Our Vacation on South Padre Island

Ok, I've lived in Texas my whole life, and I've never made it to South Padre Island until this week. What the hell was I thinking?! I love it!









Now, I understand I probably wouldn't love it quite as much in the Summer, during Spring Break, or high-season Winter, but in Nov. at the $38/night condo we found (Padre South Hotel) it was awesome!

The condo was right on the beach, which was beautiful. I can't believe we have that water and sand right here in Texas. It took us 7.5 hours each way to drive there, with the kids needing to make a few pit stops here and there, but it really wasn't a bad drive at all. I would totally do it again. The island was lovely and small enough so that you learn your way around easily, and everything is close by.



We got there Sat. afternoon, in time to check in and enjoy the beach a bit. Sunday we attended mass across the bridge in Port Isabel at Our Lady Star of the Sea, which was the cutest nautical themed church you'd ever want to see. Then we went to the shrimp festival in Port Isabel. Enjoyed the beach some more as well.

















Monday we took a road trip to Nuevo Progresso Mexico.

It took longer than I thought to get there, but the shopping made it worth it. It's so easy to park at the US side of the bridge and walk over, then the town itself is so small you can walk it in an afternoon. We went to a couple of the restaurants, Angel's for lunch (yummy food & yummier margaritas) and then Arizona restaurant on our way out for a couple more yummy margaritas. The Mexican margaritas are so different & so much better than what we get here. They're super smooth and not tangy at all. We visited the big shopping center called Canada, which has all the touristy stuff you could want, liquor and a pharmacy. I got a super great deal on the Mexican generic form of Nexium for my reflux. I normally pay $49/mo for Nexium with insurance. I got 200 of them for $60. I'm happy! Of course we had to buy some liters of booze while we were there. The prices in Progresso were much better than Matamoros, but we were shocked when we crossed back to the US and were charged taxes by Texas. Duty free only means free of federal tax. Texas still gets their share. Bummer!

We made a side-trip to San Juan, TX on our way back to see the basilica (gorgeous!) and the life-size stations of the cross they have outside along a walking path. That was amazing. I wish we had something like that around here. That would be a wonderful place to take your daily walk/jog.


















Tues. we spent all day at the beach veg'ing out.



















Wed. was a bit windy and cloudy, so we took the kids on the bay fishing trip, which was fun, but we didn't catch anything. We saw so many dolphins though, it was worth it. They came right up to the boat practically & were gorgeous! I couldn't stop giggling like a freak, I loved it so much. We could see dolphins daily from the beach too.




















Thursday I took a road trip with my parents to Matamoros Mexico, while Mike took the kiddos fishing at the pier. Matamoros was so much prettier than I anticipated. It was lovely. We took the $4 round-trip trolly from the bridge, and the 2 operators took such good care of us the whole time. They dropped us off at 1 town square so we could tour the church there, and then took us to the next one, and then dropped us off at the shopping market and picked us up. Then they dropped us off at Mi Pueblito restaurant, which was very nice and had great food (and margaritas!). My parents made fun of me as I became more giggly with each margarita. At least I'm a fun drunk and I wasn't driving! :-) The only things I bought in Matamoros were silver jewelry & a few boxes of fluid pills that were a good deal. Any time I'm near salt water I bloat big time.

Friday I spent at the beach and pool, while Mike took the boys fishing again. This time they caught a few but threw them back. Sat. morning we spent at the beach before we had to leave.

Three nights we had dinner at Dirty Al's, which has good prices and delicious fresh seafood. I've never seen shrimp that huge! And the blackened flounder was to die for. Our 1st night we had dinner at Amberjack's because it was on the bay, but the food was not good, only the location was.

I would go back to South Padre Island in a heart beat. It was so much fun and so relaxing. It's great to know we have a wonderful vacation spot with beautiful beaches within driving distance. No wonder so many Winter Texans love it too.

Adios!

