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South Padre Island looks so nice that we decided to take a "vacation" day here. We awoke to eighty-degree temperatures, sunshine, and low humidity. You would have spent the day here, too, wouldn't you?
Daylight revealed that our balcony looks out over both the Gulf of Mexico and the Sound. The Gulf waters were picture perfect. The hotel/resort lies about a quarter mile from the Gulf with condominiums and timeshares between the two. They even have a riverwalk from the hotel to the Gulf with pools and waterfalls cascading from the swimming pool at the hotel to the swimming pool close to the Gulf. Palm trees and tropical plants line both sides of the riverwalk.
We planned to go swimming in the Gulf and in the swimming pool, which the hotel management claimed was heated, but ended up doing neither. We bummed around the tiny island most of the day and then had dinner next to the Sound at sunset. Ann spent lots of time in the shops looking for tee shirts, postcards, and other ocean (or Gulf) memorabilia. South Padre was short on people - like Ocean City, Maryland in winter - but all the shops were open and the weather was spectacular. The shops were all offering great deals. We had to check them out.
We did a little bird watching but didn't see much. South Padre Island (and Padre Island to the north) is supposed to be a refuge for various migrating waterfowl. We tried to spot birds on a peer south of the causeway but were unsuccessful in our attempt to reach the pier. Some workmen had everything blocked. We did get a good view of an RV park. Ann has become fascinated with the huge motor homes. She noticed that many have additional living spaces that pop out the sides, making the RVs more livable. I noticed that some have satellite dishes on top making the RVs more livable. That's why Ann and I are so compatible. But you're not allowed to buy those things unless you're old so we don't qualify.
While we never made it into the Gulf for swimming, we did go down to the pool and spa late in the evening. The pool turned out to be heated only by the sun and it was cold. Brrrr. The spa was nice but the not spectacular. We had better at a simple Days Inn in Benson, Arizona. We decided that we would check out a better hotel tomorrow.
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