Greetings from Corpus Christi!

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Nevermind the nervous breakdown I had on the way. Had to pull over in Seguin and cry for a few minutes. But it's all good now. It's been a stressful week and I just needed to melt down temporarily.

But here we are! Palm trees and Gulf waters!

Our campground is about a half mile from the causeway, which took us to Doc's for dinner. This is our kind of place. We sat outside and ate Cobb salads with blackened shrimp and Board Mommy snarfed a couple of much needed Shiners. After, we went next door to Snoopy's and got a couple more drinks on the pier. Both places got us started on the right foot and are contenders for the CC happy place.

The campground is tight - not in the good way but in the "where are we going to put our stuff??" way. Small spaces. But it will work. We always think we need to spread out more than we really do. Tomorrow we'll explore a bit, both the campground and the immediate area.

For my birthday I made Monello get us tickets to see Three Dog Night tomorrow. Not gonna lie, when it looked like we weren't going to get there I was disappointed, but whaddaya gonna do? Things happen. Then the gods smiled on me and it all worked out (because I keep my karma clean by being considerate and picking up Apollo's poop). I saw TDN in Lincoln when I was 17 and it was the best concert I've ever been to, no lie. I can't wait!

I think we're going to like it here.

corpuschristi.jpg

corpuschristi2.jpg
 
Last edited:

luvmygdaughters

Well-Known Member
Take a deep breath, calm down and apply a few glasses of wine!! Glad you're less stressed, would love to see TDN, always one of my favorite bands, Corpus Christi looks amazing!
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
Nevermind the nervous breakdown I had on the way. Had to pull over in Seguin and cry for a few minutes. But it's all good now. It's been a stressful week and I just needed to melt down temporarily.

But here we are! Palm trees and Gulf waters!

Our campground is about a half mile from the causeway, which took us to Doc's for dinner. This is our kind of place. We sat outside and ate Cobb salads with blackened shrimp and Board Mommy snarfed a couple of much needed Shiners. After, we went next door to Snoopy's and got a couple more drinks on the pier. Both places got us started on the right foot and are contenders for the CC happy place.

The campground is tight - not in the good way but in the "where are we going to put our stuff??" way. Small spaces. But it will work. We always think we need to spread out more than we really do. Tomorrow we'll explore a bit, both the campground and the immediate area.

For my birthday I made Monello get us tickets to see Three Dog Night tomorrow. Not gonna lie, when it looked like we weren't going to get there I was disappointed, but whaddaya gonna do? Things happen. Then the gods smiled on me and it all worked out (because I keep my karma clean by being considerate and picking up Apollo's poop). I saw TDN in Lincoln when I was 17 and it was the best concert I've ever been to, no lie. I can't wait!

I think we're going to like it here.

View attachment 126014

View attachment 126015

:huggy:

So glad to hear you made it safe & sound. Some relaxing and chilling is definitely in order! :yay:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Three Dog Night - these guys are older than God and still bringing it. They don't play instruments anymore because, you know, arthritis, but they can still belt out their songs. What's weird about these fossil rock bands is that Danny Hutton introduced "One" by saying it was the song that got things started for them...in 1969. I was a 1st grader. But TDN is timeless, like Queen and the Beatles. My grandson sings along to "Jeremiah was a bullfrog...." You never remember how many great songs they had until they start playing them, and then you go, "Oh yeah!"

The venue was great - American Bank Center. Easy to get to, plenty of parking, they manage their crowds nicely. Monello and I are over jostling with throngs of humanity in these enormous arenas - Jesus himself could be appearing somewhere like that and we'd stay home and watch Modern Family. It was an older crowd, as you might imagine, so concert sh*t headery was nonexistent. They let us bring our drinks into the auditorium because they can trust us not to start throwing them.

After, we went to the Alibi Bar, which is a no kidding dive. I'm trying to think of what to compare it to in SoMD and not coming up with anything divey enough. Up in Cascade, MD there used to be, maybe still is, a bar called Chocolate Park that was right outside Ft. Richie - that's what it reminded me of. But we like places like that. The uninitiated might think they were drug bars, but they are completely opposite. When the bar maid can beat your ass, you will not be dealing drugs in her bar. They are filled with professional alcoholics, not amateurs, so things stay mellow.

Before the show we had dinner at a Filipino place that is right up the street from our campground. We had lumpia and rice pancit, and Monello had one of those filled bun things. It's unfortunate that this place is literally within walking distance to us because I know I'm going to want lumpia every day. That's what's to love about a Navy town: where there is a Navy base, there are Filipina wives; and where there are Filipina wives, there will be a Filipino restaurant. People in Lincoln, NE don't know what lumpia or sinigang is.

