A Day on the Island

We woke before dawn, got dressed and walked to the beach in the dark. By the time we made it to the fishing pier, we were rewarded.

We finished the day with over seven miles of beach walking.  At the other end of the beach was Bob Hall Pier.  In 2019, we ate and drank at Mikel May's, a restaurant/bar located at the beginning of the pier.  The pier was severely damaged during the 2020 hurricane and then demolished. Only the closed restaurant structure remains.

Between walks, we grocery shopped at a HEB Plus for the week.  We also stopped at Paul's Seafood and bought some fresh fillets of black drum, a local fish.

I really missed the taste of fresh saltwater fish.  The fillets were delicious, lightly pan-fried with a little olive oil.  With fresh asparagus and fresh bread, our meal tonight was better than any restaurant meal in recent memory and at a fraction of the cost.

Family Reunion

After taking the Bolivar ferry across to Galveston, I drove north about twenty miles and checked into the Tropical Gardens rv park ($20/night with Passport America discount).  I needed a couple of days to do some Brew Hut repairs/maintenance/cleaning to prepare things for my wife Julia’s arrival. 

Tropical Gardens was a very basic park that featured mostly full-time residents in older trailers; however, it was equipped with a shower and laundry facilities, along with full hook-ups.  Then I headed to Houston’s Eastlake RV resort, which was conveniently located to the Houston airport.  I’m not a big city person anymore, and Houston is a huge, sprawling city with terrible traffic and tollways that do not take cash.

I picked up Julia without too many problems and drove back for a late dinner of shrimp, pasta, wine, and a late night hot tub soaking. 

On the next morning, we pulled out under cloudy/rainy skies and drove to Padre Island.   The weather was overcast, and severe storms were predicted for that night.  We considered free beach camping but ended up checking into Padre Balli County Park's Campground.  Next to the campground, there was a restaurant and bar on the Bob Hall Pier.  We decided the price and location were right ($25/night).  We took full advantage by getting in a long walk on the first day and a nice dinner of oyster po’ boy, shrimp tacos, and good drinks.

The photo of the restaurant above was taken the day after the storms, which did turn out to be severe and gave the Brew Hut quite a shaking.  Julia felt bad enough for Callie to let her crawl in with us for comfort.  But by 8 a.m. the front had moved through.  The forecast for the next few days is for lots of sun.