This is our first night out - we watched the first of many sunsets over the Laguna Madre (aka the bay). This one was observed at Louie's Backyard. By the way - my father was right - don't have dinner downstairs at Louie's - Just enjoy the appetizers and cocktails on the upper deck. He likes the sports lounge too (second floor) but it was just too nice out to sit inside to see if we agree.
DO NOT under any circumstances order any cut of beef "Pittsburgh Style" which is described by the server as "kind of burned" on the outside and "pink" on the inside. The first try was barely warm and barely brown on the outside, and still refrigerated on the inside (moo!). The second try looked like it could be ok - a nice brown on the outside. But no, still refrigerated cold on the inside. And I thought Texas was the home of fabulous beef.... stick with fish - it's great! Or if not a fish fan (and you know this because you tried the fish here) stick with pasta, chicken or salad :)
My favorite place continues to be The Palm Street Pier - a literal shack on the bay where the breeze blows through and there is a roof to get a little shade if you've had too much sun. Also on Laguna Madre for marvelous sunset viewing. One of the fabulous things here are the grilled or blacked fish tacos - I will miss those a lot now that I'm back in the city. More on my favorite local later :)
My favorite place continues to be The Palm Street Pier - a literal shack on the bay where the breeze blows through and there is a roof to get a little shade if you've had too much sun. Also on Laguna Madre for marvelous sunset viewing. One of the fabulous things here are the grilled or blacked fish tacos - I will miss those a lot now that I'm back in the city. More on my favorite local later :)
Note the great blue heron waiting on the pilon - who knew they squawk?
We are at Amberjacks here - another locale on the Laguna Madre :) Once the sun goes down, on the second floor deck outdoors, they have sickly green neon lights where everyone looks like they are dressed for Halloween. The service however was impeccable - maybe over kill - we didn't have to wait long for anything.
The Palm Street Pier had Halloween celebrations, including a pumpkin carving contest. They handed me a pumpkin and I brought it back the next day. This picture is after it sat in the sun at the restaurant for a couple of days - it was supposed to be singing ghosts, but I wasn't able to add the mouth at the end - should have started with the details. So now they are dancing ghosts!! Gotta love those Wal-Mart pumpkin carving kits :) After all that I even won honorable mention :)
Rick and I stopped at the Palm's for lunch. My parents really wanted to buy a condo here (before they bought the one where we stayed) but unfortunately some big developer bought up all the units. I can appreciate why they wanted a spot here - it is lovely and oceanfront. I'll bet they had a lot of damage with the hurricane, though...
The last night in South Padre we wanted to enjoy the first night of the South Padre International Music Festival (see my blog list for more info). We parked our butts at (yes) the Palm Street Pier, and watch the preparation. A barge was brought in, sand was spread over the entire top of it, beach chairs were spread across it, lights added, an amazing sound system, and some original music. This was one of six stages. Nice. Loved it. Gonna have to stay for the whole thing next time :)
Here is the sunset over the barge for the music fest, and one of the performers :)
