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.

Corpus Christi, Follow-up #2 -- Tues., Oct. 9, 2012

So much excitement for my second foray out after the face plant. Bob drove us to Corpus Christi for my second follow-up with the maxillofacial surgeon. 

Once again, Dr. Cutbirth was amazed by how well my face is healing. Today, he took out the nose stents which kept my nasal passages open while my broken nose set up enough to support my nose by itself. Removing the stents entailed him removing one stitch from each nostril, then using tweezers to pull out the stents. OW, OW, OW. 

I admit, I cried and screeched a bit. But once they were out, I could breathe so much better through my nose! Now I can try sleeping in bed again instead of the recliner. He told me not to worry about lying on my side because my cheeks have enough cartilage growing over the bones now that it is like a callus. He said the bones won't separate at this point.

The appointment lasted all of ten minutes. He again patiently answered my questions. I will go back in two weeks to have the wires removed from my jaws. After the wires come out, I will make an appointment to see a dentist for x-rays and deep cleaning of my teeth. At that time, I will find out my options for what will need to happen with my teeth before we go to Australia. Worst case would be I will have three or four teeth removed from the top front jaw. I'm hoping I will be able to have some type of temporary front teeth  put in. Guess we'll see.

After the appointment, Bob drove me over to Mustang Island State Park on the Gulf Coast. The state park has a security gate which is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Love how the Escape pod is framed.

 

I took a couple of photos of the campground and the ocean. From the campsites, it's a short walk through the dunes to the ocean.

Pretty basic back-in sites at the campground.

The walk to the Gulf Coast.

Or, if you have 4WD, you can drive and camp on the beach.

Driving west from Mustang Island, shorebirds were all along the intercoastal waterway. I was able to zoom in on these two beauties from the shoulder of the road.

Long-billed curlew.

Great blue heron.

Next we headed over to look at another campground I had read about: Nueces County Texas--Padre Balli Park.

We were not impressed with this "campground." See what you think. There is good access to the Gulf beach and Bob Hall Pier, however.

Padre Balli Campground.

Another view of Padre Balli.

The beach and pier.

Well, as long as we're here, let's continue on to Padre Island National Seashore!

After waiting for a pilot car to take us a few miles through road construction, we arrived at Malaquite Pavilion Visitor Center around 4:00 p.m. Lucky for us the Visitor Center was open until 5:00 p.m. We watched two short videos: one on the five types of sea turtles that live along Padre Island with an emphasis on Kemp's ridley turtles, and one on orientation to the seashore. 

Padre Island, at 65.5 miles, is the longest barrier island in the world. It is noted for abundant bird and marine life, excellent fishing, world-class windsurfing [we saw a couple of people out windsurfing today], and wide, sandy beaches. The Gulf coastline includes windswept dunes, wild landscapes of coastal prairie grasses, teeming tidal flats, and warm offshore waters. [So says the National Parks of Texas brochure.]

A display in the Visitor Center anchored by Bob. LOL.

I can't smile, so this is the best I can do for now.

When we finished here, we headed over to HEB grocery where Bob bought me a berry smoothie and he got snacks (Triscuits, cheese and orange juice) for the 2-1/2 hour ride back to the 5er.

It was a very beautiful day. I got a little tired, but managed to walk around a bit. I did sleep for a wee bit in the car on the way back.

Welcome to Bob and Linda, new followers from Bob and Linda's RV Travels. They do reviews of RV parks, write travel blogs about their travels (since 2008), including their trek to Alaska. 

Tomorrow Bob's taking me to Costco so I can have a new optometry exam. Once that is done they can write a new prescription and I can order new glasses to replace the ones that busted up my forehead and nose when I fell. If possible, I will have them just order new lenses for the old frames. We'll see how that goes. That will be a much shorter trip.

Travel Bug saying "It's great to be traveling again!"