Tomorrow after I get my work done we'll head out to see what's what.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Today we went on base and played golf. The course is all chopped up and pretty rough, but we had fun anyway. We stink at golf - although Monello shot a birdie today - but we enjoy it. This course was nowhere near as nice as Pax; it wasn't even as nice as Chesapeake Hills.

Saturday we went on walkabout to Port Aransas. It's a cute fishing/vacation village with a nice beach and lots of shops/restaurants/marinas. It's pretty much off the beaten path, about 20 miles from Corpus Christi. People drive out *on* the beach, park, and spend the day - even when it's too cold to swim. There were probably 25 or so cars out there yesterday.

We're not in love with our campground. The site is small with a cement pad, but the rest of it is gravel instead of grass and it's unappealing (this is a "premium" site, btw, so the regular sites must really suck). We also have a telephone pole on our site and it looks pretty trashy. But it's not *horrible* so we'll be okay for a month. If we came back to CC, though, we wouldn't stay here. The people seem nice and there's a potluck Wednesday that we'll go to. The pool is open but NOT heated! WTH??? That's where Florida RV resorts have TX beat - they heat the pools because the snowbirds expect to swim all winter long.

Monello made chicken Tikka Masala in the Instant Pot for dinner. The trailer will reek for days, but it was delish!
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
So Corpus Christi - no. If you want to be in that general area you'd go to Port Aransas. Much nicer, more touristy things (but not Ripley's style tourism) and more amenable to vacationers and relaxing. Next time we'll know, if there is a next time.

Today after work we set out to find good coffee beans, which turned out to be at Hester's in the ghet-o. German chocolate and cinnamon chocolate almond. Then we headed toward Portland to see the RV park I thought I should have chosen, which was a big enough #### hole that our #### hole was nicer. Then on to take the ferry over to Port Aransas - this is one of those small pleasures that I enjoy so much.

While in Port A we went through an RV park - very nice - and struck up a conversation with another traveling couple at a bar who raved about their RV park in Port A. It happens that they are leaving Monday for South Padre Island, so we'll see them when we get there. They gave us some great tips for when we head west.

There is a surprising amount of ghetto in CC. Like, falling down homes with crap all over the place, or obvious drug tenements. I thought CC would be more middle class, but they have a large crap population dotted around the city. But this is one of the things I love most about being a homeless vagabond: if you're not thrilled with where you are, somewhere else is only a couple weeks away.
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
A few thoughts on Corpus Christi:

There is a lot of water around here. Saltwater specifically. There are several bait & tackle shops with piers. The water is around 58 degrees right now. Not exactly where it needs to be to go fishing.

There are a bunch of bays & lagoons around. The water isn't very deep though. Driving around we see a lot of trucks that park along the water access areas. I'm not sure if they are having any luck.

The base here flies a lot of prop trainers. I'm not sure of the training pipeline they are for. Maybe 1 of the navy people on here know more about the bases' mission. The base is only a small part of the local economy

People from our neighborhood are called bluff rats. Other areas use it as a sort of derogatory term but the locals have embraced it. Now it's a title of honor.

Compared to Florida, Texas' coast is underdeveloped and under utilized. Why that is, I'm not sure. They do have a bunch of petrochemical industry which seems to be lacking in Florida. With San Antonio about 2 hours away, I figured this area would be their beach playground.

Campgrounds in this part of Texas aren't embarrassed to jam pack people in their campgrounds. In a normal campground where you would find 3 camping rigs, here they pack 5 rigs in the same sized spot.

Many of the kitchy businesses you find in places like Myrtle Beach & Panama City Beach are missing from this area. Things like the pancake houses, mini golf, arcades and the oddity museums are non existent here.

Texans, Nebraskans & Alaskans are very proud of where they are from. A lot of the other places that we run around at, people are ambivalent of their homes.

1 of the most popular names for a Mexican restaurant around here contains the word Jalisco in it.

Last year locally they got 8 inches of snow in 1 storm. You can find a lot of pictures in businesses of the snow. Of course it was gone in a day.

Bars in Corpus Christi use a washcloth in place of a coaster in bars. They are locally consistent. The first time I saw it, it appeared odd. Now I sort of expect to see them. I have never seen this anywhere else in the country.

The gold course on base is by far the worst place we have ever hit golf balls. It's not like we are great golfers but the lack of grooming shows. There were small mounds of dirt that we weren't sure if they were from critters digging or how they got there. OTOH I got my first ever birdie on a par 3.

We get some great future travel tips when we least expect them. Chatting with a bartender another couple overheard our conversation. Turns out they also RV travel and gave us some ideas for when we head out west.

Cold, rainy weather days are the laziest days.
 

lucky_bee

RBF expert
A few thoughts on Corpus Christi:

There is a lot of water around here. Saltwater specifically. There are several bait & tackle shops with piers. The water is around 58 degrees right now. Not exactly where it needs to be to go fishing.

