Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas 2018

Headed off to the Island, (South Padre Island) for a few days to relax, eat, drink, walk, bird and just enjoy our surroundings.  We first went to Boca Chica to find the Black Scoter

We found him!

Also found this Jelly Fish

On the way to Boca Chica they are building the new Space X site:

Then off to the island, we had OK (not great) grilled Oysters at Padre Rita's then went walking on the beach where we ran into Cindy and Clay, volunteers at our refuge!  After checking in we went across the street to the convention center to walk their boardwalk where we did not find the Black headed Grosbeak.  oh well...  Dinner at South Padre Brewing Co was a wonderful Gulf Ceviche with shrimp, tomatoes, onions and spices.

This is our 4th Christmas at this hotel.  We have stayed on different floors with different views each time.  Our room is on the ground floor with a balcony looking over the pool area.  Very comfortable and spacious.

Kites on the beach, small and large, we especially liked this one.

Christmas Eve we spent the morning at the Birding Center, lunch at Blackbeards then pool time.  The sun was out, very little breeze and in the low 70's.  perfect day to lounge around and relax.  Eric did go in the pool and the bay, I did not.

A perfect late afternoon for walking the beach and people watching.

Christmas day began sunny and warm.  By noon the clouds came in and so did the wind.  We were able to get a good walk in before the clouds showed up.

There are so many sand sculptures on the Island

We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the Gulf, pool and our room.  We decided not to drive for dinner so we had a great meal right in our hotel.  Meet some people from Mn and was happy to see that our entertainers (Mixed Bag, Jack and Carla) were still performing.

We lucked out this week with the weather and are thankful we were able to enjoy another Christmas on SPI.  Back to the refuge on Wednesday.  We are still in shutdown mode. We will have to find something to do this week... I have a few ideas if the weather holds.