Carl's Blog

This is the 2nd time I’ve run this race on South Padre Island. The first time it was windy, cold and rainy and today it was windy, rainy and chilly. Here is the video I posted to my YouTube from last year. It was too rainy this year for me to do any filming while I was running.

Just like last year, I stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort, the official hotel of the run. It is a beach hotel so I’m going to give it some latitude on room design. I’ve stayed in better Holiday Inns, but the room was clean and the beds are comfy. The computer desk/table I’m writing at sucks. It’s too high and was designed for dinning. So if my only complaint is a crappy table, it’s a decent spot to say, especially if you are here for the Water Park next door.

I’m going to try out the restaurant tonight and if I remember I update this post and let the readers know what the food is like.

Last night I had fish tacos at Bob’s on the Bay that were killer. They did something different with their blacken’ spicy and the chipotle tarter sauce was the icing on the tacos.

So, back to the race… I got dressed with the race T-Shirt and a windbreaker that I hoped would be waterproof, yeah it really wasn’t. I was soaking wet by the end of the race. Thank God is wasn’t cold, it was in the low 60s, unlike last year when it was in the 40s. I’m proud of my run, because I was able to run it from start to finish. This is only the 3rd 5K I can say I completed running. I’m thinking the rain and wind forced me to start slow, unlike most of my races which helped me maintain my stamina for the duration.

Along the route and near my hotel, someone the day before built a sand castle city. It was a nice feature to enjoy as I ran paced. I’m guess the “feature” is a volcano? Maybe?

After such and early run, start time was something like 7:08 AM, I was hungry. Last year I ate at a cafe called Josephine’s Kitchen and the cinnamon waffles were great. This year I went back to try the pecan pancakes and I wasn’t disappointed and I wasn’t able to finish them. Oh, they were so, so good. Also, I’m just going to have to skip lunch. I’m so full.

The rain just won’t let up. My plan of walking along the beach and store fronts went out the window. After my shower, I wasn’t in the mood to get wet and cold again, so I headed back to my hotel room and hoped the rain would eventually let up.

And it did. It hasn’t stopped raining, but when it switched to a lite drizzle I ventured out again to a kite store and then Sea Turtle Inc (a sea turtle rescue center). I bought a few none kite items at the store, the Santa on a bicycle you see in the video and a wind chime for my back patio.

I toured Sea Turtle Inc, last year and decide to do it again this year, to support their effort and get better pictures of the turtles. The ones in the big tanks can’t be released back into the wild because of injuries, deformities or human handling. The ones in the hospital are rehabilitated and then released. Back in 2021 when the extreme cold reached south Texas, Sea Turtle Inc and the locals that live on SPI rescued about 180 turtles and were able to save 150 of them, returning them to the Gulf of Mexico once the cold weather was over. I feel this is a worth cause and you should visit their website and consider supporting them. Here is the link again, Sea Turtle Inc. As I side note, I hope I got the names correct below. I was busy listening to the volunteer telling me the story of each turtle and didn’t take the picture of their name plates until later.

That concludes my adventure this Saturday, all but dinner tonight. Until the next adventure, which should be New Orleans the day after Christmas. Keep safe and well.