I’ll miss you, Port A.

I'm not good at skim boarding, but at least I didn't completely bust it at any point.

It’s a scary thought, thinking about summer ending. It’s kind of like that scene in Star Wars where Luke, Leia, and Han are trapped in that garbage collection room. The walls begin to close in, your claustrophobia starts to grab you, you see the inevitable end coming closer every second, and you know there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Or at least that’s how the end of summer makes me feel. But this past weekend helped me combat this anxiety, if only for a few days.

I spent the last four days in Port Aransas, and it was definitely one of the best ways I could think to say goodbye to summer, freedom, and having almost no responsibilities. I love Port Aransas, as I’ve gushed before, and once again, the cute little beach town did not disappoint.

The guys got tangled up with this man of war on our last day at the beach.

Everyday we spent there was full of non-stop carefree enjoyment/partying. Mornings consisted of early morning pong tournaments, refreshing mimosas, and yoga in the living room. Then when we could all get dressed and in the car, the rest of the day would be devoted to beaching it up. I spent so much time just chilling on the sand and in the waves, sipping on some Daily’s and just basking in the glory of pure freedom. I also skim boarded a lot (or at least tried to skim board – I’m not going to even try and lie about being good) and enjoyed splashing through the waves.

But I didn’t spend as much time in the ocean as I wish I could have. The first day we got to Port A, before we had even finished unpacking, we jumped in our swimsuits and went straight to the beach. Once we got there, all the girls swam out in the water and were just floating around, chit chatting, completely unaware of the danger lurking below the water. I don’t know who said it first but all of a sudden someone was screaming “Shark!” and I looked down in time to see a small, man-eating shark making a figure eight through all of us. It was the scariest moment of my life. For what felt like the longest period of time, I was glued to the sand and I couldn’t make a sound. Then I snapped out of it, screamed like a little girl, and ran for the shore. After that it was just a little bit hard to get too far out in the water.

I'm gonna miss that pretty little beach.

The only bad part of the whole trip was the terrible sunburned I acquired. After the first full day we spent on the beach, I went home, looked in the mirror, and saw a lobster standing in front of me. This is the worst sunburn I have ever had. For one, I look like a brunette Elmo wearing a little white bikini. But even worse, I have never experienced a sunburn so painful. Sleeping hurts. Lifting my arms up hurts. Sitting on the couch hurts. Wearing a seat belt hurts. Showering hurts. Even just wearing clothes hurts. But thanks to my European ancestors, my skin will be red for the next day, tan for two more days, and back to white before fall semester starts.

But besides that, it was an awesome trip, and a great way to start off my last week of summer.

I’m going to the beach.

This isn't Port Aransas. It's a picture of the beach in South Padre that I took last summer. But I needed a good photo of the beach, and it's all I got.

Someone once asked me, “Mountains or beach?” I of course answered beach. I love the beach, but until recently I thought I was going to have to go all summer without seeing sandy beaches and salty waves. But, fortunately, that’s not going to happen.

Tomorrow morning I’m hopping in a car at 8 a.m. and heading to Port Aransas with a few friends. We’ve got a total of 8 or 9 people going down to the coast, and we’re all staying in this cute little beach house that’s walking distance from the water.

Port Aransas is one of my favorite Texas beaches. It’s not the prettiest beach, but I love its cute tiny beach town vibe, and if you look hard enough, you can find some really beautiful beaches. I also haven’t been to Port A in five years, so I’m really excited to be going back.

This trip is going to be awesome. It’s pretty much my last blow out of the summer, so I am determined to have a really fun time. There’s going to surfing and skim boarding and early morning running down the beach and doing yoga on the beach. And of course there’s going to be late night partying. But that’s a given.

Hopefully I come back to Austin next Sunday tanned and ready to accept that I have one week left until the fall semester begins.