Thursday, May 1, 2025

Sand Fest 2025

We invited our friends to the SandFest down in Port Aransas, Texas (roughly a 7 hour drive down to the gulf from Fort Worth.)

Slovacek's Gas Station

First stop: Breakfast at Slovacek's which is famous for their PLETHORA of kolache options.

Their store is PACKED with all kinds of nick-knacks too. Someday I would like to spend more time here just to look around. We all bought more kolaches than needed...but we hardly EVER get to stop here...and why not?

Burnt Bean Co.

Next up was a planned stop in Seguin at Burn Bean Co. for award winning Texas BBQ.

To our pleasure, we noticed they had become a Michelin restaurant since Adam and I were here last! It's roll-your-eyes-back good, so I'm not surprised. We arrived before opening to join the line that had already made its way to the end of the block. (I'm glad, because then it validated the hype we gave to the Mitchells. Lines make food taste better.)

The sides are good too. I hate a BBQ place that has wimpy sides.

The leftovers were delicious. Cold even.

Before leaving town, I saw a map on the side of a building with a "world's largest pecan" statue marked on it. So of course we had to do a drive by.

Cinnamon Shore South

We rented a house in Cinnamon Shore South—a planned beach community with on-site dining and activities, experiences, and beach buggies so you've got everything you need. (Honestly, the community design code and houses BLEW my mind. In so much that I NEEDED to know about its inception, its creators and its future. Here's what I found.)

The house was a perfect fit for us with two main bedrooms for the adults and a bunk room for the kids where they spent a lot of time (win!) There were three full bathrooms and a large enough kitchen, table, and living room for all of us to sit together. (So many rentals do not provide enough seating to match the amount of beds they provide and it peeves me.)

Anyhow, if this community were in a better location, I would seriously consider buying property here. Once we become millionaires.

We ended the long day at the beach which is just a stroll through the gorgeous neighborhood and out onto the beach access path.

Next Day: SandFest

Hear me clearly: DO NOT attend the SandFest. The tiny community of Port Aransas HAS NOT figured out how to handle the influx of people parking at their event. It was confusing, maddening, and ruined our goodwill toward the event and robbed us of precious vacation time. It took about 1.5 hours to park the cars and it was quite the hike to get to the entrance gates. It then took about 45 minutes to vacate when we were done. That's long enough to leave a bad impression and experiencing it once was all I'll every be willing to do.

The SandFest itself with competitors coming from all over the word, was enjoyable. Winners are usually posted on their website. Unfortunately, I cannot name the sculpture artists at the time of this post and the sculptures are not yet complete in the photos.

The event also has plenty of vendors selling goods and a lot of carnie food. Avery bugged Lee for a coconut drink—and hated it. (It was simply coconut water.) So they shared with us. I like a good coconut water and the straws were edible. Thanks guys!

(Had to look this up to be sure I wasn't' spreading rumors: Coconut water was temporarily used as an IV fluid during WWII when saline was in short supply.)

At the Pool

Originally we had wanted to spend the rest of our day at the beach. But after the experience at the SandFest event, NONE of the adults were in the mood to be on the beach anymore. Relaxing at one of the three Cinnamon Shore pools was the preferred option.

Pizza

The food scene at Port Aransas is non-existant. Finding somewhere good to eat (or anywhere to eat at all) has been a problem in the past. We were LUCKY to find a pizza place with just a 20 minute wait at Cinnamon Shore North. It was fine but as you can tell by Lee and Jamison's faces—nothing to write about. (The appetizer was better than the pizzas.)

Return Trip: Terry Black's

On our way home, we stopped in Lockhart to try Terry Black's Texas BBQ and were NOT disappointed. They're known for their beef ribs (not a common item) and they were good!