Greetings From Port Aransas

(This is a recovered post from my old website.)

In September of 2021 my family and I made our way down to the Texas Gulf-Coast for a much-needed vacation, and for an all-around escape from our normal routine. Our location of choice for this trip was Port Aransas, or “Port A” as it is affectionately known, which is situated on Mustang Island. The Texas Gulf Coast, on which Port A is obviously located, is, in my humble and not-so-important opinion, an extremely enjoyable place to visit. No, it is not Hawaii, but it certainly holds its own, and we are able to make the drive south to visit in just a couple of hours. So, I would personally call that a win in my book. One of the reasons I truly enjoy Port A and Mustang Island, and why we opted to stay there, is due to the fact that there are miles and miles of explorable coastline. It is also worth noting that the locals are super chill (as are most true Texans), and the overall atmosphere is just extremely comfortable and inviting in its own special way.

Port A and much of the Gulf Coast during the off-season is the ideal place to be, as the weather is a little on the cooler side, and the beaches and the accompanying municipalities are not swamped with partygoers and the often-associated riffraff. Yes, I understand that the prior sentence makes me sound super old, but hey, I am just being honest. While I am still in my thirties and certainly enjoy having a good time, the last thing that I want to witness, let alone introduce my children to, are a bunch of inebriated twenty-somethings acting like a bunch of unhinged clowns that are most likely throwing up all over the place. To quote the ever-wise Kim Kardashian, “It’s just never been my thing, not into it — so, not approved by me.” I am, and this may come as a shock, somewhat of a reserved individual. So, when I travel, I really like to avoid chaos, and just enjoy what is in front of me. This means trying to blend in like a local and do my best to distance myself from anything that would look bad during the discovery phase of an investigation.

I can honestly say that we really did not even have to make a convincing effort to blend in with the locals, as we stayed a few miles outside of Port A proper, and the area was surprisingly devoid of people. Again, kudos to visiting during the off-season. I believe that it also helped that we opted against staying in a hotel for this outing, and instead went for a listing on Airbnb. Prior to this trip, we had surprisingly never used Airbnb, though decided to give it a go, and it definitely paid off. We happened upon an awesome place located between beach markers 42 and 45. The condo was extremely inviting, cozy, and most importantly, it was kid/hellion friendly. It was just a quick walk down to the pier from where we stayed, and maybe a few minutes further of a walk to get to the beach, of which we wound up making countless trips to over the course of our 5 days stay. It is safe to say that we spent so much time outside and at the beach that my Apple Watch almost gave up on a few occasions. Obviously, I am speaking figuratively and not literally, though I truly did manage to get in roughly triple the number of steps during our visit than I typically would manage through a normal week. It is amazing what happens when you are in a great environment, surrounded by loved ones, and can escape the confines of an office setting. I may or may not have also turned my cellphone off, rather than just switch it to silent mode, in a concerted effort to not partake in any work-related activities.

Anyway, we did not really do a whole lot during our stay, other than relax and play around in the sand and water. By no means was that a bad thing, and I am certainly not complaining. The entire premise of our trip was to just take it easy. Well, at least for the most part. While not crazy by any stretch, we did venture out of the condo a few times to try some of the local eateries, and even stopped by a local ice cream parlor. I believe the kiddos enjoyed that the most, as they ate the majority of the ice cream that Sarah and I had picked out for ourselves, and thus we were left with eating whatever scraps they decided to grace us with. All in all, we took it extremely easy, and very much subscribed to the notion of living life on “island time.”

On a more personal note, I managed to get my photographic creative juices flowing again. Rather than find some type of excuse to not go out and shoot with my camera, I was actively developing reasons to shoot. (Film pun…) It really helped that my oldest kiddo was super eager to accompany me on random walks along the pier, and to the beach, no matter the time of day. My youngest, who still very much has an interest in photography, was more interested in eating or watching something on Disney+. After the amount of time we spent at the beach, I cannot blame him for wanting to sit in the air conditioning, veg out, and cozy up on the couch. This trip was a truly great experience for me not only on the creative front, but just one hell of a great experience in general. I believe that my wife and two kiddos felt the same. The trip was much needed, and although we anticipated having a good time, I do not think any of us realized just how truly amazing the trip would be. (Both kids still talk actively talk about it, which is impressive given the fact that they are both still super young.) Hopefully the stars will align, my PTO will runneth over, and we will be able to make another trip within the next year or two. Until our next trip happens, I will at least have a lot of photos and memories to reflect upon, some of which are shared within this post.

In closing, I want to thank those that visited this post for taking the time to read through it. I know that it is rather long, but I am trying to get back into the habit of writing. I took an extended break from writing, which was arguably one of the worst things that an individual can do. Obviously, that is a subjective statement, but damn-it, during the creation of this post I was certainly feeling the pain of writers’ block and brain-farts. The last time I wrote anything of substance, of true meaning and purpose, was years ago while I was still pursuing a Masters. Now-a-days, when I do have the opportunity to write, it is in the form of an at most two-paragraph email. While said email messages are always professional in nature, they must still be digestible to the lowest common denominator and are often devoid of any creativity or passion. I do not mean to sound big-headed, as by no means am I pretending nor claiming to be some sort of top-tier writer. Heck, I am positive that this post, as well as those to come, will be peppered with grammatical errors and incoherent ramblings. (I am, by and large, a functioning idiot.) The point I am attempting to make, is that by having stifled my creative writing streak, due to personal choice/neglect, I have managed to wreak absolute havoc on my ability to put pen-to-paper and jot down something that is not in need of almost immediate revision. It is a position that I absolutely hate being in. I recognize that this mess is a product of my own doing, of which I take full ownership of, and is something that I am damn-sure going to work on to correct. Now, moving on from that bout of extreme self-loathing, I hope that you enjoyed the post about my semi-recent, but not-so-recent trip to Port Aransas, TX.

-Tyler