After we left the USS Lexington we went to the Texas State Aquarium and saw some sharks, dolphins, otters, sea turtles, hawks, eagles, and some other aquatic sea life...
(Me standing in front of the Texas State Aquarium! It had a cool waterfall that cascaded around the entrance)
(One of the sharks we saw)
(These were some of the jellyfish in the tanks though we did see them in the ocean as well)
(They had 3 bottle-nose dolphins and held a show every afternoon but we just missed it when we got there)
(One of the rescued sea turtles on display, it was recovering from an accident but could not be released back into the wild)
(This was one of the sting rays, they had some smaller ones in an open pond you could put your hand in and pet as they swam by)
This was pretty much everything from the aquarium. We saw a few other things but it was pretty small. I was expecting something on the same scale as the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago so I was slightly disappointed they didn't have more but what they did have was pretty cool and it wasn't very expensive.
After the aquarium we went back to the hotel to regroup and eat and then we were planning to go to a museum but found out once we got there it was closed. It actually worked out in our favor as we made para sailing appointments for 5pm. Only after we were out bumming around did we realize the place we made the appointments with was 45 minutes away because we had to go out to Padre Island and drive the the north coast, Port Aransas. So we took off for that right away. Along our drive to the island we drove up Oceanside Dr. To people in Milwaukee, it was a lot like Lake Shore Drive in that every residence was a mansion right on the coast! They were HUGE! Really cool to see them all, and lots of construction going on and additions to the already ginormous homes.
We arrive in Port Aransas and found the para sailing dock and waited for the boat to get back. The boat pulled in and we hopped on board and took off. We never actually went outside the break wall but there wasn't any need too, plenty of open space and beautiful to see from so high up!
(Me standing next to our para sailing boat!)
(This is how high up were were, pretty high!)
(The view of Port Aransas from up in the air)
(My roommate Kinsey and myself, we did a double ride so we got to go up together...it was also cheaper)
(We saw 3 dolphins in the harbor!! It was so cool! The boat driver dropped us down close to the water and was trying to get us right on top of them but they disappeared for a little while.)
After we came back into the boat, the dolphins surfaced about 5 feet away from us, it was awesome!! We couldn't move fast enough to get a picture of them at the point as Kinsey's camera had just died and then they disappeared for good. It was so cool to see them from so high up though and then up close and personal a few minutes later! We had just been talking before the ride about whether or not we might get to see some and then decided that we probably wouldn't since we weren't leaving the harbor. Guess we were wrong though!
After our Para sailing adventures we drove back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. We had gone to the commissary before we left and bought lots of food and packed a cooler so the entire time we were on vacation we actually only ate one meal out. It worked out well and saved us quite a bit of money. We decided our one meal out was going to be a good seafood dinner, after all, how can you go to the coast and not eat seafood?! The lady at the front desk of our hotel recommended a place called Landry's Seafood and it was an excellent choice! A bit pricey but amazing food! I got Tilapia with scallops and shrimp on risotto...AMAZING! We also got a crab cake appetizer that was incredible!
(This pic is a little dark but Kinsey and I were waiting for our table so we went out to watch the sun set on the city)
sun bathed for a while, Kinsey more than myself because the sun isn't my friend, I just burn.
(One of the pelicans that was eating breakfast right next to us)
(We didn't make it to the beach early enough to watch the sun rise but it was still pretty beautiful!)
(Just another beautiful picture of the beach)
(Me standing in the Gulf of Mexico!)
(It was so weird to drive on the beach, the sand was really hard but got softer closer to the dunes, we almost got stuck in some soft sand and had to rock the car to get backed up...got thing I have experience doing that, although usually it's because I'm stuck in ice, not sand...)
(Looking down the endless miles of beach, it went on forever in both directions!)
After a few hours at the beach we headed back to the hotel to shower, check out, and drive back to good ol' Fort Sam Houston. It was a great weekend and I'm so glad we went! Definitely a trip anyone should take if you find yourself this far south!
Tips: Make sure you get all your paperwork in on time if you're planning to take a vacation anywhere! If you don't have it in, or it's not correct, you might not get to go. Pay attention to everything the cadre tells you to turn in and get it done early so you don't have to worry about it. I wasn't planning on driving initially, someone else was so I didn't turn in a TRiPS form or POV inspection but then discovered Thursday before we left that I was going to drive so we were scrambling to get everything in. Fortunately, they were ok with us getting our stuff in right before we left, they very easily could have said no and put the kibosh on the whole weekend!
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