Every year we do 1-2 trips down to the coast since we only live about 2 hours away. This year, my friend and fellow blogger, invited us to her family vacay spot. We loved it!
THE HOTEL
We stayed at the Gulfstream Condominiums on North Padre Island in Corpus Christi, Texas. I really love the layout of this place. The front of the rooms look out onto the pool area and the balconies give views of the ocean.
The back wall of the room was actually all windows, so we had beautiful lighting and a beautiful view!
My kids enjoyed the pool, which went from 3ft to 7ft deep. There was a 1 foot kiddie area separated from the pool and an adults only hot tub!
Overall, I did enjoy the convenience of the hotel – the beach is literally in their backyard. You can spend a few hours on the beach, come back to your room to cook and eat and head out to the pool or go fishing.
THE BEACH
My favorite part of this vacation was not having to drive to the beach! We usually stay in Port Aransas and never in a beach front hotel, so this was a nice change. No more sandy van and sand everywhere! We walked down the beach for a few hours, played, fished and were able to walk back and use the showers by the pool to get the sand off of us.
Just look at her smile! She loved playing with new friends and being near the ocean. She’s a water baby for sure!
We spent a few hours fishing on Saturday morning and on Saturday evening. The morning was a bust – no luck! The evening was better for fishing, I caught 3 Catfish!
In the evening we decided to fish right off the beach. There wasn’t anyone near us in the water so we grabbed the gear and started out. There I am with my positive attitude telling my son I would catch 3 fish with the same bait! Earlier in the day the fish kept stealing my bait and I caught nothing!
I felt a tug on the line and I immediately pulled up. Full disclosure – I have no idea what I’m doing when I’m fishing – I just wing it, go with the flow….Anyway, yup – I caught a catfish but it was pretty small so we let it go. My son loaded up my line with new bait and off I went.
All of a sudden I feel another tug, I pull my line up and start reeling the fish in. This one feels heavier and fights more – seems like a big one. While I’m reeling the fish in my reel breaks, pops right off the fishing pole! By now I’m calling my husband over asking him to please figure out how to catch my fish!
He walks over hands me his pole and while he’s trying to pull my fish up just with the line – wait for it – I catch another fish ON HIS fishing pole! hahhahhahh…my poor husband he caught nothing and I caught three fish within minutes!
So my prediction came true…kinda. I did catch three fish – just not with the same bait. Those fish are quick to eat your bait!
North Padre Island Restaurants
We had dinner with our friends at Scuttlebutts. With happy hour specials every day – even on weekends and live music every night – this is definitely a place to go back to! 
On our way back home we stopped at JB’s German Bakery. OMG…I would totally drive back just to have a piece of the blueberry cheesecake right now! That’s how good it was! And now, I’m obsessed with German Cheesecake and searching the internet for a good copy-cat recipe. If you know of one, please send it my way! 
I found the place through TripAdvisor. Just a tip – when you are vacationing check out the things to do in the area through TripAdvisor.com, I always find good tips and tricks and places I probably wouldn’t have found on my own.
Our weekend on North Padre Island was so much fun. I even had a chance to read my book while my kids swam, that’s a win because I always travel with books and rarely get to read them!
What’s your favorite vacation spot? Tell me in the comments.
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How fun to visit and enjoy the beach. The hotel looks like it is first class. We would spend most of our time in the beach.
That place sure does have a lot of area for a good adventure with the family. Looks like you guys had tons of fun during your stay, maybe someday my family and I could travel there.
That looks like it was beautiful! We would love to check out that place! I am going to add this to our list of places to visit! Anything with a beach we LOVE!!
That sounds like a fun place for a weekend away. I have never heard of it before, but would love to go visit one of these days.
My favorite vacation spot is Turks & Caicos. I’m counting down the days until I’m back in my happy place for two weeks. I am such a beach lover and we love our local beach (2 hours away), North Myrtle Beach. That’s where we do our entire family vacation every year.
I have never been to North Padre Island but it looks like a great place to vacation. I love anywhere with a good beach!
So fun! We’ll be in this area in about 2 weeks. Or near it, at least. We love going to the beach.
North Padre Island looks so beautiful. The place you stayed at looked perfect as well.
One of our favorite vacation spots is Kittery Maine. This looks like a wonderful trip. The ocean views is stunning and the food looks delicious. Would love to visit North Padre Island with the family.
What fantastic accommodations! That room is absolutely stunning and looks so comfy and you got quite the view. Looks like a fantastic time was had with your family!
What a wonderful vacation spot for the whole family! I love that you can stay in a hotel that’s near the beach! You can simply walk there and not have to worry about parking or anything else. Glad you guys had a great time!
Looks like a really great time. I would love to visit there and stay in that motel.
Family trips are always so much fun. I’m glad you guys had a great time.
I love a good beach getaway. This place reminds me of our favorite beach spot.
I haven’t been to South Padre in forever! Now I want to plan a trip!!
Wow, what a fun and great vacation you guys had. That ocean view makes me want to go on vacation now.
Never had the chance to go to North Padre when I was in Texas. I have heard so much about it that I would love to go. It looks so fun.
The beach is always my number one getaway destination. It looks like you guys had so much fun!
Why I only knew about this. Such a great place to go on vacation. I love beach, ocean and any kinds of water such as lakes or even pool. This is a great place to go to. I guess, I have another one to add up on my must visit places. Indeed we have such a wonderful world!
Sounds like you guys had a great time!!
That place looks amazing!