Surfside Beach, Texas
I hesitate slightly to write this...like I'm giving away a quietly held secret to the masses. When we first moved here last summer, I was ECSTATIC to be so close to the coast. (I am a beach girl. Beach living is my dream!) We knew Galveston wasn't "pretty", but we still checked it out over Labor Day. The water is just too muddy brown for me to take seriously. Conventional TX Gulf Coast wisdom says the further south you go, the clearer the water. I also, though, wasn't excited about 6 hours to South Padre Island or 3 to Corpus Christi - not that I don't want to visit those, b/c I definitely do; it just seemed crazy to be so close to the ocean as the crow flies and not have a closer decent alternative.
But now we do! Surfside Beach (TX, not SC ;-)) is a surprisingly little-known gem less than 1.5 hours away. When I asked local people born & raised here about it, the overwhelming majority had never been! Craziness. The water is still nowhere near Destin clear, but it's light years better than Galveston brown. I grew up on Atlantic beaches, so I don't mind if it's not Caribbean blue. ;-) The sand was so lovely - soft, easy to play in, very fine grain, not Galveston muddy. New to me: you drive out and park your car right on the beach! This was their 2nd most crowded weekend of the year (other: July 4th) so the traffic was CRAZY; but even as nuts as this one day was, you can see in the pics that we did still have room for ourselves w/o other cars on top of us.
We went down on Sunday the 26th w/ our football BFFs: JB's assistant coach & his fam. (They're the Redskins fans from Richmond, VA we shared Thanksgiving with. :-)) We had a pretty decent set up for having never been before - we had coolers of drinks, snacks, tons of towels, appropriate changes of clothes, chairs for all, a big umbrella, & we even brought the Block Rocker for a special beach playlist JB made. :-) The best part was driving in in the other fam's pickup truck = perfect to hang out in the back & set up the Block Rocker out of the sand up there. Next time, we'll also bring a portable grill for dinner & s'mores!
We ate at Pirates Alley Café - loved that it was casual oceanfront dining, (& loved their fries!) We spent almost 7 whole hours out there on the beach - from 11:45 AM to 6:30 PM! And get this: the water was warm enough for me to willingly swim! IN MAY!!! :-D (Everyone knows I won't put a toe in a pool less than 80°F - just looked it up & Surfside water temp reading Sunday was 82.8°F :-)) It's not a pristine beach (I'm sure the holiday didn't help ;-)) but I am excited to have found it and excited to go back as soon as we can! [Just don't tell anyone else, OK? ;-)]
But now we do! Surfside Beach (TX, not SC ;-)) is a surprisingly little-known gem less than 1.5 hours away. When I asked local people born & raised here about it, the overwhelming majority had never been! Craziness. The water is still nowhere near Destin clear, but it's light years better than Galveston brown. I grew up on Atlantic beaches, so I don't mind if it's not Caribbean blue. ;-) The sand was so lovely - soft, easy to play in, very fine grain, not Galveston muddy. New to me: you drive out and park your car right on the beach! This was their 2nd most crowded weekend of the year (other: July 4th) so the traffic was CRAZY; but even as nuts as this one day was, you can see in the pics that we did still have room for ourselves w/o other cars on top of us.
We went down on Sunday the 26th w/ our football BFFs: JB's assistant coach & his fam. (They're the Redskins fans from Richmond, VA we shared Thanksgiving with. :-)) We had a pretty decent set up for having never been before - we had coolers of drinks, snacks, tons of towels, appropriate changes of clothes, chairs for all, a big umbrella, & we even brought the Block Rocker for a special beach playlist JB made. :-) The best part was driving in in the other fam's pickup truck = perfect to hang out in the back & set up the Block Rocker out of the sand up there. Next time, we'll also bring a portable grill for dinner & s'mores!
[Laura & me]
[Kids play! Football throwing & sand digging]
[Packing up & heading out to dinner (I love this shot!)]
We ate at Pirates Alley Café - loved that it was casual oceanfront dining, (& loved their fries!) We spent almost 7 whole hours out there on the beach - from 11:45 AM to 6:30 PM! And get this: the water was warm enough for me to willingly swim! IN MAY!!! :-D (Everyone knows I won't put a toe in a pool less than 80°F - just looked it up & Surfside water temp reading Sunday was 82.8°F :-)) It's not a pristine beach (I'm sure the holiday didn't help ;-)) but I am excited to have found it and excited to go back as soon as we can! [Just don't tell anyone else, OK? ;-)]
You were in our neck of the woods this weekend! We live in the Lake Jackson area; I don't think I've told you that yet. And I was in yours today; Rachel had a doctor's appointment in Katy.
ReplyDeleteOh, nice!!! Some time when you need to come up to Katy (in 2 or 3 months, not June, right?! PRAISE!!!) let me know if you have time for lunch! :-)
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