Sunday began with us sleeping in til nearly 10am which was fabulous - and very apt since that's what Hubby and I like to do when we aren't working, sleep in. Mother-in-law awoke at 7am as usual and exited quietly to go over to her sister's condo and begin with the wedding preparations.
After we shook the sleepies off we headed over to the WORLD'S WORST McDONALDS! This was located right next to the condos we were staying in, and apparently everyone else on the island decided to go to this particular McDonalds right at the same moment that we did. We got in and placed our order .. while we were waiting for our beverages we noticed that the coffee pot was brewing away some nice fresh hot coffee. Into nothing. No pot, no cups, nothing. Just flowing all over the heated base of the coffee thingy and all over the floor. Several employees walked past it (since it was right next to the soda machine) and looked at it and did NOTHING. We finally pointed it out to our order taker and he laughed and then put a pot under the flowing liquid. Nice. I must also mention that people really do not take notice of how they are dressed while wandering around South Padre Island. They will go into any location half dressed and dripping wet with no shoes on, its kinda nasty. But I digress. Once we did get our food, it was very tasty - they are just slow and extremely disorganized.
After the McDonalds experience, we headed back to the room to get on our swimming gear and head down to the beach to meet up with the cousins. As we walked down the path to the beach, we had to pass one of the pools ... and lo and behold, there were the cousins in the pool! So, we stopped there and jumped in with them. It was awesome, the pool was not crowded and we were able to talk and laugh and have a great time visiting with them, all the while getting some rays and enjoying the beautiful day. It wasn't til about 45 minutes after we got there and were swimming that we realized we hadn't put any of the sunblock on .. the sunblock that I had to buy with my hard earned money from the worst store chain on the planet. Hubby jumped out and put some on himself since he will get a sunburn from watching Baywatch on TV. I didn't put any on that time, because I am less sensitive. But I did have a pink face later on and for the rest of the weekend. Its now a toasty brown :) After a while the cousins needed to get out .. one to go put her little one down for a nap and the bride to go help the mom's with setting up the deck for the reception. So, we all got out and dried off and went in.
After dressing and resting a little while, Hubby and I decided to go take a walk. We headed out from the condos down the main strip of the island. Not with anything really in mind, just exploring. We stopped in a couple of the shops along the side of the road ... you know, the ones that say things like "Everything $7.99 or Less!" or "Beach Towels $2.99!" and "Prada, Louis Vuitton and Gucci - Half Price!". I tried to get hubby to get his hair braided with beads to get into the beach spirit but he didn't go for it. We also contemplated getting either an airbrush or henna tattoo but the decision proved to be too difficult so we chose to forgo either option. After wandering for about 20 minutes we turned to head back to the condo (returning down the beach, which was much better to walk on than the road) to rest and get ready for the wedding.
We knew the wedding would be casual, so we put on our comfy clothes and flip flops and headed down to the beach. It was really beautiful, they'd set up an arch with greenery and flowers and chairs for people to sit in. Soon after, the groom and best man came down and took their positions. The preacher looked like a total hippy, it was awesome. The atmosphere was so relaxed, it was probably the best wedding I'd ever been to - save my own of course. A little bit later here came the bride and maid of honor. Everyone looked beautiful. The groom's sister was the photographer and videographer (she's just graduated from film school at USC), I can't wait to see all the official pictures! The ceremony took about 10 minutes, all in all we were on the beach for maybe 25 or 30 minutes. After some pictures, we all headed back up to the condo's for the reception.
The reception was held on the 7th floor outdoor deck of the condo building. We had a nice dinner catered in by a local place - chicken, beef or shrimp kabobs! They were really good. The cakes were yummy and everyone had a fun time dancing and visiting. There were bubbles and poppers for the kids to play with. Although at one point a security guard from the condos came up to let us know that one of the kids was throwing dinner rolls off the balcony down into the pool below! Ha :) After much dancing, drinking, eating and merriment we were beat and headed off back to our room to let the younger folks party the night away. And so they did, we heard that many of them were out partying til after 3am. There is no way I would have made that!
Another wonderful day in sunny South Padre, and a beautiful wedding to boot. We were so happy to have been there to help celebrate. And tomorrow was going to be even better!
Padre, Part 3: Surf, Sand and Sun .... coming soon!
Labels: family, vacation
