For many people, the holidays are a time to stay home, be with family, and put their efforts towards making a celebration at home that will be enhanced by the memories of all the holidays that went before, and travel just isn’t in the cards. We get that, we love our own homes at the holidays as well, and have often found that when we have the itch to travel, the time BEFORE the actually holidays actually offers an incredible number of benefits. Today, we at La Mirage have prepared this guide to five ways to experience Port Aransas AHEAD of the holidays, giving you a peek into how you can accomplish the best of both worlds, travel and being home for the holidays!
1. Beach Time to Build Your Serenity Levels
Right now as you read this, you are on the cusp of the craziest season of all. Holiday season is a time for family, for traditions, and for cramming all the extra activities into the same amount of hours in a day, hours that are already crammed full of everyday life activities. So fly away to the beach and use this pre-holiday time as a way to build your levels of serenity, letting the sand, surf, and sunshine do its magic. Additionally, it is still swim season here in Port A, and lifeguards will be manning their towers until Halloween, ensuring that you can feel safe as you and your family take a wonderful dose of Vitamin Sea.
2. It Is Never Too Early to Do Your Holiday Shopping
Shopping and vacations go hand in hand, so you know that you already have that penned in (no erasing THIS activity!) to your vacation itinerary. Adding Christmas gifts to your purchases will actually help lessen the stress and improve your time management skills later in the season, and honestly, our favorite shops will make it surprisingly easy to find the right gifts for the ones you love most. Gratitude, located at 316 N Station Street, will make you feel grateful that you started there, offering gifts that cover the gamut from beach kitsch to holiday decorations. Their Gratitude Boxes, filled with positivity, love, and smiles, make amazing gifts for coworkers, schoolteachers, and family members who are notoriously difficult to shop for!
3. Savor Healthy Seafood in Preparation for Your Holiday Gluttony
With the start of Halloween, diet really does become a four letter word, and you know that in the upcoming months you will be sneaking candy from your kids’ Halloween haul, eating more stuffing, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and pie than healthy vegetables and low fat foods at Thanksgiving. Then there are all the cookies at Christmas, eggnog spiked with rum, and at New Year’s, the food served tends to be of the appetizer variety, but the champagne does add fluff to your figure!
The reality of the holidays is that to truly enjoy them you are going to find yourself gorging yourself on treats for many months, so spending time devouring seafood at restaurants such as Grumbles Seafood Co (850 Tarpon Street) and FINS Grill & Icehouse (420 W Cotter Avenue) will help get your figure in fighting shape. Also, the water views will add to your serenity stores!
4. Take Part in Beachtober
We love the month of October in Port Aransas, and we celebrate every day of the month with a variety of events and activities all lumped together under the title event of Beachtober. Offering a Taco & Tequila Trail and Sweet Traditions Trail, Beachtober Beats concert series at various locations, and a fun event we call Fall Kite Fly, the month is full of fun activities. We even feature two additional festivals during this most beautiful month of the year, the Port Aransas Wooden Boat Festival (October 24-October 26th) and the Port A Plein Air Paint Out (October 20-October 26.) Also offering a Beach Run (you really will be in fighting form when you start the glutton era!) a Sand Pumpkin Patch—which, if you have been here in April for our Sandfest, you will truly appreciate the fall version—and our once a year Port Aransas Farmers Market, it doesn’t matter when you vacation here, there will be something exciting and fun in which to participate.
5. Feeling Cozy at Home with La Mirage
We cannot stress enough how much the next couple of months are going to drain your energy levels and the moments you spend at home with La Mirage feeling cozy will help you mentally and physically prepare! Lounge by our community pool, lazily watch the sea and the sunset from balconies perched over the water, and sleep in late every morning, relishing soft linens and premium beds every day of your stay. Reserve your favorite pre-holiday haven of peace and relaxation today!