WORKING IN NEW ORLEANS FOR TWO WEEKS

I just got back from working two weeks in New Orleans. I got a lot of work done, and I did a lot while I was there. Let me say how happy I am that the French Quarter is exactly the same as I remembered! It feels the same, and I still love it with all my heart!

There were 3 of us from my office doing safety and health inspections of all the construction going on in the surrounding areas. I went out several times with the safety compliance officer, and while he addressed fall hazards, I addressed chemical exposures and protective equipment. We were mostly in the Metairie area, and the last day we were in Lakeview.

We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel on Poydras, which is a very nice hotel. Pricey, but very nice. It was a great location, just 2 blocks one way to the office, and about 3 blocks the other way to the French Quarter. I could walk everywhere without a problem. Don't let anyone scare you about visiting the touristy areas of New Orleans. The downtown, business district, and French Quarter areas are very safe and back to normal. They are ready for business.

Cafe du Monde is there, still serving those world famous beignets and cafe au late. Yumm! I went to the famous Jackson Square location twice and introduced my co-worker to the one in Metairie. The only things I saw that were different in the Quarter were that La Madeleine is gone (from Jackson Square and the Garden District), and there are many more For Sale and For Rent signs than usual. Now, head into Lakeview, and you see some changes for the worse. I was shocked when I drove through there Saturday, looking for a Walgreens. Holy Cow! Those poor people were devastated. Still, almost two years later, about half the homes are gutted out & empty, and the other half are in various stages of repair, most with the owners still living in trailers in their front yards. I was in shock. The insurance companies are robbing the middle class blind. The mansions on the water are repaired and perfect. It's the middle class neighborhoods that are still suffering. We were told to not even bother going to the 9th ward area, because it's been bull-dozed, and there was no work going on there. I guess the state will purchase the land and make it a park or something.

After work during the week I was able to see a lot of the sites. One evening I took the Ghosts and Legends tour by Haunted History tours. It was very interesting to hear the stories of hauntings and strange happenings over the past 300 years. With the age of the buildings and New Orleans' history of pirates, thieves, murders, disease, etc. it's no surprise the place is haunted! I took so many photos. I can't wait to get them developed and see if anything spooky showed up in them! Another evening I took their Vampire tour, and it too was fun and informative. I saw some of the same buildings, but with different stories being focused on, and several different buildings. It was a good tour, in that it didn't focus so much on fictional vampires as it did on folklore and actual killers who've lived in New Orleans and were suspected of being vampires. That kind of thing.

Over the weekend, I drove down the Mississippi River to Hwy. 18 (River Rd.) and toured a couple of the plantations: Laura (a creole plantation) and Oak Alley (the classic antebellum plantation). Both were amazing, and I loved the tours. Laura intrigued me, because of the differences between the creole (French/Spanish) ways and the English/American ways of doing things. Laura was owned and operated by women 84 of the 95 years it was a working sugar plantation. Oak Alley is the one everyone has seen in photos, movies, and on TV. There are two rows of 300 year old oak trees that lead from the river road up to the plantation home. Gorgeous! Breathtaking! I had lunch at the restaurant there, and it was delicious.

Sunday I attended mass at St. Louis cathedral in Jackson Square. It is the oldest operating catholic cathedral in the U.S. They were celebrating bastille day, so mass was said in French, which is always beautiful. Then I did "a bit" of shopping in the French Quarter and took the mule drawn carriage tour of the French Quarter. I didn't know horses aren't allowed in the Quarter. Apparently they're not as calm and can't handle the heat as well as mules.

I never made it to a casino in New Orleans. Things were very crowded due to the Essence Festival, so I blew it off.

I was dreading the trip home, because unfortunately my a/c went out in the van while I was there. The drive home was absolute misery. I was soaked to the bone with sweat. It was horrible. I stopped in Lake Charles for a break, and almost couldn't make myself leave L'auberge du Lac hotel/casino. Not only because it's beautiful & I got to do some gambling, but because I didn't want to leave the a/c. I had to drive the rest of the way in the hottest part of the day and almost didn't make it. Before I could make it to Baytown, mom called and I was very upset and shaking and not feeling well. I was realizing how much farther I still had to go, and I was getting very emotional about it. Thank God she & Dad decided to jump in their car & meet me, so I could ride home in the a/c the last 30 minutes of the trip.

