Since our move to South Texas on August 1st, we have made the trek (55 minutes) to Corpus Christi every weekend, to check out the beaches. Rockport was suggested a couple of times, so we tried it first. The town was adorable shops, like the Funky Zebra, quaint restaurants, and a beach with almost zero waves ~ perfect for little kids. The water seems to be about knee deep for miles and was pretty clear, as far as Texas beaches go. I developed a small crush on a kite board and could not focus on anything my family said to me when this contraption was in the water. I fought the urge to ask the rider, "Can I try it really quick?" (Name that movie). Rockport, while precious, was not quite right. As Mollie says, "we need more undertow."
As we headed back towards Corpus, I conviced J-Train to let us take the ferry to Port Aransas. He was not down with the 45 minute wait, but cooperated. Once across and driving around the island, he turned and said something that I rarely get the chance to hear. He said, "You were right. It was worth the wait." Now that we are practically locals, we know the back way in and do not even have to ride the ferry over. Port A is more like college town meets beach, with cheap divey-like restaurants and decent waves. You see schools of mullet (the silver fish that jump straight up and out of the water as if they are trying to get away from something) following the crest of the waves and wonder how they do not run into people. It's going to happen, sooner or later - one of us is going to get a mullet across the face. Right before we left, J-Train got his crush. It was a yellow kayak. He could not take his eyes off of it, and has been fantasizing about how amazing it will be to throw it into the ocean, paddle out, cast his pole in, and fish for speckled trout and redfish.
The next weekend we met the cousins at Mustang Island, where the girls had big fun. They boarded, sand-castled, and mermaided their little hearts out. We ended the night at The Crab Shack, our new post beach tradition (now that we have done this twice). Saturday, Madi ordered the crab and Mollie shared with me. So, there we were, all three of us, bibs on, clackers clacking, and crab shell flying everywhere. I have converted the girls, but J-Train refuses to eat them, claiming that crab and lobster are the "cockroaches of the sea."
He watches way too much Discovery channel.
