Last Night in Texas

On our last evening in Texas Daniel and I headed to the beach for a pre-dinner swim in the Gulf. Initially I didn't plan on getting in the water, but on second thought I decided that I didn't want to be someone who never got in the water just because I am a "grown up."

The best part about the Gulf was watching the flying fish. They were about 12-inches long and they kept jumping out of the water, like they were trying to get over the waves. Too bad we didn't get a picture of them.

For dinner we went to Port A Pizzeria. It was buffet style {or a feeding trough as some of our friends say}. It was good, but it didn't really sit well with me, which is too bad because I really like pizza. Maybe if we had ordered a fresh pie it would have been better.

Port A had good reviews online, but I thought it was just okay. It kind of reminded us of a Mr. Gatty's or Mazzios.

 

We finished our evening by going out to the point to watch the sunset. It was a nice way to end our time in Texas.

Beach and Station Street Grill

After our dolphin tour, we went and picked Wesley up for lunch. We settled on the Beach and Station Street Grill {which had good reviews online}. I am SO GLAD we went there. It was a small restaurant but since we arrived around 1:30PM we had no problem getting a table.

The food. WOW. The food was excellent. Daniel's dad had a steak that came with grilled shrimp – which he shared with us since he doesn't like shrimp. It was to-die-for good. I don't think I have ever had shrimp that tasted so good. We had a bite of his steak as well and it was also fantastic.

Daniel tried the fried flounder and I had popcorn shrimp... all of which was amazing. I still can't get over that grilled shrimp. I am dreaming of grilling my own shrimp now {Daniel – you need to hurry up and buy us a grill already!!!}.

We were too stuffed for dessert, but I would have LOVED to try the Bourbon Pecan Pie {maybe when I am not pregnant???}. If you are in Port Aransas, you definitely need to plan on going to the Beach and Station Street Grill. In the evening they have a deck you can sit on {during the middle of the day it was way too hot, but it would be perfect once the sun went down}. 

 

*Note: They have excellent lunch prices, so if you are on a budget don't let the evening prices detour you, just stop by during the day!

Dolphin Tour

Daniel and I are not ones to go on vacation and lay around at the beach all day. For us, a trip to the beach generally means bike rides and walks on the beach and maybe a kayak rental. However when we vacation with other people we have learned that we have to take into account that not everyone wants to be active on vacation {some people like to lay on the beach or shop or stay inside and watch movies}.

Since we were spending the weekend with Daniel's dad, we came across an inexpensive dolphin tour that we thought we all would enjoy. Unfortunately Wesley was still recouping from his walking pneumonia so he told us to go by ourselves. I felt bad that he was still not feeling up to par all weekend, I think he would have really enjoyed the dolphins.

For $22 per person, we got to go out on a boat for about 2 hours with Kohootz Dolphin Encounters. Captains Gary & Susan led the tour. Captain Gary informed us that the dolphins like music, especially Jimmy Buffet... so we listened to Jimmy Buffet for the entire trip.

Daniel and I started out sitting on seats at the front of the boat before moving to the platform on top of the boat. The first little cove we came to, there were several schools of dolphins {presumably mothers and their little ones}. I haven't seen many dolphins {a few at Hilton Head}, so for me, it was a special experience. 

When the dolphins moved on, our captain turned the boat around and took us back towards the Lydia Ann Lighthouse – it is on an island that can only be reached by boat. Evidently during the civil war, when the Union soldiers took over Port Aransas, they had plans to use the light house to help guide their ships in. However they discovered that the Confederates had removed the lens from the light house and it was useless. The lighthouse has been restored and is "manned" year round by lighthouse keepers.

We saw dolphins a few more times, but nothing like the first encounter. It was an enjoyable morning on the water. It would have been nice to see more dolphins but we still had a good time.

Bundys

Saturday morning we woke up and decided to go out for breakfast. Our initial plan was to go to Frankie's Kitchen – which had mixed reviews. When we drove by, Daniel's dad was a bit put off by the exterior {it was a dive for sure}. So we went with Plan B and drove to Bundys which had a sign advertising "Flowers, Coffee and Breakfast."

We totally judged a book by its cover and picked a frou-frou place over the dive. I would have been happy eating pancakes at Frankies, but the coffee shop offered outdoor seating so I gave in.

Bundys was a bit on the expensive side for breakfast. The food was good, but not exactly what I was looking for. Daniel had biscuits and gravy while I had the Toasted Bacon and Egg and Cheese Croissant and a Mocha. Daniel's dad opted for the Eggs Bundy and a side of Bread Pudding to share. My favorite part was the outdoor dining and that people brought their dogs to breakfast. For a coffee shop, their coffee was just okay. I need to confess that I LOVE a good home-cooked, southern-style breakfast, so in the future I might push a little harder for the dive...

Sunset and The Parrot

We arrived at our house rental right before sunset. It was a couple of blocks from the beach and had a small view of the water from the deck. Once we unloaded the car, Daniel's dad decided to rest so Daniel and I went out to explore the little town of Port Aransas.

