This weekend, we decided to go to Corpus Christi. Why? Because it sounded like a great place…we wanted to go there while we are living close by…and there have been super enthusiastic advertisements on the radio encouraging us to come on down! (One even aired as soon as we got on the road! Good sign!) So off we went with a bag of homemade pretzels we made for the trip. We were super excited on our 3 hour drive through farm country (as if we were going to a fancy island). We saw lots of cows and a beautiful ranch for sale and realized that drivers in the country are polite enough to pull over and drive on the shoulder (at top speed??) and let you pass (except, they tend to do this when there are double solid yellow lines and Rich refuses to pass other cars unless there is an endless continuum of dotted ones).

On our drive in, we were greeted by factory after factory and their smokin smoke stacks. And then we find ourselves in the city surrounded by tall banking buildings without any signs of life. When we arrived at the hotel (yes, we were going to spend the night because it sounded like there was sooo much to do in CC!), we tried to walk in but the doors were locked. (Hmmmm…) Then, a voice spoke to us from a speaker above – “Are you checking in?” (Yes, we are.) “Can I have your name?” (Um, can you let us in?? It’s windy out here and we can hardly hear you.) We gave our name and with a “buzz” we were let inside. (Hmmmm…) We followed the signs and rode up the elevator to the concierge. He took us to our room, gave us a pass code for the room and gave us another pass code to let us into the building. (Hmmmm…)

The hotel itself was very nice and the room was decorated nicely too. Then we wanted to see our view and drew open the curtains – we should have left them closed. A view of another building would have been better than what we were looking at – the top of a roof with big machines and pipes and puddles of dirty water. So, closed they went and we left the room to go exploring.

We were a street away from the water so we walked around the marina. There were lots of big boats, a replica of the Nina and a statue of Selena. We were hungry so we decided to grab a bite to eat at Joe’s Crab Shack. Since we were planning on having a nice dinner (at who knows where now that we have been there), I had a side Caesar and Rich had a bowl of clam chowda. I was unsatisfied so we walked over to What-A-Burger and got a chocolate malt and kept walking. On our walk back to the hotel, we walked a couple streets in from the water through downtown. It was like walking through a town in Zombieland - totally deserted. And to make it worse, we both noticed an SUV that kept circling us at least 3 times. And then, the bums – yes, a staple to any city but we were in no mood to put any imaginary hope in their cups. We hustled back to the hotel and went straight to the room and both decided to get the heck out of here. We grabbed our unpacked bag and told the concierge that we had to leave. So back on the road for a 3 hour drive home.

Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Happy Valentine’s Day!
P.S. No Dad, Did not know what Sam Neely was from CC. But might know why he left…