
The condo complex that Barbara and Phil are renting their unit from is huge. There are 4 or 5 buildings that all are surrounding  3 pools, 4 hot tubs, and some tennis courts. Every car in the parking lot has a different license plate and I think we are the only ones that had one from Texas. Minnesota, Michigan, and ones from Canada were almost the most common! It was also fun to see that my Aunt and Uncle, who are in the mid40s to 50, look like the young college co-eds compared to the people that were residing in this place. It was hilarious. Also, Phil would say how he never needed to watch the weather forecast, because by the time we was up at 8 or 9 am he could tell by how many towels were laid out to claim the pool loungers what type of day it was going to be. It was a strange community, but I can see why so many people love it. Here is a photo of the condo view!

We stayed a day longer than we were expecting too, but it was okay since we had nothing to get back to! Finally we ran out of dog food and clean clothes and had to head back up to Corpus Christi, just in time to have Barbara and Phil's next lineup of guests to arrive (the in-laws!).  The best part was that as we were leaving, we didn't have the pang of sadness most people do when they leave the beach after their vacation...since we knew in only 3 short hours we'd be back at it again :-) I think I'm spoiled.