New Orleans has always been one of my "happy places". I love it and always will. I would gladly go back to work for a while, but I would much rather go as a tourist. I can't wait to return!

Mike's and My 15th Anniversary Cruise!

Ok, I don't know if I really believed this would ever happen, but Mommy and Daddy promised us a romantic cruise on our own (we pay - they keep the kids home) for our 15th anniversary if we got married in the Catholic church.

Well, that was all the incentive Mike needed. He basically said "Name the time, and I'll be there."

We had a lovely ceremony at our church 1/18/07, with the boys and my parents there. It was so romantic to look eachother in the eye & repeat those same vows after all this time. I mean really. How often do we look at eachother after 15 years & say anything remotely romantic to eachother? Next to never! So I loved it, and the boys were so thrilled to be at our wedding.

So, Mommy & Daddy kept the boys while Mike and I jetted off to Miami to board the NCL Jewel for 7 glorious nights of cruising to San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, and NCL's private island Great Stirrup Cay.

The cruise itself could not have been more amazing. We loved every port & met some great people. I got lots of sun, and we relaxed, and got reacqainted, and loved every minute of it! We spent our actual anniversary 1/22 eating lobster at two different restaurants that night.

The only bad things we experienced all had to do with Miami. The airport sucks, the employees there suck, the cabs suck, the hotel sucked, the transportation from the hotel to the port sucked, the traffic at the port sucked, the port sucked.........you get the picture.

But let's focus on the good. Let me dig out my photos..................

Mike at Senor Frogs

In San Juan we did a little window shopping in town, hung out at Senor Frogs, another little outdoor cafe, and walked up to Fort San Cristobal, which was beautiful. The view was amazing.

Fort San Cristobal

On the ship we met a very nice couple. In Antigua, we decided Mike and I would hang out at Jolly Beach with Deb, while Steve did the canopy zip line. We all had a blast. The locals did bug the living crap out of us on the beach, though, trying to sell us things left & right. I bought several delicious coconuts & some lovely jewelry. But we thought Mike was going to be hacked to pieces by a guy with a machete who very rudely interrupted our conversation and then got mad at Mike when he quickly said "Oh, no thank you." The guy said "I asked you HOW YOU DOIN' MAHN?!" He gave Mike such a look as he mumbled some curse words at him and walked away with the machete. Needless to say, I didn't buy my coconuts from him. The funny thing was, not 30 minutes later, he walked up to Mike & said "You want to buy some ganja, man?" and then later walked by all of us mumbling "Ganja, skunk weed...." Needless to say, we didn't take him up on that either. The beach was gorgeous though. We went into the little village at the port and did some window shopping. Deb ended up winning approx. $2500 worth of jewelry in a drawing, which was exciting.

In St. Thomas, the four of us met up at Magen's Bay, which was amazing. Mike & I got off the ship quickly, so we got to the bay while the locals were still having their morning walks, and we met some very nice people who own some amazing property/homes all around the bay, up the hillside. Can you imagine?! One of the guys owned the concession at the beach & must be really raking it in. Rough life. We watched the pelicans dive bombing fish all around us before the crowd showed up. That was fun. Mike cracked me up while we were swimming. We were standing in the water talking, and all of a sudden we see a tiny head poke up out of the water and swimming toward us. Mike asked "What the hell is that?" and kept asking that as it's getting closer and closer. I was steadily running backward yelling "I don't know, and I'm not sticking around the find out!" The security guard said it was probably a sea turtle, and that they're not very common around there anymore, because everyone eats them. We did a bit of shopping at the port, but didn't go crazy.

