Boyeee! That’s right, we’re headed back to Port A for Thanksgiving, island style. Yes, we were just here in August but there’s always a new adventure waiting for us down in paradise. From some beachside fun to a family night on the town, we uncover some more of the countless treasures that this island community has to offer. So sit back and relax, we’re gonna take a page from the book of Ad Rock, MCA, and Michael Diamond, aka the mighty Beastie Boys and take it slow and low.

Let’s go.

Day One: Get me the hell out of here.

I assume that it’s no surprise that I like to travel. I mean, after all, I have a travel blog. The family and I typically set a goal to travel somewhere, whether near or far, at least once a month. That being said, we have a pretty cool life here in Central Texas. We live on a small farm just outside of town, we have most of our family nearby, and we enjoy being a part of this community. I say this only to point out that we’re never just chomping at the bit to get out of town, but this time, things were different. Life has crept up on us lately and our stress levels were teetering towards insanity so this trip came just in time. We left on a Sunday, and we awoke with intention that morning. We were all like robots that had been programmed to pack our things, throw them in the car, and get the hell out of dodge. We executed the program flawlessly and were on the road in no time.

From Austin, we headed south on I-35 towards San Antonio. Any of you who’ve read my previous posts already know of my love/hate relationship with this infamous and dreaded interstate, but I was so ready to get to the beach that I would have driven a horse and buggy through a blizzard to get there, all while donning the biggest smile.

As we make the trek to Port A a couple times each year, it’s tradition to stop in San Antonio to stretch our legs and grab some lunch. We make it a point to find a different place each time and this time we landed at Nicha’s Mexican Restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue. This one worked out well as it was just off of I-37, the highway that leads straight to Corpus Christi.

The place was vibrant and inviting. As you walk in, you’re greeted by the friendly staff, and we happened to luck out and get seated immediately. Some of the coolest artwork that I’ve seen in quite a while graced the colorful walls and the Saltillo tile floors and rustic wood millwork had me swept away to a sleepy old town in Mexico. We ordered our food and it was time to get down on some grub.

I had the combination plate, which was a cheese enchilada, a puffy taco, and some rice and beans. San Antonio is no stranger to yummy Tex-Mex cuisine, and Nicha’s has it down pat. The wife had the chicken enchiladas and baby girl had the cheese quesadilla. None of us were disappointed as it was the perfect meal to recharge our batteries. We ate all we could, grabbed a dozen tortillas to go (you’ll find out why soon enough), and hit the road. If you’re ever in San Antonio, you gotta try this place. They have multiple locations, so find the one nearest you and prepare to be amazed.

Another couple of hours on the road and we were in Corpus Christi grabbing some groceries for the condo. Every time we stop for groceries just before crossing the bridge onto the island, I feel like I’m a contestant on the old game show ‘Supermarket Sweep’. We’re damn near running down each isle, throwing items in the cart, and sprinting for the checkout line. I’m proud to report that we made record time as we then exchanged the hustle and bustle of the city for open beachfront highway and palm trees.

I swear that time slows down on Mustang Island. It’s almost as if the bridge is the portal to another dimension where clocks are foreign objects and your worries fly right out of the window. In an instant, the lines on our faces took new shape as our pensive and battle worn scowls turned into smiles of peace and content. A deep breath entered our lungs and it was time to engage wind-down mode.

We arrived to the Sea Gull condominiums in the late afternoon. In the nearly twenty years that we’ve been coming to Port Aransas, the Sea Gull has been our home on the island. It’s such a perfect spot as it’s right by the beach, there’s an amazing swimming pool and countless spots to relax and bbq, and we’ve yet to see a unit that wasn’t perfectly clean and inviting. We stayed in unit 507 for this trip and it was no different than the other spectacular units in the building.

The weather was perfect beyond words. We are accustomed to cloudy, dreary days during this time of year, which is peaceful and poetic in itself, but we arrived to temps in the high 70s and picture perfect skies. It was so inviting that we threw down our things, put away the groceries and headed straight to the boardwalk and onto the beach.

The beach was electric. Every step was a charge to the soul as we were engulfed in the most perfect sea breeze, our bodies kissed by the sun, and the water dancing at our feet, welcoming us back to our home away from home. I’ve always wondered if people that live on the beach ever start to take it for granted. To us, it is such an enchanted place, it’s hard for us to imagine someone growing tired of it. Who knows, maybe we’ll have the chance to find out for ourselves one day.

We walked the beach all the way until sunset, taking in all of its glory, and then it was back to the condo for pizza night via delivery from Port A Pizzeria! This is a longstanding tradition for us and their pizza never disappoints. My post from our trip here in August has a more detailed write up along with some tantalizing photos. Check it out here. I’ll say it again… this place is a must visit spot if you ever find yourself in the area.

