Our first beach stop on our recent Texas road trip was in South Padre Island, Texas. We both loved this location with a quiet town (during non-peak tourist season), beautiful beaches, and several fun activities we enjoyed.
Our hotel was at the north end of the island with a beautiful view of the gulf. I can only imagine what this place would look like during the busy seasons. It was clearly set up to accommodate crowds of Spring Breakers and Summer Vacationers. But for us, it was peaceful and serene.
View from our balcony:
View further down our beach:
There were quite a few sandcastle art creations around the island. Several of them were on the beach in front of our hotel. Said to be semi-permanent, they were fun to look at, even if a bit wind-blown in parts. I thought this one especially cute 💗
It looked like people could pay to have their name or message created in the sandcastle.
The day we arrived on the island was drizzly and stormy. But we were blessed to have beautiful weather the remainder of our trip.
These huge chairs below were located at the convention center, right across the street from our hotel. They also had a short nature walk that led to the other side of the small island. We discovered it to be a beautiful location to watch the sunset.
When we arrived to watch the sunset, we realized there were two guys fishing way out in the water. Clearly the water was very shallow, even so far out.
We were fasinated to see the windmills in the distance, across the water on the mainland.
South Padre Island has a serious love for sea turtles. I read about the Sea Turtle Art Trail before I left. We started looking for the sea turtle sculptures on our second day on the island. I stopped and asked this nice lady if she had more information. She actually had a large map that she gave me (I had printed out a small one at home). The turtles below were receiving a fresh coat of paint but were not part of art trail. There was one nearby, however, that we easily located.
Below is a slide show of a few of the Sea Turtle Sculptures. We decided to try and find as many as we could. South Padre Island is not very large. When we had difficulty finding the one at Beach Park (currently closed for the season) we stopped in the Visitor’s Center nearby. They told us about the Sea Turtle Scavenger Hunt (I had read about it on one of the signs). If we found them all and posted at least on photo of us on social media, we got a gift if we returned. We also learned that we were free to wonder into Beach Park and find the sea turtle. They leave it open year around specifically for the scavenger hunters! Without too much difficulty we found each sea turtle, although two were removed and being refurbished. We posted our photos and went back to the Visitor’s Center to claim our prize, a “Sea Turtle Art Trail” t-shirt 😊
The first photo in the slide show may be my favorite. Featuring “Turtle Lady of South Padre Island” who founded Sea Turtle, Inc. The day before we had visited Sea Turtle, Inc. as well as South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. Both were absolutely worth experiencing. I will post more on these two locations at a later date.
Although there is no scavenger hunt, there is also a Sandcastle Art Walk. It was also listed on the map and showed the locations of the sandcastles and the sea turtles.
Our two days on SPI were beautiful, the people were friendly, and the beaches were amazing!
🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀
peace of life today 
I love all your pictures of your vacations! And the ones you take on your daily walks, as well. I like reading your commentaries, too, of your days.
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Awww, thank you! 🥰 This is one way to help me remember my trips!
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I’ve never been there, but South Padre looks like a great beach for walking! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.
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Thank you, Frank! …and yes, I did! 😊
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Beautiful photo of the S Padre Beach! Stunning sunset scene!
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Thank you Amy, it was SO beautiful there!!
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Thanks for your wonderful pics. They reminded me of why I enjoyed South Padre Island so many years ago. 😊
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Thank you, Pepper! We’ve been to several beaches in the Gulf now and have had wonderful experiences!
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You picked a beautiful time to visit South Padre Island. I’ve heard about how busy it can be during Spring Break, it’s been that way for as long as I can remember. I had friends in high school in the 80s visit there. It looks well kept though. Your photos are stunning as always, and I’m glad to read you even won a t-shirt to remember your time there!
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Thank you! Yes, it was funny. I guess we were both in the right spirits! It didn’t take us that long, and I stopped for an iced coffee nearby one of the sea turtles! It tased so good!!
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I love a beach resort off season, it’s by far the best time to visit! Those sea turtles are wonderful, I’m glad you found them all 🙂
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Thank you, Sarah! It was nice weather, and yes, so nice off season. That’s really all we do now. I’m too old to fight the crowds 😊
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I smiled as I looked at your photos because I have many that are almost identical. I know exactly which hotel you stayed at because we stayed there last year for our wedding anniversary. I’m thinking you were close to the exact room we were in. Our room had a hot tub in it. Did yours? We’ve been at our South TX winter home for almost six weeks now, but haven’t made it over to the Island yet this season. The Christmas Sand Castle display is wonderful every year and I was just saying to hubs yesterday that we should get over there to see it soon. I very much enjoyed your photos and your post about SPI.
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Thank you, Terry! That is so cool! I always like to read posts about places I’ve been. It’s fun to see other’s perspectives. So, our first room had a hot tub, but it was one floor down and looked into the AC unit of the restaurant below. I asked to move, and they kindly moved us up one floor, and over one room. I loved the view! I can’t even imagine having the places filled with people! Yikes!
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Such a great trip. And I have taken lots of notes…
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It is fun to learn from each other! And it’s fun to see someone else’s posts from places we’ve been!
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That is true. I love seeing where others go to prioritize our travel. We all have our agendas that suit us, and that includes me and my husband. We usually take turns by the day. Such great info you have shared.
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