…And this is why we travel. It’s the places that we get to see, and the people that we get to meet along the way that makes this lifestyle so addictive. You just never know who/what you’re going to see/do next, and life is a new adventure every day! I love to travel and I honestly don’t think I could EVER go back to a 9-5 job and one one-week vacation every year.
Yesterday we woke up in the morning and decided we needed to go out and find more albums in antique stores. Jim bought me a turntable for Christmas, and while he did also buy me a couple of albums on Amazon at the time, finding the old ones in original covers, with original, worn jackets, and the original owners name or phone number written on them in the antique stores is way more fun! We love going into antique shops or “resale shops” (aka junk stores) and flipping through the crates of albums looking for treasures. It’s so great when you find an old album that was a favorite in your teenage years – the memories it conjures up are priceless (still looking for Neil Diamond’s greatest hits so I can sit and remember my Mom – Neil was her favorite!). Yesterday we found Peter, Paul & Mary and Seals & Crofts. Good stuff!
In order to get to Aransas Pass where the antique stores were, we had to ride the ferry across the Intracoastal Waterway that connects Port Aransas with Aransas Pass. We’ve wondered why they didn’t just build a bridge instead of running 6 FREE (yes, the ride is free) ferries across the waterway all day and night, but I think we’ve got it figured out. The waterway there is very skinny – it’s only about a 4 minute ferry ride to get from one side to the other, so we’re guessing there just wasn’t enough room to make a bridge that would be tall enough so that the ships could still pass through it to get into the shipping channel there. And because the ferry is more fun than a bridge would have been!
So we found our way to downtown Aransas Pass, which is a cute little downtown area with shops and restaurants, and decided we were a little hungry. We stopped in a little cafe downtown called Carmella’s Coffee and Teas. Not exactly Jim’s kind of place – it looked like they served girlie sandwiches and fancy coffees (he only likes his black and strong). But we went in anyways and had a great tuna sandwich (or salad in my case since I can’t eat bread), and met Violet, the highlight of our day. Violet is 4 years old and helps her Nana out in the cafe (Nana being Carmella I would guess?). She was quite the little hostess, bringing Jim a penny and drawing him a picture, and gifting me with an empty take-out box and a Sponge Bob Square Pants Valentine. Violet’s Nana then informed us that Violet had a heart transplant at 7 days old! Oh wow, another heart baby!! So we exchanged heart baby stories, promised to pray for one another and gave big hugs and went on our way. Such a special, loving family. I wish them nothing but the best!
As if our day wasn’t great enough already, on the way back on the ferry we got to watch a pod of dolphins playing in the water beside our ferry boat. Fun!! Then it was off to dinner with Kathy and Daryl – friends Jim had “met” online on the RV forum that he’s always on. Turns out they are camping here in the same RV resort as we are! It’s always fun to meet new people. We had some great food and great conversation (Kathy is 100% Dutch from the same area Jim’s family is from in Holland – for all we know they’re 3rd cousins 4 times removed or something!) Dinner and drinks were delicious!
All in all it was a great day!! Just another day in Paradise!!