Oh, a cool thing happened as we were coming into port at sunrise in St. Thomas. I was on the balcony, trying to get some pictures of the fortresses on either side of the port, and the sun hadn't come over the hillside yet. When I looked at the digital pictures that were taken in the dark, there were approx. 15 to 20 orbs in each photo. Very interesting, and it makes sense with the old fortresses, pirate history, etc. The photos taken as the sun was coming up over the hill had none.

Our last stop was NCL's private island, Great Stirrup Cay. This was the only place we had to tender to shore, and it wasn't bad at all. The island was very pretty. We got there early enough to reserve chairs for all 4 of us at the small beach area. Mike & I hiked for about 2 hours to the other side of the island to see the lighthouse. They had an old helipad, which was jokingly named "Great Stirrup Cay International Airport". The island used to belong to an oil company before NCL bought it in the 70s, from what we heard.

Unfortunately, Mike got sick the last night of the cruise, and I got to be the 3rd wheel with Deb & Steve at dinner & the show. All the shows onboard were amazing, especially Cirque Bijou, which is their version of Cirque du Soleil. People were screaming, because we couldn't believe some of the things those gymnast/contortionists can do!

We had a great time celebrating our 15th anniversary & enjoyed our 1st romantic cruise together. Now, maybe Mommy & Daddy will agree to keep the boys for 2 weeks, so we can go on one of those incredible European river cruises we've been dreaming about!!!

Finally Made it to Disney World! What took us so Long???

Well, I've been chomping at the bit since the late 1970s (YIPES!) to go back to Disney World. The last time I was there with Mommy, Daddy, and Curt they had just opened Epcot. Mike's not a huge amusement park fan, and we were waiting for the boys to be old enough to really appreciate it. So, voila! We finally went mid-September 2006. It was me, Mike, Ryan, Shaun, Mommy and Daddy. We had a blast and, of course, can't wait to go back!

We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter, since we figured it'd be a while before we'd see the real French Quarter. Little did I know, I'm being sent to NOLA to work for 2 weeks this July. The hotel was amazing, as is everything Disney. We loved the Disney Express pick-up by bus at the airport. Didn't have to hassle with our luggage. They picked up our checked bags & delivered them to our rooms. How cool is that?! There was free transportation from the hotel to all the theme parks by bus and to Downtown Disney and the Port Orleans Riverside by boat.

The kids loved the water park style swimming pool at the hotel. And they loved being able to run to the restaurant for hot chocolate anytime they wanted. This hotel was the perfect size for families with small children.

We wore ourselves ragged for 4 days, visiting all the major parks: The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM, and Animal Kingdom. I was in awe of everything they've done. The rides were so much fun. I had just as much fun as the boys did.

Ryan in front of Cinderella's castle


With Nemo & Dory at Epcot


The Tree of Life-Animal Kingdom


Everest in Asia-Animal Kingdom

Mike & I loved Downtown Disney. We went there for dinner each night. We found an outdoor Irish pub for fish and chips and affordable ale. And the beautiful restaurant next door had 1/2 price night, so we all went for fish & chips and plenty o' ale. Each night they had a wonderful band playing celtic music, and a young woman would jump up on a table to Riverdance. (She was part of the act - not a drunk patron!)

I can't wait to go back. Disney really does give you memories for a lifetime. Unfortunately (yeah, boo hoo...) Mike and my Mom want to visit an all-inclusive in Mexico this year, so we may have to wait a couple of years to see Disney again. But we definitely will!

Shaun with Snow White - She told him he could give her some smiling lessons, because he had the cutest smile. He did! I think he was in love!
The boys with Goofy attitude


Me at Epcot
With Gapeto in Italy-Epcot
Ryan with the juggler in Italy


Shaun in Mexico
Canada
Canada

Germany
Me in Japan


Ryan at the Rock n Rollercoaster-MGM


With Sully at MGM
Mann's Chinese Theater-MGM


Ryan with Darth Vader-MGM
Animal Kingdom Safari
On Safari


Ryan & Shaun with Huey, Dewey and Louie-Animal Kingdom