Sunday, July 24, 2011

On Vacation — Corpus Christi/Port Aransas

This was initially published July 7, 2011. It was edited and republished on July 24, 2011, to show a video & photos from trip; on July 27, a better video replaced the first.

The Lady The Sea
Background music by Barefoot Man
I've left my footprints
on the beach at Waikiki ...
by the coastline of Barbados
at the shore of Martinique.
I've broken many hearts,
so many lost affairs.
But there's one that stole my soul
between here and there.
Some Call her a lady;
some call her the sea;
some call her the ocean;
a place to be free.
Atlantic Pacific
or the Gulfstream.
She's wild and she's crazy,
the ultimate dream.
Don't try and change her,
she's warm and she's cold,
when stormy or tranquil,
she's in control.
She's deep and she's mighty,
she gives her bounty.
Oh, how I love her,
the Lady the Sea.

I was a Lawton High School sophomore when I took my 1st trip to Corpus Christi on a band trip in 1959, and, since then, Corpus has been my emotional home away from home and that's where I'm going early tomorrow morning. On most of the trips since then, my children have accompanied me but this time I am the guest of my son, David, and his bride, Michele, and I am accompanying them.

In that very first trip, the LHS band members stayed in the Robert Driscoll Hotel, located downtown but built well up on the Corpus Christi Bay elevation to protect it from storm surges. Many of us guys were more than thrilled to sleep on the floor, couches, beds, whatever, in the penthouse suite where Jayne Mansfield had earlier spent some time, no less! Whoa ... for a young male teenager, does it get any better that this?

As well, at that time, one could look outside a window of that penthouse suite to see the bridge being constructed over the Corpus Chisti Bay Harbor and it looked like it was going strait into the sky without ever coming down.

Skip to Trip Photos

Long ago, shortly after seeing the completed bridge, my daughter claimed ownership of that bridge, and now all members of my family, acknowledging her ownership, call it, "Mary's Bridge," which, of course, it is.



Looking East From Mary's Bridge


If one looks east enough, one will see the shipping channel through which oceanic ships enter Corpus Christi Bay, that particular point being Port Aransas. And that's where we will be staying on this trip.

Corpus Christi is a beautiful destination city. A couple of views are shown below.




Port Aransas is physically located on the north end of Mustang Island which, for all practical purposes, is the northern part of North Padre Island, Texas, which is located at the east side of Corpus Christi Bay. To reach Port Aransas by car, one must either cross the free ferry at the north, or approach the island from the southern (Corpus Christi) end at the south.

Northern Approach by Ferry


The southern approach is via Corpus Christi, shown below.


Either way you get there, you get this:






See you soon, around July 15, sunburned or not. I'll be there until then.


Trip Photos. I'll not show all of the pics but will give a good sampling of photos taken on this July 2011 trip.

Click on any photo for a larger view

Sunrise




















Sunset
Taken by David & Michele Loudenback

For this set, David & Michele drove a bit south of Port Aransas and took a semi-road heading westward toward Corpus Christi Bay, into marshlands near the bay on Mustang Island, somewhere around the area shown below.



























Bob Hall Pier

Further south, on Padre Island, this pier was first built in 1950 at 300 feet. After hurricanes and an earthquake it has been rebuilt and now extends 1,240 feet into the Gulf of Mexico, about 2-3 city blocks.



















Sea Critters

We observed three creatures get caught in fishing lines ... a gull which went after the bait and wound up being wrapped in the line, a small sting ray and a decent sized sea turtle get caught on hooks in their wings. All were unhooked and released.















Capn' Dawg & Me Hearty Crew











The Gulfstream, Our Usual Quarters







Early Dinner At Landrys







Crossing Mary's Bridge







Crossing the Ferry to Port Aransas









At the Port Aransas Rental









A Stop At Ocean Treasurers While Leaving Town











That's All, Folks.

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11 comments:

MikeOKC said...

Those are some great pictures. I have been in the area but have never made it to Corpus Christi proper. My aunt and uncle (now deceased) used to visit Port Aransas every summer for many years. Is Rockport close by? They would go there sometimes as well. You've made me want to check it out sometime. Life is just too short to pass up great destinations right here in our own country.

Have a great time, Doug.

- Mike

CGHill said...

I lived out that way in 1960; didn't get back for nearly fifty years, but I did get back. Still an impressive ride along the coast.

superdave2112 said...

These are nice pictures! The chick looks like a wild card. Is that legal, what those two are doing to that dolphin???

superdave2112 said...

BTW, here is the first of eight fish caught by Michele on Bob Hall pier. Thank God they were able to reattach my severed hand. Striped fish. Very deadly.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/TheGunsOfElGuapo/Photo0656.jpg[/IMG]

Hope I did that right!

Doug Dawg said...

Thanks, Superdave! No, you didn't use the right code for the fish pic ... don't use square braces but use angled ones (<>) with a beginning and ending "a href=" ... like this

I'll need to include that guppie in the family pics album that I'm putting together.

Love you, my Son Love!

superdave2112 said...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v235/TheGunsOfElGuapo/?action=view&current=Photo0656.jpg

Doug Dawg said...

Well, I'm not getting the code down right, either, but I do have the link to your bride's humongeous fish!

humongeous fish

Doug Dawg said...

What dolphin? I didn't take any pictures of a dolphin.

Doug Dawg said...

And, as you know very well, anything that chicks do is legal. That's just the way it is.

casute gradina said...

I was there two years ago and i was impressed. Unfortunately i had no time to visit around it very well because i was there for only two days, but i hope to visit it again very soon. I recommend this place, it is very nice.

Unknown said...

All the fun things to do in Corpus Christi and the surrounding area have provided us with a wonderful family vacation a couple of summers ago. Visa are valid for entry only into the country which issued the visa. We had a joint vacation with another family, and I know they had a great time too!