When you grow up going to the beach in Alabama and Florida, the beaches in Texas take a little getting used to. I moved to Dallas when I was fifteen, and everybody talked about going to South Padre Island. I had been to Galveston and to Corpus Christi and was not impressed with the beaches, so I was not too interested in going to South Padre, even for Spring Break.
I went back to Louisiana for college and we would travel to Gulf Shores or Destin, the “Redneck Riviera” and the “Emerald Coast”. It wasn’t like I was turning up my nose at South Padre, but I never went.
When Mike was about nine I had a business conference on South Padre Island, so I took Peggy and Mike and made the trip. It really is a beautiful place — at least when Spring Break is not going on. The most memorable thing that happened was watching Peggy and Mike on the beach trying to get back to the hotel with his inflatable boat. I had just gotten to the room and was looking out of the window at the two of them coming back from the beach. A huge gust of wind came up and lifted both of them off the ground. Fortunately, neither of them was injured, and they didn’t lose the boat!
My company hosted a meeting on South Padre for one of our large customers this week, so Peggy and I returned to the island for the first time in several years. We came down a little early and spent a couple of nights so we could enjoy it without work encumbrances. We are staying right on the water. This is the same time of year that we were here with Mike, which means it is a wonderful view but it is still some kind of windy.
We had a great time the last couple of days exploring the area and seeing all of the things that have changed since our last visit. Two hurricanes hit the island in 2008 causing significant damage. This is our first trip back since the hurricanes, so there have been a lot of changes. A lot of the properties look brand new, some because they are new and others because they required significant repairs after the hurricanes. The builders and planners have done a wonderful job of making the island look great while retaining the original charm of South Padre.
I’ll be working the next two days while Peggy relaxes. She deserves all the relaxation she can get, and this is a beautiful place to do it. We have a dinner tomorrow night that is her only obligation, so she is free to do whatever she wants to do.
Life is always good at the beach.