First up was the beach. Our house was only a couple of blocks the access road – really the beach itself where you can drive and park on the sand. Hope we don't get charged extra for driving our rental car on the sand!!! You can also camp on the actual beach... Daniel and I may have to come back {with Sophie in tow} to do some car camping.

We arrived right at sunset, so we enjoyed a short walk while the sun set.

After that we went in search of a place to eat. We settled on The Parrot, The Peg & The Patch where we shared a burger and fries and enjoyed sitting outside in the cool breeze. The food was good and the prices reflected what you would expect to pay at the beach...

The Salt Lick BBQ

On day #2 in Texas we left San Antonio for the beach. En route to the Gulf of Mexico, we made a quick detour up to Austin {not really on the way, but Daniel and his dad REALLY wanted to go to Cabela's – a very large hunting/camping/fishing store... think Bass Pro Shop on steroids}.

We were going to arrive at Cabela's right around lunch, so we consulted the internet and settled on The Salt Lick BBQ for lunch – the web site lists reviews by the likes of Sandra Bullock, David Letterman and Lance Armstrong.

When we arrived, we discovered that it was a favorite haunt for bikers. While walking through the parking lot, Daniel saw one bike that had antlers for handle bars and various other decorations that merited a picture.

The seating for Salt Lick was an enclosed patio area which was surprisingly not too hot. Daniel's dad tried a BBQ sandwich and Daniel and I split a BBQ plate that included ribs, sausage, turkey and brisket. It was ah-mazing! We finished the meal by splitting a blackberry and a peach cobbler with ice cream. So good. I would definitely recommend this place for the atmosphere as well as the great bar-b-cue. 

The food is all cooked on an open bar-b-cue pit. We took a moment to take a picture and it was REALLY HOT on my behind!

The Drury Plaza Hotel

The Drury Plaza is quite extravagant. The inside has maintained its original opulence while the rooms have all been updated to today standards. Overall we were very impressed with our experience here. The price was good, but then we ran into a situation where the ENTIRE hotel was out of hot water. When we mentioned this at check out, they knocked $50 off of our already low price!!! Not to mention we had a hot snack around dinner time and a hot breakfast in the morning.

Other than not being able to take a shower, my only complaint is that maid service knocked on our door at 8AM {and I am 95% sure we had a “do not disturb” sign on the doorknob}. For well under $100/night {thanks to the no-shower discount}, it was a great deal. Yay for TripAdvisor!

The San Antonio RiverWalk

After picking up Daniel’s dad, we decided to stay at the Drury Plaza Hotel in downtown San Antonio {TripAdvisor is a great resource for finding hotels and restaurants with good reviews and prices}. Once we checked in, Wesley decided to take a nap and Daniel and I took advantage of the Drury’s evening snack. We thought it would just be a small snack bar, but it was a full out buffet: hot dogs, nachos, chips, chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, etc.

We skipped on the adult beverages, but managed to eat more than enough. After eating, we wandered down to the RiverWalk. 

Since it was a Thursday there weren’t a ton of people, which was nice. We walked all the way down to the mall. 

We weren’t really hungry after our snack so we went to the food court where Daniel treated himself to a Blizzard and I got an Orange Julius. 

With ice cream in hand we went outside and sat and listened to a mariachi band play and heard bits of history as the tour guides on the RiverWalk boats floated by… Did you know that the Alamo was originally called Valero? 
 

After we finished our treats we went back to the hotel to the top floor {where the pool is located}...

 and were treated to magnificent views of the sun setting over the city. 

 

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

{via}

 

We finally made it to San Antonio after a pretty long delay in Nashville. When we arrived at the airport to check in, we learned that our plane was still on the ground in NYC, delayed due to bad weather in Chicago. Unfortunately this meant that instead of arriving in San Antonio before lunch, we didn't arrive until almost 4PM. Bummer.

The Nashville airport does not have free Wi-fi... what's up with that? Thank goodness for Red Box. We were able to burn 2 hours watching a movie and another hour eating lunch at O'Charleys.

Our flight was uneventful {other than the loud group of drunk 20-somethings sitting right behind us} and we arrived safely in Texas.

Daniel's dad has been in San Antonio all week for a conference. He had asked us to come down at the end of the week so that we could do a little vacationing with him. Unfortunately when we went to pick him up, we learned that early in the week he had come down with the flu and now appears to have walking pneumonia.

I feel so bad for him. We checked into our hotel and he just went to bed. I hope that he gets to feeling better soon.

This is our first trip to take WITHOUT Sophie. We left her in Nashville with Daniel's mom. I guess it is similar to leaving you kid for the first time. Daniel typed up two pages worth of instructions for Regina and we came down on Wednesday night so that Soph could adjust to her new surroundings. Since she knows Regina and has been to her house several times I think it will be smooth sailing. Daniel called his mom to check in last night and Sophie seems happy and well adjusted... maybe that has something to do with all the treats I am sure that she is getting! Soak it up Sophie while you can!!!