Days at the Beach

I was lucky to have two days to spend at the beach, just a little over 2 hours from home. I didn't do any swimming, but spent my time walking along the beaches, visiting favorite shops, and sitting on the balcony of my hotel room looking out at the pool and the sea, and watching the gulls.

Although I had reserved a regular room with "no view", when I got to my hotel I found that they had upgraded my room (yay!), so I had a room on the second floor that overlooked the pool area and the beach. I had my breakfast out on the balcony early this morning, and loved the view and the light, cool breeze.

These pictures were taken from my room and balcony...



















This photo is looking at the hotel from the beach area. My room was one of the ones you can see to the left of the palm trees.



























This kite apparently escaped and was flying on its own amidst the palm trees in the courtyard. I took this photo as it floated past my hotel room window.











I'm not much of a "bird person" in general, but there's something about gulls and other sea birds that I love. I know many people just consider
them a nuisance, but I love watching their
graceful flights, and I've found that if I sit there
and talk to one (if its nearby), that they pay attention, tipping their little heads from one side to the other like they're trying to understand what I'm saying :) Consequently, I always have a lot of bird pictures when I make it down to the beach. This time I only had the chance to take pictures of gulls, but in the fall and winter I've loved watching and taking photos of all the birds that migrate to the area for the season... brown pelicans, white cranes, and numerous other birds (but unfortunately I don't know their names.

















I took a walk along the beach after breakfast today and found a pretty green piece of sea glass, which was washed perfectly smooth from the sea. I'm adding it to my collection of sea glass and shells. The Corpus Christi area has the old USS Lexington anchored by one end of the beach and it's set up as a museum. I took a few photos of the beach and the ship yesterday when there were actually some waves... I thought they were probably from Tropical Storm Edouard that was still out in the Gulf but heading towards the northern part of the Texas coast. I thought there might be even more waves this morning, but the storm hit land a couple of hundred miles north, and in my area the water was as calm as could be, with blue skies and just a light breeze.








Here's the "boardwalk" area that goes along the hotels and shops.













This is the USS Lexington.














And a few more beach photos. The one with the waves was taken yesterday, and the calm ones were taken today.





















After I checked out today I drove to a charming town about 20 minutes up the coast, called Rockport. While I was looking for their quilt shop, I spotted another building that was a stitchery shop with a "going out of business" sign, so naturally I had to stop :) I made just a few little purchases. I found the quilt shop about a block further up, and had fun looking in all their rooms. I made a few purchases there, too... four preprinted panels which I'll be making into lap quilts for the holidays, and two yards of pretty blue shades in nautical prints (tone on tone).


















After my shopping I was quite thirsty, so stopped here for an iced tea. Don't you just love the lighthouse design instead of the usual style of architecture?? I also love their outside patio with the view of the wildlife area of the bay. Naturally, I took a few more pictures of gulls. What a pleasant way to end my day before heading back home.
























That pink building in the background is the quilt shop :)