Travels with Amy and Dave: Texas' Trio

Monday, October 29, 2007

Texas' Trio

Dave has been a busy bee with business travels for H-E-B and I of course have traveled with him. Two of our last business trips with a third for pleasure thrown in have been a true Texas Trio! Back in September we traveled with our friends Molly & Doug and Noemi & Michael to Port Aransas, TX. "Port A" as it's affectionately referred to is the only established town on Mustang Island and inhabits 8 miles of the 18 mile long barrier island. Mustang Island is located north of Padre Island, the longest barrier island in the world. Running parallel to the mainland, barrier islands protect the coast from the full force of powerful storm waves. Surrounding waters include the Corpus Christi Bay, The Gulf of Mexico, the Lydia Ann Ship Channel and the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. You can read more about Port Aransas in a posting created earlier in the year. This time instead of spending the entire time on the beach; we took in some history of Rockport-Fulton; the Fulton Mansion, some nature of the Hummerbird Festival (yes; they call them hummerbirds) and museum time; the Texas Maritime Museum and Texas Surf Museum.

After Port A and Rockport our next Texas coastal town was South Padre Island; located on the tropical tip of Texas. The beach in South Padre was wonderful! The water was warm and the weather phenomenal for September. I had lunch with a friend I used to work with at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort & Spa. Les and I had lunch at a great tucked away cafe just steps from the beach; the Cafe on the Beach at the Palms Resort. http://www.palmsresortcafe.com He recently sold property on SPI and moved back to Brownsville. He's been down on the coast now for quite some time and it was good to catch up with him.

Lastly, the third of the trio was Galveston Island. Galveston is a small romantic island tucked deep within the heart of south Texas possessing all the charm of a small southern town and is just located 40 minutes south of the fourth largest city in the United States; Houston. Dave and I had a lovely dinner our last night at a locally owned restaurant; Salt Water Grill. The days were warm and evenings cool. Weather in Texas coastal towns in September are quite enjoyable.

The beach getaway to Port A was just that; a weekend getaway. When Dave and I are traveling with one another for his business trips often times folks ask me what I do. My current reply is: "Travel with Dave."

Thrown in with all these Texas trips was yet another trip to Las Vegas; again strictly business for Dave. This time we did something slightly different. We're now official property owners in the city. We figured as much as we travel there and we were married there; why not? Can you believe we'll be back again next month? In November we're attending the Air Force Thunderbirds Annual Reunion with our friends Charlie & Dian. We're staying very south of the strip this trip at the South Point Hotel & Casino; http://www.southpointcasino.com

Here are some of the photos from our recent trips!

Fulton Mansion State Historic Site. George & Harriett Fulton began construction of this home in 1874 and three years later it was completed; it overlooks the Aransas Bay. Uniquely this home has ornate trim work and furnishings as well as modern plumbing, central heat and a gas lighting system.

View more at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/parkguide

Texas Maritime Museum. Their tag line: "Come SEA Us!" Texas has a rich maritime history. The Texas coast was home to the Karankawa Indians. Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle attempted to establish a French presence at the Mississippi, but ended up in Matagorda Bay. His flagship, LaBelle was discovered in 1995 and would become the basis for the LaSalle Odyssey. All of this and more can be found at the museum.

View more at http://www.texasmaritimemuseum.org/

The Texas Surf Museum! Currently on display through October 31, 2007 is the Surfin 70's. Here is a photo of a board with Jimmi Hendrix; the detail was amazing!

View more at http://www.texassurfmuseum.com/ (Great tunes as well!)

I snapped this photo on Padre Blvd. It's for Uncle Buggies Beach Buggy Rentals. Buggie is the nickname of my grandnephew David and I thought it was cute. No webpage to visit but if you're ever on SPI and want to rent; you can call.

Phone: (956) 761-6162