Corpus Christi
Beach, Aquarium, & Warship
I opted not to run Tuesday morning, thinking I might be able to ride my bike on the barrier islands near Corpus Christi in the afternoon. After eating our breakfast and checking out of the La Quinta, I drove us down to Corpus Christi. I went straight to the U.S.S. Lexington, a World War II aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum ship. There are many things to do aboard the ship. They have videos on the ship’s history and capabilities. There is a flight simulator. The flight deck is covered with static display aircraft. The lower decks offer explanations of all of the daily activities and functions of the ship. The hangar deck is the main level, and you can also walk the superstructure that contains the command section and air control area. They even offer overnight camps, escape rooms, and other additional activities. The curators have done a fine job of expanding the appeal of an attraction that might otherwise only attract military history buffs like me.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep the attention of my exchange students. Paula tried to keep a good attitude about it, but Stacy was texting people in Chinese and staring at Tiktok videos the entire time. The language barrier was some of the problem for her, but she was also unwilling to put any effort into getting anything out of the experience. Caleb, of course, was especially excited to see everything to do with the carrier. He was completely enthralled by the entire room of ship and plane models on display below decks. Although Kimberly was not quite as excited as Caleb, she seemed to genuinely enjoy herself. She had fun aiming the anti-aircraft guns, exploring the “Women in World War II” display, and going through the various daily functions of a city at sea, such as the dentist office, the berths, and the dining facilities. Stephanie is game to go most places. I had been to the Lexington before, but was happy to go again. I wanted to share it with the girls. Aircraft carriers, after all, are not something Taiwan has ever even had. Spain had a miniature carrier for a while, capable of landing only V/STOL aircraft like Harriers. But they have since even scrapped that. It just didn’t move the needle for them, though.
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After we got done at the carrier, we headed to Freebird’s for supper. Freebirds is a predecessor of Chipotle, a restaurant where you walk by as you would in a subway and instruct the employees on how you want a giant burrito constructed. I figured if I ran and biked enough, I could afford to eat a huge burrito. Mine was delicious, as I knew it would be.
We then crossed over onto Padre Island to our AirBnB. It was a nice, two bedroom apartment just a few hundred yards from the beach on the seaward side of the island. It was nice to have the extra room, and to be able to close the door for privacy. I also enjoyed having a kitchen. Stephanie and I ran into the HEB earlier that afternoon so we would have breakfast and lunch material for the next few days. That’s a big advantage of going with an AirBnB or VRBO type accommodation.
I took a nice long bike ride in the morning, before grabbing some oatmeal for breakfast and then heading down to the beach with Stephanie and the kids. Caleb will play in the water as long as allowed. Stephanie and I went for a long walk after watching the kids for a while. We laid in the sun for a bit, and then headed back to the room for a sandwich before making our way to the Texas State Aquarium.
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The aquarium is a very nice attraction. In style, it is a kind of hybrid of a static aquarium like the one at Monterey, California and a more performance based show like they have at Sea World. The Texas State Aquarium has two large areas replicating sea and near-sea environments and containing fish and other species, one from the Gulf of Mexico and one from the Caribbean. Between and around visiting those dedicated areas, you can go to several different scheduled talks and performances. They have a very nice trained dolphin show. There are educational talks on sea turtles, stingrays, river otters, and sharks at their respective tanks. You learn about the animals as you watch them play. Many of the animals are rescues, no longer capable of surviving in the wild.
I was a little bit disgruntled after our experience at the Lexington, and so suggested to all of the teenage girls that we leave the phones in the pickup while in the aquarium. They had a good attitude about this, and complied without argument after just a few minutes of last-minute texting to family, friends, and beaux. I believe it greatly enhanced their interaction at the aquarium. They seemed to enjoy it. I did my best to translate things into simple and slow English that Stacy could understand. The level of employee engagement was generally better, too, which also helped. I was greatly relieved, as I did not hesitate at all to pay the nearly $300 admission for all of us to get into the aquarium, so long as we all actually experienced it. I did not want to shell out that money just to watch the girls text and watch TikToks in a different venue. It worked out for the best.
Upon leaving the aquarium, I drove down near the Corpus Christi waterfront to U & I Steak and Seafood. This was the best restaurant we visited on the trip. Their flounder was delicious, as was everything else I sampled in our little trades from one plate to the next. To top it all off, the meals were about $15-$20 per plate, which was especially reasonable, considering the quality of the food. Highly recommended.
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On Thursday morning, I biked all the way to the north end of Mustang Island, for a total of over 44 miles. We planned to use Thursday as a beach day. The exchange students never made it to the beach. They didn’t get out of bed for good until 4:00 p.m. I think this was just because they stayed up all Wednesday night. After dragging our feet eating breakfast and waiting to see if the other girls would get up, Caleb, Kimberly, Stephanie and I walked back down to the beach. I took a long walk down the beach with Stephanie, picking up shells and sand dollars as we walked along talking. I usually talk and Stephanie listens. She just doesn’t have as much to say as I do. I guess that’s why I am the one here writing this article.
Kimberly headed back to the AirBnB for lunch. Steph and I laid on the beach and waited for Caleb to be done. Kimberly came back for a bit, but eventually we went back to the room to relax and figure out what to do for dinner. I thought we might play Mah Jongg. I did eventually find a set on Facebook Marketplace that I drove way out into the sand hills of South Texas to negotiate and buy. We cleaned it up, but never got around to playing. We did head to an early dinner at the Captain’s Diner. While the portions were generous, the quality was not nearly as good as what we had at U & I the night before. The cost was about the same, if not a tick higher. We did not leave hungry though.
After all of that fried seafood, we returned to the AirBnB to the task of finishing all of the ice cream since it would melt on the way home the next day if we didn’t eat it. We put a huge dent in it, and only had to toss a bit of the strawberry. The girls went out for a night beach walk. They saw a partial lunar eclipse. We called it a night.
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Kimberly got up early on Friday to walk the beach one last time. I rode to the end of the road to the South inside the National Seashore park. We were all back in time to load everything up and start for home between 9:30 and 10:00. The Panhandle and South Plains were forecast to have 80 mile per hour winds, so I was in no hurry to get home. The trip is over 500 miles and takes about eight hours, without stops. By the time we got to the midway point, the wind was howling and the sky was brown. We pulled into the driveway at about 7:00 p.m. to a house without power. Fortunately, power was restored after about an hour and a half, and our lives returned to normal.
From my perspective, it had been a good trip. I am not really sure that the exchange students appreciated it. My goal was to show them a variety of Texas history, culture, scenery, and experiences. The opportunities to enjoy all of those things were provided. The Spurs game, the San Antonio Market Square, and the Texas State Aquarium seemed to be winners. The missions, the Alamo, the beach, the Lexington, the Mah Jongg set, and the shops in old town Fredericksburg were misses. I don’t really know what they thought about the food, other than that they didn’t really like the La Quinta provided breakfasts. On several occasions, I wondered if we might not have been better off sitting in the house. One can text and look at TikTok videos there at far less expense. We are planning to take the girls to see Carlsbad, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and other major sites en route to their return flights to Spain and Taiwan from California. I am wondering whether that will be a good use of time. I have, after all, seen all of those places. It is not for my sake that I am planning to again visit those amazing American natural wonders.
