Life's a Beach... - elda eats

“Life’s a beach, so just enjoy it and get a little dirty.” ~eamII

No matter what is going on in the world, I won’t let that stop me from exploring, enjoying and eating all that life has to offer.

After all, life’s a beach. A wonderful and beautiful beach—sandy and dirty at times, and yet still worth living, and loving.

The beautiful view from Port Aransas Beach.

The Texas Gulf Coast

As a native Texan, I grew up going to the Texas coast to enjoy beach time with my family. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from days spent with my parents and siblings at the beach.

My dad loved the Texas Gulf especially, and because it was also close by and inexpensive, it usually was what defined vacation for us. We’d load up the car with a cooler full of Nehi sodas, baloney sandwiches and maybe some hard-boiled eggs and head to Corpus Christi or Galveston.

Sand in our hair, an occasional jellyfish sting on my brother’s leg (a long story, lol…) and a day spent in the hot Texas sun was all we needed to feel like we had a real vacation. Sometimes we’d stop at some small local place to get fried shrimp and well, that would really make it special. To this day, Gulf shrimp are my favorite seafood.

And the Texas Gulf Coast will always be a sentimental place for me.

Beach Day

Sentimental or not, the Texas Coast is also a close vacation destination for me, which makes it a perfect place to spend a weekend getaway.

2020 may have ruined most people’s vacation plans—mine included for at least a few flights I had already purchased—but it hasn’t stopped me from taking vacations and weekend road trips to nearby destinations. This month’s weekend trip just happened to be to the beach at Port Aransas, Texas.

Because everybody needs a beach day, right?

After a dip in the water, a good book and a cold beer is all I needed.

These girls were wet, full of sand and basically loving it. I was loving it, too.

Take Time to Smell the Gulf (and drink some beer…)

Port Aransas is near Corpus Christi, about two and a half hours from my home in San Antonio. While Corpus and some of the other popular coastal destinations in South Texas are great, Port Aransas is a city on Mustang Island whose beaches are right on the Gulf of Mexico, and not in an inlet or bay. Bay beaches are great, but there’s nothing like the waves and beach sand right off the Gulf. To me, anyway.

Mustang Island is one of the longest barrier islands on the Texas coast, and is worth a visit if you’ve never been.