There are a bunch of bays & lagoons around. The water isn't very deep though. Driving around we see a lot of trucks that park along the water access areas. I'm not sure if they are having any luck.

The base here flies a lot of prop trainers. I'm not sure of the training pipeline they are for. Maybe 1 of the navy people on here know more about the bases' mission. The base is only a small part of the local economy

People from our neighborhood are called bluff rats. Other areas use it as a sort of derogatory term but the locals have embraced it. Now it's a title of honor.

Compared to Florida, Texas' coast is underdeveloped and under utilized. Why that is, I'm not sure. They do have a bunch of petrochemical industry which seems to be lacking in Florida. With San Antonio about 2 hours away, I figured this area would be their beach playground.

Campgrounds in this part of Texas aren't embarrassed to jam pack people in their campgrounds. In a normal campground where you would find 3 camping rigs, here they pack 5 rigs in the same sized spot.

Many of the kitchy businesses you find in places like Myrtle Beach & Panama City Beach are missing from this area. Things like the pancake houses, mini golf, arcades and the oddity museums are non existent here.

Texans, Nebraskans & Alaskans are very proud of where they are from. A lot of the other places that we run around at, people are ambivalent of their homes.

1 of the most popular names for a Mexican restaurant around here contains the word Jalisco in it.

Last year locally they got 8 inches of snow in 1 storm. You can find a lot of pictures in businesses of the snow. Of course it was gone in a day.

Bars in Corpus Christi use a washcloth in place of a coaster in bars. They are locally consistent. The first time I saw it, it appeared odd. Now I sort of expect to see them. I have never seen this anywhere else in the country.

The gold course on base is by far the worst place we have ever hit golf balls. It's not like we are great golfers but the lack of grooming shows. There were small mounds of dirt that we weren't sure if they were from critters digging or how they got there. OTOH I got my first ever birdie on a par 3.

We get some great future travel tips when we least expect them. Chatting with a bartender another couple overheard our conversation. Turns out they also RV travel and gave us some ideas for when we head out west.

Cold, rainy weather days are the laziest days.

This all surprises me. But maybe it's changed THAT much since the late 80s/early 90s. Dad was stationed there I think '88 to '90 or '91. My parents loved it. And they're similar to you guys in that they look for the off-beaten path, the kitchy restaurants and shops, the locals' places, etc. I know we lived out in town, we never did base housing but I can't remember the neighborhood. We went back at some point...2001? Honestly I don't remember it being particularly remarkable but I was 14 and had my nose in a book the entire trip, avoiding mostly everything and everyone.

And my dad is actually from Texas (Brownsville). He was a pilot and I believe most of CC is dedicated for flight training. He was moving from rotor wing to fixed wing aircraft so I think that's why he was there. Most of the old navy guys I know ran in the same career circles as dad so they all were in CC at some point and all enjoyed it, however they were all there before the '00s. I do know a few former midshipmen that ended up there and they did NOT like it but I figured because it wasn't catered to young bro guys like Annapolis is.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
It's not often you go to breakfast and the local talent in the booth next to you are openly plotting crimes and how best to get away with them. Safe to say we will not be coming back to Corpus Christi.

Here's a cold hard observation:

The closer we get to the Mexican border, the higher the Hispanic population, and the ####tier the city. On the plus side, the food is amazing. On the downside, everything else. Poverty, crime, ghettos, filth. We had been wondering why Corpus Christi doesn't play up tourism and have attractions that, you know, attract people. Now we know. Nobody in their right mind would come here for a vacation. Corpus Christi is the first place we've been to that Monello has considered making use of his carry permit.

I'm hoping South Padre Island will be the exception to my border rule. It *is* billed as a spring break and tourism destination, so hopefully it will be friendly as such and not a filthy #### hole.

Laredo was supposed to be after SPI, but since it's right across the street from Mexico we'll probably skip it. I've had my fill of "multiculturalism" for awhile, possibly for life. It's disappointing because the liberal media overwhelmingly paints these places as "vibrant immigrant communities" and that is not even close to reality. Note that none of them live in the hood and that's the first clue that they're talking out their ass.

But! You know what? We wanted to see America, and here it is. You can't talk about something you don't know chit about, so here we are getting first hand knowledge. We went to the ####hole so you don't have to!
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Yesterday was an interesting day. We went over to Mustang Island to see first hand the other RV parks that aren't in Corpus Christi. There were several and a few other parks we found just driving around.

Gulf Waters. The first one was easily a top 3 of all the places we've stayed. It butts right up to the Gulf of Mexico. It had immaculate landscaping. This park is where someone actually owns the lot. The office will rent it out when it's not being used. They have several ponds but no fishing is allowed. Bummer. They have a lot of do's & don't's. I'm sure the owners like it that way. The receptionist was very informed. She even mentioned the type of lighting they had throughout the park. It's so they can walk around at night and see but it's not so bright as to be obnoxious. It's not cheap to stay there, more in line with Florida pricing as opposed to Texas pricing. Around $400 per week.

