I'm gonna head down to the Coast...

"I'm gonna head down to the Coast"......lyrics to my fave new song The Coast, by The Courtyard Hounds. I wish it was on the Playlist already, so that I could share that song....it's so appropo for how I feel today! Emily Robison is from Texas and she wrote this song about heading down to the coast. Well, we just finished the 5th Grade Graduation Project I told you about & manana we're headed down to Port Aransas, Texas for a little R & R & celebrations! Luke graduated from 5th Grade, and Jackie , my daughter, graduated from Avenue Five Institute. Plus our wedding anniversary is on the 7th!
We've owned 2 different beach houses down in Port A, and hope to get another one soon one day. We just love it there and it's always been our 2nd home. Some of yall know that I used to write a beach blog called "jvw beach" . "jvw beach" started because of my love for the beach, but at the time I was also selling coastal type decor in a little beach town called Rockport, Texas. Rockport is about 30 minutes away from Port Aransas.
"Port A" is a fave destination for most people that live in the San Antonio/Austin corridor, but lately investors are coming from other states because it's some of the last affordable coastal properties. I grew up going down there every year because I was born and raised in San Antonio. My Dad was a huge deep sea fishing fanatic so we grew up sharing his hobby. As I've gotten older, I prefer the bay fishing route. I love to be in the shallow , more clear waters with land around! We'll do a little bay fishing down there this weekend and I'll hopefully share some "bounty" photos with you!

We're staying at a nice beach house, I've admired for awhile and looking forward to it. Complete with 3 stories, loads of 360 degree views of the coast and the harbor from the balcony rooftop, AND an elevator (SO nice for groceries!).
I LOVE a large table filled with family! Can't wait to have some "shrimp boils" and fresh seafood catch of the day......my favorite meal down there is to lay out newspaper on the long tables & make a "low country boil":When all is steamed, you lay out the food directly onto the newspaper as your colorful centerpiece! A roll of paper towels at each end is very appropo as well. Throw in a colorful green salad and it's an EZ, laid back southern style feast.
And bring out the cervezas y mojitos!


I'll share more of the beach house interiors with you after the trip as well.

The house is located in the neighborhood we'd love to buy in next, Village Walk.
If you're familiar with Seaside, Florida, then you'd love Village Walk. The houses are all pastel colored with quaint brick sidewalks and streets. Picket fences border the properties and lush tropical gardens embellish the pathways. Our favorite builder, Nick Lorrette has designed and built most of the homes in the Village Walk area.

We always take our cruiser bikes
and we love to just bicycle all around the island. You can also rent bikes, if you don't want to take your own. (that's Luke and I in front of our most recent rental we owned down there....just across the street from Village Walk, but also built by Nick Lorrette). Another fun mode of transportation is the golf cart, and rentals come in all sizes and shapes, complete with great wheels for riding on the beach. Port A is fun because you can ride your car, golf cart or bicycle right down to the beach.
We also love to walk out on the Jetty to watch the fisherman and also boats coming into the harbor, as well as the birds!

Port Aransas is known as Mustang Island and our favorite way to get there is on the ferry.
Once we get onto the Ferry, we either get out of the car or just roll the windows down to get that wonderful salty air smell. Usually at this point, I've gone into relaxation mode, cuz we've " arrived" !
You can also get to Port A from driving over from Corpus Christi. However, the Ferry route is much more nostalgic.
Last year , Port A was proud to host the Southern Living Texas Idea House 2009.

We loved this house so much and had to visit a few times. Here's the cute golf cart/kayak/ fishing storage garage with the guest house above:
And I loved the upstairs children's bunk room:
Check out Southern Living for more photos of this GREAT house. The house sold to some lucky family!
Ok, gotta pack up the gear and head to the coast manana! Have a great weekend & we'll chat next week!
All the best,
xoxo,



p.s. "home is where you hang your hat!":