One late morning, I hopped in the car and drove over to the Port Aransas ferry. The ferry ride itself felt like a mini cruise — gulls swooping, salt spray in the air, a warm breeze on deck.
On the island, I strolled through shops and stopped at a beachfront café for blackened fish tacos with mango salsa. I wandered down the beach, digging toes in warm sand, watching pelicans dive for fish.
By afternoon, I returned to The Palms, where I cooled off in the solar heated pool, then grabbed a snack in the clubhouse. For dinner, I prepared a Gulf shrimp boil right at my outdoor picnic table: shrimp, new potatoes, corn on the cob, Andouille sausage, all boiled in spicy seasoned broth, then drained and tossed with butter and parsley — spilled out onto newspaper for communal feasting with new friends.
As evening closed, I watched the sky turn pink over the palm fronds — Port Aransas still humming in my memory.