South Padre Island Vaca!

We had such a great time on our first vacation in 3 years.  We stayed at The Pearl on South Padre Island...and it was amazing.  Mostly because we missed the summer rush and were able to enjoy the beach without too many distractions.  The weather was perfect, as long as you stayed on the beach, the breeze was amazing.  We played in the water every day and (much to Nick's pleasure) walked well over a mile each day on the beach.  My feet have never felt so exfoliated.

We had a lovely surprise waiting for us when we got there!

We had our first dinner at Louie's Backyard.  We missed the sunset (ended up being the theme to our vaca) but saw some amazing fire works that would rival most July 4th finales.  We also got to see the 'party boat' Murphy's Law pass by again and again.  Bass booming, lights flashing, DJ spinning and families sitting awkwardly, probably wondering why a party boat ever sounded like a good idea.  

The beach was really nice.  Very clean with soft, white sand.  There were some dunes between the hotels and the water, but they were pretty small.  The sand was so HOT that I actually burnt my feet one day just walking to the water.  Lesson learned.  The exfoliating walks were a little shorter after this.

Our cab driver the first night gave us an amazing list of restaurants that gave us with great dining options each night.  Nick was on a first name basis with  him by day 2.  We had some great sushi and lots and lots of shrimp!

Great sushi!

Nick trying desperately to open our champagne for our Mimosas

We managed to work out each day.  Kind of a stupid thing to start on vacation.  We were pretty sore for most of the week.  Although, recovering by the water was pretty awesome.

They were delicious!

Lamb fries. Look em up.

 We had a pretty nice view from our room, which had a partial view of the ocean and over looked the pools.  It was a great spot.

Probably the best thing we had...bacon wrapped, jalapeno stuffed shrimp

We were so burnt this day.  Even with 50 SPF!

Ok, I'm sure you can figure out why he got burnt....

The view of South Padre Island.  See that tall, light colored hotel?  Ours is the little square one next to it (can't see it).

We finally caught a sunset.

So there were actually a few more selfies and lots more pretty drink shots, but I think you get the idea.  Had a really nice, relaxing time.  I read a book that had nothing to do with healthcare.  

It's been a great (and very busy) 5 years.  Can't wait to see what we get to do in the next 5!