‘Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience.’-Roy Bennett
For Thanksgiving, the ocean was calling. Since I now live in West Texas and not the Pacific Northwest, the Gulf Coast was my option. Texas is large and my only experiences on the Gulf Coast have been in Galveston, which is kind of brown, so I googled best beaches in Texas. The top options were Padre Island National Seashore, Mustang Island, and South Padre Island. The national seashore and Mustang Island are next to each other and about a 7 hour drive from Odessa. South Padre Island is directly south from me but about 9 hours…so Padre Island National Seashore was the winner. Plus, it is dog friendly although they need to be leashed.
The drive down there was easy but I did have a moment of panic. As you approach Corpus Christi, the air starts to smell and then you see miles of oil refineries. It was a true moment of trusting the process, I just kept reminding myself that I was headed to one of the best rated beaches on the entire gulf coast and overseen by the National Park Service. But is was hard, lol. You cross a bridge to get onto the barrier island and as I did, I saw a truly stunning sunset. Maybe the hot pink was an enrichment from the refineries but I did not question it!
Planning was much easier as it was November and not June. Padre Island National Seashore has a campground of 25 or so campsites. But they are all first come first serve. I really wanted to stay at this beach so I figured worst case, I could snag another campground if needed or ‘boondock’ on beaches where it is allowed. I arrived about 5:30, just after sunset and I truly lucked out. There were clearly vacant spots but there was one overlooking the beach. I went to the check in area and it already had a tag BUT I looked and the people who had the spot previously checked out that morning and the NPS just hadn’t updated it yet. So I snagged that spot! The cost for two nights was $24. For convenience, they have wood blocks that said ‘reserved,’ so if you leave for a bit and take all of your stuff with you, your spot can still be marked.
I got everything set up and then Gus and I hit the beach! He has been to a small river and a calm lake but not the ocean. He was at first very unsure of the sand and the water but he got used to it. The only thing Gus was not a fan of was the lapping sound of the waves on the sand. It kind of freaked him out when the water went back into the Gulf. Hopefully he’ll get over it!
The Gulf under the moon light sky was so calming and one of the reasons I love car camping. After our stroll, I fed Gus and I ate some dinner. Then I made a rookie mistake and learned a few things about the bird population on the Gulf. I had Gus’ food in an air tight, sealed container. I left it on the picnic table. When I got up the next morning, I couldn’t find his food and, then, I saw it about 15 feet from where I had last seen it, nearly empty (I should not that it was only a couple of cups of food). The birds had gotten to it! Fortunately it was Black Friday so I went into Corpus Christi and bought some more but ugh. I also had to do a Dick’s Sporting Goods pickup…turns out I thought I brought sandals to wear on the beach but brought a single shoe from two different pairs. I was already thinking of getting a new pair of Chaco’s so I did and then sold the others on Poshmark. It worked out in the end lol.
After our run into the city, Gus and I checked out Mustang Island State Park, which had free entry with my Texas State Parks Pass. You can camp there, although the dunes are higher and you’re a touch further from the beach. But they take reservations for campgrounds so much more planner friendly! The winds really picked up but the weather wasn’t too cold. Gus had a love hate relationship with the beach this go around but he started to warm up to the idea. There were lots of people fishing, so something to note. There were quite a lot of people there compared to Padre Island but I don’t know how it compares to peak season.
We’d had a long day, so Gus and I returned to our campsite and took a nap. We did check out sunset on the bay side of the island. Gus got to break out his new jacket and we watched some windsurfers. It is not much of a beach, so we headed back to our side of the island. Then it started to rain and be a little gloomy, so instead of my traditional cup of noodles, I went to Jersey Mike’s and Marble Slab Creamery in Corpus Christi to eat. It was amazing.
Overall, Gus and I had a great Thanksgiving weekend! On the way back, we stopped in San Antonio to hit up Trader Joe’s, Buccees, and In-n-Out, so what could be better!
