Saltwater Soul

Those who have visited the Tiki Hut for a while know how much I love all things coastal and beachy. You won't be surprised that with only one day off, that's where we headed.

If you follow me elsewhere, you may have seen one or two of these shots from our day trip to the coast. We went to Port Aransas, a tiny beach town on Mustang Island east of Corpus Christi that was devastated by Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017.

They're rebuilding. Still. It's been a year, but it's a slow process with a lot of red tape. I'm not sharing any photos of the devastation still in evidence, but for every missing or tarped-over roof, I saw many new ones. For every blown-out window, many houses and buildings sported new ones.

Several businesses had reopened, some only recently with NOW OPEN signs in the windows or on the sidewalks. Others were still under construction with OPENING SOON signs front and center. We also saw many bare patches of land where structures had previously stood.

Every place we went, the mood was upbeat. The bounce-back Texas spirit shined for all to see.

At the beach, I was too busy enjoying myself to take any photos. Lots of others were there having fun, too, even though it was mid-week and almost 100 degrees. After we left, I realized I hadn't even taken my phone out.

The restaurant, Virginia's on the Bay, is one of my favorites, and I was glad it was open. I included a shot of my lunch at the bar. It's a grilled shrimp salad, and it was delicious.

Sadly, none of the usual dolphins were playing in the channel when we crossed back to the mainland. Maybe it was too hot for them that day. But a long line of cars waited to get on the ferry.

I'm not the only one with a saltwater soul.

I'll be back here on Monday, October 1.