Family Matters

was two summers back just before I entered high school. My family and I traveled to South Padre Island, Texas; located in the Gulf of Mexico; connected to Texas by only a long narrow bridge. I had high hopes for the vacation, but they took a plummet during the course of my vacation. Although much of my vacation was an utter disaster, I learned that with family you can make the best out of anything.

My trip started out alright flying into the lush tropical island, seeing the shimmering waves winking at me during the airplanes descent. When we exited the airport my skin was greeted with a warm tropical breeze upon stepping outside. We then took a cab to our lavish hotel, The Magnolia. Upon entering the hotel lobby, I was greeted to the tantalizing smell of freshly caught Gulf shrimp, which got my stomach growling.

It seemed that after such an amazing day as this one that this vacation could only get better, but alas that was not in nature’s plans. The next morning, dark clouds loomed in the horizon, signaling a storm; little did I know that it would turn out to be the mother of all tropical storms; a hurricane! Most occupants of the island were in a hurry to leave, but the bridge was the only way out of the island, other than the airport which was closed in this emergency.

While ost of the city’s traffic was jammed trying to get onto the bridge, my family and I went to the penthouse of the hotel and locked ourselves in. To ease the tension, we played card games and told stories while the hurricane passed by and two days later the storm had finally gone by and the flooding had subsided so it was safe to go out. We then made good use of the near-empty beaches and enjoyed surfing and boogey-boarding on the gigantic waves enjoying our time together as a family.

After a fun day on the beach, we were slightly disappointed to be informed by the hotel manager that we could no longer stay in the penthouse so we had to return to our original room. The next day I was saddened that our trip had come to an end as I slowly packed my belongings. On the way to the airport I was deep in thought, I realized that for all the misfortunes that plagued us on our trip, it actually turned out to be a very enjoyable vacation and countless summers after it is still my favorite vacation to date.