Beach Person

I've been officially converted to a Beach Person.

Last weekend Bean and I were invited to Port Aransas to spend the weekend celebrating one of my favorite girls' birthday, along with her boyfriend and her parents. I didn't know what to expect, but I packed lots of outfits, bought two new bathing suits, and booked our flights.

First let me say that my previous experiences with the beach went something like this: pack everything up (don't forget anything!), drive for an hour, stay on the beach (aka mud and brown water and seaweed) all day, get sunburnt, get sand all in the car, and drive an hour home. Stressful and just not my favorite. I prefer the pool- no sand.

But the thought of going to this town I'd heard about since I was a kid and spending time with people I really like was a great reason to let all that go.

The flight down was an adventure. We were scheduled to be there at 7pm, just in time for steak and shrimp for dinner. We arrived at the airport around 3:30pm, an hour before the flight was supposed to leave. We found out on the way there that the flight was delayed until 5:30, so we had plenty of time to grab a snack and a glass of wine at Chili's. Then at 4:30, we both got a text message that our flight had been moved back and would be leaving at 4:45. We got so excited, we downed the last of our wine, closed out our tab and ran down to the gate.

It was wrong! So we stood there until we started boarding about 45 minutes later. We taxied out and were next in line but they put a stop on all flights coming into Houston, so we sat on the runway for an hour and a half. Then we went back to the gate, removed all luggage and got everyone off the plane. It's now 7pm and we are supposed to be there.

We were told to check back at 7:30 for an update, so we grabbed a glass of wine- most people in the airport were delayed and most everyone was walking around with a beverage- and charged our phones for a bit. At 7:30 they told us they would know something at 8pm. Then at 8pm we boarded the plane again! They checked each passenger off a list and got us all settled again.

I've never seen a plane go so fast on the takeoff. We had drink tickets we planned to use, but since we'd had such a hard time thus far, they didn't make us use them. Then in Houston we waited quite awhile for other passengers and their luggage to arrive, and had another free cup of wine on that leg of the journey. We finally arrived in Corpus Christi right at midnight, just 5 hours late!

We sang Happy Birthday on the 40-minute drive to Port A and had some spinach dip when we got there. The next morning, the relaxation started.

I read an entire book that weekend. I ate a lot of shrimp and laughed a lot. I saw the bar where my friends had their fateful meeting. I wore SPF 50-70 sunscreen and still got a little tan. I didn't worry about if I thought I looked fat in a bikini- I focused on having fun. We talked a lot and stood on the beach next to the truck bed with a cooler of beer and doritos. I ate sausage. Bean and I slept on a twin bed. We ate monkey brains for breakfast one day and breakfast tacos another day. I didn't wear makeup or worry about those outfits I packed. The best part was being in this place that makes those friends so happy and seeing it the way they do.

Bean and I can't wait to go back. We need more weekends with friends and without stress.