Rain at the Beach

Looking at another cool, rainy day, we decided to drive to South Padre Island for a seafood lunch. Three other couples here in the RV Park joined us; one couple from Vermont, one from Missouri, one from Canada, and Carole & I from Kansas. As predicted by the weatherman, we drove through rain most of the way and, as we approached the Island, crossing the bridge/causeway to the island, we were in a lot of fog . . . and it was definitely raining at the beach!








But we came for lunch, not the beach, so we went directly to the best local seafood lunch place on the Island, Dirty Al's. Dirty Al has his own shrimp boat, which docks right at the restaurant. Much of the seafood served here is caught on Dirty Al's own boat, so presumably, it's very fresh. The restaurant is nothing fancy; bare wood floors, sparse walls, picnic tables, and a long plain bar . . . but the view out the windows is of the boat docks and the bay. The menu is somewhat limited, but it's all good and the beer is cold.






Carole had oysters on-the-half-shell, of course, then a shrimp and fish basket. I settled for deep-fried mushrooms followed by a blackened fish sandwich and cold beer. That's Dean on the left with Carole beside him. We all ate too much. We may have had "Rain at the Beach", but the weather inside Dirty Al's was just fine!









After lunch, going down to the beach was out of the question as the fog was so thick, we would not have been able to see much of the beach. So we decided to skip the beach and stop at the Shell Factory so the ladies could at least get their "shopping fix". By the time we got to the Shell Factory back on the mainland, the rain had stopped and the fog was clearing, but it was still overcast.

The Shell Factory had a dinosaur out front along with a large display of "underwater" statues.
















The store building is huge with monster size shells on each side of the entrance. It's very gaudy . . . and it grabs your attention as you drive by!












There was enough variety inside the Shell Factory for anyone to get their shopping fix. None of us bought much, but we all had a good time looking over everything on display.

We enjoyed our day on the island even if there was "Rain at the Beach". But the next time we go to South Padre Island, we'll do it on a bright sunny day so we can walk barefoot in the sand.