With full bellies and relaxed bodies, we hit the sack and drifted off to dreamland.

Day Two: Who are all these people?

We awoke to our favorite thing about Port A… the sunrise. I don’t care where in the world I am; I’ll find beauty in every sunrise. That being said, If I could choose one place to ever be able to see a sunrise again, it would be right here in Port Aransas, overlooking the majestic Gulf of Mexico. I’ve amassed quite the collection of sunrise photos from this place over the years, and this trip offered some breathtaking new entries.

After a quick workout and meditation, it was time for that Vitamin D. The wife cooked up a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy, I enjoyed a strong cup of coffee on the balcony, and soon we were ready to hit the beach for our morning hunt for seashells and other gifts from the sea.

The morning beachside stroll was full of wonderful views, the smell of the sea air, and quite the haul of overnight treasures. An odd discovery for us was the countless jellyfish that had washed ashore overnight. I’m not sure what caused it or if it is a common occurrence to the locals, but I’d never seen anything quite like it.

Another thing that I wasn’t accustomed to seeing, at least during this time of year, were all of the people. We make this trip during this very week every single year and this was the first time we’d ever encountered more than the typical two or three families on the beach, if that. There have been many a year that we would walk the beach for miles and not encounter a single person. It had us double-checking our calendars there for a minute. Alas, it wasn’t completely packed with people, and I’ll take this beach any way she’ll have me, to be quite honest, so it wasn’t going to affect my time there in any way whatsoever. It’s also worth noting that Port Aransas is currently experiencing a massive growth boom. There are multiple opinions on this, and I’ll keep mine to myself. Regardless, the growth is here to stay for what looks to be a good while. The town may change, but this gorgeous beach will stand the test of time, unchanged.

We made several trips to the beach on day two as the weather was, again, beyond perfect. It’s the nicest we’ve ever experienced during this time of year so we soaked it all in. Just as it fit the description of the prior day, the beach was absolutely electric.

The afternoon brought on a bit of a lazy spell as we settled in the condo and decided to tackle one of the puzzles that the condo owners had on the bookshelf. I guess I had forgotten how much I enjoy a good puzzle but it had me in almost a meditative state so I welcomed the reminder. Plus, the wife and baby girl joined in so it ended up being a ton of fun and will long remain a wonderful memory.

As the evening approached and the sounds of the gulf wafted through the condo from the open glass door, it was time to start dinner and, boy oh boy, did my wife have a good one in mind. We always make it a point to partake in the ability to have the freshest seafood imaginable while we’re in this area. There’s no comparison between the taste of fresh seafood to that of what you’ll find at your local counter. For this dish, it was bay scallops and gulf shrimp, two of my favorites. I’d like to say I contributed to the meal, but unless you count stirring the Alfredo sauce with one hand while drinking beer with the other, than the credit goes to my wife. About an hour later, voila! Dinner was served and it was one of the best meals of recent memory.

With a really full belly and a happy soul, I settled in to watch my favorite NFL team, The Kansas City Chiefs, forget to show up against the Philadelphia Eagles. I hung on until the end, but I should have traded it for some additional hours of sleep. Oh well, off to bed I went.

Day Three: Out and about in Paradise.

Day three started like the movie Groundhog Day, but in the best way. A morning workout and meditation, a glorious sunrise, and a strong cup of coffee. After that, it was breakfast time and this is where that dozen of tasty tortillas from Nicha’s comes into play. A quick bacon fry followed by a batch of scrambled eggs, and we had some of the tastiest breakfast tacos ever. If you ever use this post as your travel guide to Port Aransas, don’t skip this part. Trust me, you’ll understand why at first bite. Disclaimer: This is where I typically post a picture of the goodness that I just described. However, as a fat kid at heart, I opted to devour these without even thinking about snapping a pic. I’ll just let your imaginations run wild. 😐

After inhaling my breakfast, it was time for a daddy-daughter trip into town for a stop at a new place that we were dying to try. Irie’s Island Bakery, formerly know as Irie’s Island Food, was open for business and their recent social media posts had our taste buds longing to try what looked to be some incredibly yummy baked goods. There was a line upon arrival, and I now understand why. It wasn’t the fastest moving line, but you have to keep in mind that time on the island moves at a much slower pace. If you’re looking to get in and out in a dash, you might want to stay in the big city. Once we made it to the counter, we were greeted by warm and friendly staff members that stood ready to serve. As everything looked so good, we wanted to buy one of everything, but we ended up settling on the cinnamon roll and the pumpkin pecan muffin. The cinnamon roll was so big that I thought they might need a forklift to grab it, but the nice lady was able to get it on her own, with both hands, mind you. We paid the cashier and it was back to the condo. We dug right in to the pastries and, I’m not sure what type of deal these people made with the devil, but it worked. I don’t know of a better cinnamon roll I’ve tasted in all of my 46 years. The pumpkin pecan muffin was even better. I still struggle with the right words to describe these treats, but I’ll just say that you’re doing yourself a great disservice if you skip this stop during your visit to the area. Go there and buy anything. I can guarantee you’ll love it.

