Tuesday, 28 Feb 2012 - SPI

Gail and Graham at Pier 19

Lynne and Wayne at Pier 19

Admiring our kites at the beach

Gail and Graham arrived on Saturday...to rain, fog, and freezing weather (happily that has changed) and after a long day they were more than happy to have dinner at home and an early night to bed. Regardless of how good the flight seems to be, the schedule of early mornings and all the preparation to fly takes it toll and it's exhausting.

We headed off to Pier 19 for a fabulous breakfast the next morning. It's on the same property at the KOA campsite we used to stay at with the LoveMachine (sob) and most days you can sit and eat and watch the dolphins...but no dolphins that day. There is a resident pod that live in the bay and from the size of the fish I've seen around the boardwalk, they are well fed. The restaurant serves a cinnimon 'roll' the size of a dinner plate and we passed on that in favour of a regular breakfast and then a stroll on the pier. The sun had come out so we enjoyed a few glasses of wine on the front porch and then barbequed some nice steak for supper.

There had been a real wind storm the previous night and when we walked down to the beach for a look, it was covered, and I mean covered, with a blanket of Portugese Man-o-War jelly fish...what a mess and far too dangerous to even attempt walking to the water. We decided that it was a good day to do some shopping and Gail and I went through a few boutiques on the island before we all headed to Yummies for lunch. It's only opened for breakfast and lunch and serves the best meals in town. I often go there after the boardwalk and I've gotten to know one of the waiters (a young, gorgeous, very friendly fellow) and it's fun to go there as well as get a great lunch. After having watched the Academy Awards, we decided we'd hit the theatre.

If you haven't seen The Artist yet (the silent movie-movie), I'll be interest in your reaction when, and if, you do. I can't say I didn't like it....but I'm still working on deciding that...I know Wayne nearly disconnected his head from his shoulders falling asleep and then waking up when the music re-started, but it's different for sure. Anyway, I doubt I'll be buying the DVD and after I see George Clooney and Brad Pitt's movies, will have a stronger opinion on whether or not The Artist was deserving of Best Movie.

Today was the kind of day that always makes me fall in love with South Padre Island all over again. Hot..but not too hot. Windy..but not too windy. I'd bought 4 kites for a day just like this one so we packed the van and headed for the beach. Gail got the Fairy Princess kite, I had a Mermaid, Wayne had a Sting Ray and Graham got the Eagle. They were so colourful and really beautiful and flew amazingly well. I have to admit I got a bit of a lump in my throat when Graham let his kite out the full length of provided string and said, "You know, I haven't flown a kite since I was a little boy". I also figured that anyone driving by and watching us would have said, "Oh, look at those old people, aren't they cute". We had a ball and thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. Gail collected some shells and we decided we had to do this again...but with a cooler filled with snacks, sandwiches, and of course some wine. Dinner was 'out' tonight and we went to Louie's Backyard for the seafood (et al) buffet. It was delicious and we feasted on Prime Rib, scallops, ribs, King Crab legs and a whole lot more. We even got there for happy hour which meant Gail and I could have a couple of delicious Strawberry Daqueries. All of the above may have some bearing on the fact that my pants from last year are very difficult to button and are just as uncomfortable.

That was our week so far. The weather is supposed to be getting better and better so our plan for tomorrow is to get some groceries and then sit on the beach (which has been raked and cleaned) and read all day. Not too hard to take, I'd say. Hope everyone at home is well and the cold/flu has done it's thing and moved on. Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx