When Bloggers Meet, Walk, Talk, Eat - Sun., Jan. 12

Anticipation was high as Bob and I drove 75 mph (that's the speed limit on I-37 in south Texas) to Corpus Christi to meet with fellow bloggers: Erin and Mui of Two to Travel's Phaeton Journey, and Faye (Dave couldn't make it) of The Wandering Camels. All of us were going on a walk together, then out to lunch.

As we drove south, the sunny day that was predicted didn't look promising. A sky full of rain-type clouds was moving in from the southwest. Lines of showers showed across the sky. I came prepared with umbrella and warm, waterproof coat.

Everyone met at the hotel start point at 10 a.m. From there, the five of us walked Corpus Christi city sidewalks through downtown and along the waterfront. The sun became our walking friend as well, but deserted us at lunch time.

On our itinerary, we walked through Heritage Park, past a waterfall, museums, a fountain, sculptures, historical markers, the solar system (wait, back up, the solar system? Yes, I'll explain in a minute), the waterfront, marinas and a cathedral.

On the way to Heritage Park, we passed some restored houses painted in a rainbow of colors. There goes the neighborhood. Actually, I liked them.

Heritage Park consists of 12 historic Corpus Christi homes which have been restored, most are recorded as Texas Historical Landmarks. The oldest of the homes dates back to 1851. The park also has a Cultural Center (in the 100-year-old Galvan house), courtyard, Central Plaza, old clock, many historic markers, and rose garden. The last time Bob and I visited this park, a wedding ceremony was being held in one of the grand old homes.

Simon Gugenheim house (not New York Guggenheim's)

Clock from 1852.

From Heritage Park it was only a couple of city blocks to the Water Garden, one of our favorite places in Corpus Christi. The Water Garden holds the center position of the area housing the Art Museum of South Texas and the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.

Mui and Bob at the Water Garden

Water Garden in front of Art Museum of South Texas

As we turned the corner around the art museum, Corpus Christi Bay and the USS Lexington came into view. We then walked along the seawall of Shoreline Blvd., past the Selena Memorial, and walked both "T-heads" of the marinas. The weather was sunny and 73 degrees. We were loving it.

USS Lexington, Corpus Christi Bay

Gazebos housed history markers.

Along the sidewalk we walked through our solar system. Each planet had its own signage with interesting factoids. The distance between the signs is to scale (a much reduced scale) with the distance between the planets.

Extra(terrestrial?) sign about asteroids and comets

Bob letting out his inner child.

Jet sculpture or fancy antenna?

View from one of the gazebos.

Marina reflections

Taking the long way down to the marina dock...

Faye, Erin, Mui, Bob

"You eyeballin' me, girl?" (Brown pelican)

White-winged terns and royal tern.

One of the T-head marinas.

Downtown from the marina.

Memorial to Selena

Faye and Erin

Erin capturing Selena memorial in a digital pic.

On the second of the marina T-heads, we saw this life-sized replica of the Niña. Can you imagine 24 people crossing the ocean on this?

Bob and Mui showing the size of the Niña.

Another interesting "event" we saw at marina was a large group of people standing at the railing while a priest was conducting a ceremony. My first impression was someone's ashes were being spread in the bay. However, upon looking at the group of people, some in our group noticed children standing on the edge in swimsuits. We can only speculate that maybe the children were getting baptized. I wish I had taken a photo of the stiletto heels a number of women were wearing. Yowzers!

The last portion of our walk was through a neighborhood, past a cathedral, then back to our start point at the hotel. Faye, Mui and Erin saw the place where I fell. It was strange revisiting the site.

During our walk the skies clouded over but it was reasonably warm. When we finished walking, lunch was on our minds. We chose to eat at Harrison's Landing at one of marinas and asked to sit outside.

Faye, Erin, Mui, Susan, Bob with our food.

As we ate and conversed, the wind picked up considerably and the skies spritzed us with a few droplets. I was cold so Bob went to the car and brought back my coat and a second coat in case Faye was cold. Bob's middle name is thoughtful.

We had the nicest lunch. Everyone had a chance to talk, so we learned a lot about each other and how we spend our time. No one left hungry after a lunch of nachos, salads and brownie fudge sundaes for dessert. Erin, Mui, Faye, thanks for walking, talking and eating with us today. Let's do it again!

When lunch was over, we hugged "see ya laters," and moved on to afternoon activities. You can click to link to Erin's blog about today: 10K Volksmarching in Corpus Christi.

See my second blog post to go with us to Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center and Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture.

To be continued...

Museums, Birds, Art and a Hidden Gem -- Tues., Mar. 26

Ooh, a hidden gem, you say? What could it be? All will be revealed shortly.

Corpus Christi, Texas, is two hours from San Antonio. We left the RV park at 8:00 a.m. and arrived in Corpus Christi a little after 10:00 a.m. We headed into downtown.

For their first impression of Corpus Christi we wanted to take Mom and Jan to The Watergarden by the Convention Center. Bob and I love the sound of water falling and here we can enjoy the sound to our heart's content. Around the central waterfall are the Art Museum of South Texas and Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.

The Watergarden

Jan, Me, Mom

Art Museum of South Texas

USS Lexington across the bay

Jan at The Watergarden

Laughing gulls drinking from the stream at The Watergarden.

I promised you a "hidden gem." The day was chilly with a cold wind. We were looking for restrooms and a place that sold hot chocolate and coffee. As we walked past the Art Museum of South Texas we saw a sign for Hester's Cafe & Coffee Bar which was located inside the museum. When we entered the museum, we told the person selling tickets for the museum that we wanted to go to the coffee shop. We got metal buttons to attach to our clothes letting us in for free to the coffee shop. On the way to the coffee shop was the contemporary studio class exhibit. The exhibit had some gorgeous pieces.

What made Hester's coffee shop special wasn't just the glass art exhibit or the yummy snacks we ate, it was the view of the bay. We were able to sit either inside or outside and watch large ships travel under the Harbor Bridge and through the ship channel right outside the windows of the coffee shop. Brown pelicans were floating in the water, catching fish right before our eyes. It was one of those travel moments that just fall into place and are very special.

These two birds seemed to be close friends--a brown
pelican and a laughing gull.

Pelican catching a fish with the gull right there.

Pelican eating fish--again the gull is his best friend!

The Florida just passed under the bridge on its way to the ocean.

Heritage Park, where nine historic homes have been moved into a quadrangle, was our second stop. The homes have plaques in front of them that tell stories of their previous inhabitants. History comes alive and you wonder how some of the people not only survived but thrived.

Simon Gugenheim house (not Solomon R. Guggenhiem of New York City)

We drove along the downtown waterfront and stopped to walk along the planetary exhibits lining the walkway, and to see the Selena Memorial.

Selena's Memorial...she is considered the Mexican equivalent of Madonna.

Selena memorial. (Selena was a popular
Tejano singer from Corpus Christi who died too young.)

We also took my sister to see the Jesus in Boat sculpture also locally known as "surfing Jesus."

Mom wanted to see where my fall happened six months ago, so we took her there. I stopped in at the restaurant across the street to see if the lady was there who came to our aid with napkins and ice. She only works weekends. The manager gave me the phone number of the restaurant so I can call to thank her.

Lunch at Cheddar's Casual Cafe in Corpus Christi was tasty and filling.

We headed to Padre Island National Seashore where we toured the visitor center, learned about Kemp's Ridley turtles, and watched two videos. This area is a flyway for migrating birds. A quick walk to the beach revealed brown pelicans, a Portuguese Man o' War washed up on shore, and numerous wading birds.

Semipalmated sandpiper (?)

Sanderling (winter plumage)

Sanderling

Sanderling chasing killdeer.

Padre Island Seashore, Gulf Coast of Texas

Willet, winter plumage.

Royal terns (Sterna maxima)

The park ranger told us where to see a white-tailed hawk sitting on its nest. We were able to see the top of the hawk's head sticking out of the nest, but it was too far away for a good photo. We drove around Bird Island Basin to check out the camping sites.

Canvasback duck, Bird Island Basin, Padre Island Nat'l Seashore.

Our driving tour continued up Mustang Island to Port Aransas where we boarded the free Aransas Pass Ferry (in the car) to Aransas Pass, Texas. During our ten-minute ferry ride, we saw six dolphins off to the side of the ferry. One to six ferries operate at one time so, unless it's spring break or another busy day, you shouldn't have to wait long for a ferry.

A ferry going the opposite direction.

On the Aransas Pass side of the ferry, we stopped at Lighthouse Lake Kayak Trail Park to look for birds. Here is one we found. If you like to kayak, this is a spot for you to check out.

Willet

Since we were in the neighborhood we traveled to Rockport, an adorable Gulf Coast town with a marina and a little park with sculptures.

Whooping cranes.

The area is known for whooping cranes stopping along the flyway. Unfortunately, the only whooping cranes we saw were in the sculpture above.

As we continued along the coastline, we passed through Fulton where we saw the historic Fulton House. This will be an attraction we can visit at another time. The coast along here has many, many private piers with locked gates or "No Trespassing" signs. The piers are the property of the homeowners or inn owners across the road from the gulf.

Everyone was tired. We headed for home but had one last stop. Just before crossing the Harbor Bridge headed west into Corpus Christi we made a detour to look at the USS Lexington and a Blue Angel fighter jet (through the car windows).

Blue Angels A-4 Skyhawk

We then settled in for the long ride back to San Antonio. It was a great day with Bob, Mom and Jan.

Travel Bug out.