After the sugar high faded, it was back to the beach for some fun in the… water? In November? Yep, we were just as surprised. The water was awfully inviting, so much so that baby girl decided to do some boogie boarding. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so hard as she made attempt after attempt at it, each time being pummeled by the gulf waves. But, being the trooper that she is, she finally got it! We had some more fun in the sun and headed back up to the unit for a special event as it was baby girl’s birthday! We showered her with love, presents, and candy, and took some time to relax, all while tackling yet another puzzle (Nerd family, table for three).

After some downtime, it was the birthday girl’s choice for dinner and she opted for a Port A favorite… Moby Dick’s. If there was ever a decor that screamed, “You’re on an Island!”, it would be that of this place. Even before walking in, you know you’re about to have some laid back fun while sipping on cocktails and feasting on Island fare. It’s a bit of sensory overload, but in such an inviting way. The staff is super friendly, and the food is just what you’d expect from a place like this. From the obvious seafood choices to the burger options, you’ll please any palate. I started of with a nice, subtle cocktail in the form of a Corona-Rita. I can now say that I am a big fan of this ridiculous concoction and I suggest you give one a shot next time you’re in town. I ordered the Seared Tuna Tacos and the wife had the shrimp Po’ boy. Both were delicious and of nice proportion. There’s a souvenir shop as you leave (yeah, they get ya coming and going) so we let the birthday girl pick out a trinket and off we went.

With the birthday girl still captain of the ship, she set us on a course for the nearest ice cream shop. We dropped anchor at Port A Creamery and I sure am glad we did. We’ve passed by this place countless times on other trips to the island, but many of those times we found it closed. Well, we were in luck this time as we strolled right through the door. They have a nice selection of Blue Bell Ice Creams, something you’d expect from an ice cream store, but what we weren’t expecting was the vast menu of sundaes and waffle cone concoctions. The list is too long to include here, but my mouth watered uncontrollably as I perused the menu. I ended up not getting anything for myself (take that, you sweet, sugary cravings!) but baby girl sure did. She chose the mint chocolate brownie sundae and she chose very well. I didn’t try it (win number two for the evening), but all I could hear was extremely audible ooh’s and ahh’s as the wife sat in the back seat and shared the treat on the way back to the condo. Next time, after a morning of about ten thousand push ups, I plan on stopping back in and indulging in one of these treats myself.

We ended the night back at the condo and, as is tradition, we hit the beach at night for our annual “selfie in the dark” series of surprise portraits in pitch black skies. A bittersweet note worth mentioning, is that our 17 year old son opted out of this trip in exchange for a chance to have the house to himself. This was definitely hard for me to accept, but I am proud beyond words of his growing independence as he becomes a young man. We missed him dearly, but he did a great job of holding down the fort. Anyway, I grabbed some cool shots of the buildings on our way in, and in we went. Once back inside for the evening, it was more maxin’ and relaxin’ as we soaked in all that we could of our last night in town.

Day Four: The pièce de résistance.

After yet another morning scene from Groundhog Day in Paradise, I opened the balcony door and saw this.

The most intoxicating sunrise greeted me at the door and welcomed me in. I was mesmerized and had to have more of it. I scrambled down to the beach and walked closer and closer to it, almost as if it were running away from me. I finally got to a point where it decided to take a moment for me to get a quick picture, just as a toddler does on picture day.

I wanted to wade out to sea, further and further, until I eventually became one with the most inviting sunrise I have ever been privileged enough to be a part of. But, it was cold. Really cold. So I headed back inside. Yeah, the night brought with it a cold front and alongside it was a brutal, piercing wind that cut right through you. That wasn’t going to stop us, however, as we still had one more beachside task to cross off the list. We took the leftover tortillas and fed the seagulls, only this time, we did it really, really quickly and ran back inside. We packed our things, cleaned the unit, and said “bye for now” to our cherished home away from home.

As we watched the palm trees fade from sight and our travels steered us back northbound, our minds still swimming with all things oceanside, we looked forward to a rather unique and fulfilling Thanksgiving Day on the most inviting and awe-inspiring ranch, just outside of Austin. You’ll have to stay tuned for that day trip as we check all the boxes of family, friends, good eats, and the beautiful Texas Hill Country.

Thanks again so much for strapping in and coming along for the ride. As always, I hope this serves as a reminder that adventure awaits around every corner, you just have to have the wherewithal to find it. Whether it’s in your backyard or on a Texas Gulf Beach, get up, go outside, and do something. Until next time!