After working several weekends, finally got this one off, so I headed to the gulf. Unfortunately Port Aransas is small and hotels were full, so I found one five miles away. Very odd place. I drove up to find separate cottages instead of a hotel, and the one cottage labeled 'office' locked up tight. I called the hotel number, and they instead gave me a lockbox combination to extract the keys to my room. (Okay....). Made it into the room, and it turned out to be more like a small apartment, all tile throughout, and a kitchen larger than mine! Sweet! (sorry, blurry pic)
Sweet until nightfall, when I turned on the lights, and the cockroaches scattered. Gross!
After leaving the hotel and being totally clueless about how this area "works," I started following my map to Port Aransas. Turns out the only way there is by ferry, which is paid for by the state, and runs 24/7. You just drive your car onto the boat. I swear, I felt like a five-year-old getting excited over this idea...I think this was my favorite part of the trip. "do it again! do it again!" I did.
I hit the beach early in the morning to beat the crowds. It worked!
That evening, I had a cocktail that had an "island" (aka cherry) in it...cute.
This was actually at the local brewery, I met the brewer and the owner, nice people. And yes, I sampled the beer. Turns out the island is considered Mayberry on the sea. Everyone knows everyone, and all major town decisions are made at the oldest bar...which by the way apparently had been on stilts, floated a bit in a hurricane, and plopped down on another part of the island sans stilts. They decided to just build a foundation under it and keep it there.
Learned much on this trip, like I really like anything with crab or yellowfin tuna in it, as long as it's fresh.
And if you don't rinse off often, you can get a staff infection from the sea water. I didn't get staph, but interesting tidbit for this midwesterner.
Hope everyone had a great Fourth!!
KR