Speaking of pricing, Texas has lower pricing in the winter when compared to the summer. Yes they get snowbirds or as they call them locally Winter Texans. But they don't jack the price up. They consider the high season to be Memorial day through Labor day, just like the places along the east coast.

Pioneer. Another RV park that is right along the gulf. There is a cart path to the beach. The folks here drive their golf carts right out to the beach. This way they can take everything they need with them. Weekly rate is between $190 & $240 depending on site location and if it is a pull through or not. This place would be perfect for us if we ever return. They have a bunch of rental cabins along with RV sites. A couple of pools & a hot tub for relaxing.

Port A. This place is across the street from the gulf. They have a heated pool which is something we get a lot of use out of. Weekly rates between $280 & $340. The park backs up to a nature preserve.

Island RV. $280 per week. Across the street from the gulf.

Tropic Island. It's about 1/2 mile from the heart of Port A. $290 to $370 per week. This place has onsite golf cart rentals. Another plus is several of the sites come with a shed for your gear. I'm surprised more places don't have this option. The pool is heated and the woman swimming in it claimed the water was 84 degrees. Plus it's right across the street from the San Juan Mexican restaurant with their huge $2 soft tacos.

Rolling around we saw a few places closer to the beach that would be considered parking lots. That's a little too close for us. This area has a lot of options for RVers depending on location, amenities and price.

This area isn't a winter hotspot like we imagined it would be. Even the beach store said it's their slow season with the week around Thanksgiving a little busier. Things don't heat up here tourist wise until March.

And now we know better what the choices are in this area. If we come this way again, we will certainly land in Port A instead of CC.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Port Aransas is destination-worthy. It's a cute fishing village, reminded me of a larger version of Solomons Island.

The plan was to cut our losses in ####ville and move to Port A for the duration of our time here, but we decided to suck it up. *I* think my happiness for two weeks is worth $600, but it is frivolous as Monello pointed out.
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Yesterday we went downtown to the T heads. They are man made jetties that house restaurants, shops & marinas. There are 2 of the and a 3rd L shaped jetty. We saw a few working shrimp boats but didn't see Forrest. We found a parking spot up close which was surprising. Most likely if you see a picture of downtown CC, it was probably taken from the T heads.

The People St T head has 2 restaurants, a gift shop and a marina. We stopped in Harrison's Landing for a drink and an appetizer. The restaurant floats on the water as the other restaurant there. As you can imagine it has a nautical, beachy, tiki vibe. It was nice enough where we could sit outside. For a Saturday afternoon it wasn't super busy. Compared to the rest of the city, this is probably the nicest part of town. After being somewhat put off by the rest of the city, we needed to go somewhere scenic. CC isn't the worst place to visit but it doesn't show well. It seems everything could benefit from a new coat of paint or is in dire need of some landscaping and weed removal. The roads are in pretty bad shape as well. Locally there is a car eating pot hole in a parking lot, so they just put 1 of those orange cones in the hole to warn drivers of its presence. Only about half of the cone is visible since the hole is so deep.

Dinner last night we went back to Little Manila. Pancit and lumpia was on the menu again. The portions are enormous. 1 entree is easily enough for 2 hungry people.

I had to renew my passport this week. I did it at the only post office in town that handles passports. It was about a 15 mile drive from where we are staying. The GPS lady put me on a street that can only be summed up in 1 word. WOW. Most of the homes were in a state of disrepair. There were no curbs on the street and on the side of the road were huge puddles where you would normally park your car. If I happened to live on a street like that, I'd be calling the city public work department to come and pave the road. I don't know why people put up with that. I did a google search and found a single family home on that street that recently sold for $19,000, just to give you and idea of the area. It was a small 1 bedroom, 1 bath place. I know a lot of people that drive cars that they spent more money for what this home sold for. If you ask me, I think they may have overpaid for the home. I was glad it was before 10 am when I went cruising down there. ANyhow I doubt I'll be going to that part of town any time soon. Not unless I want to have someone knocked off and need to find someone to do the dirty deed.

We've had a few cold days while we've been here. The kind of days where you just want to stay in sweat pants and sweat shirt kind of days. 1 of those boring days I did a google search on the notorious street to see how many sex offenders lived in that area. I got a few hits. Then for some reason I plugged in the campground address just for giggles. Sure enough, I got 1 hit. Seems a guy a few street over is on the public safety website. I looked at his crime profile. It doesn't say what crime he was charged with. Many of the other offenders, if you open their profile it will say what crime they are charged with.

Out of concern, I facebook messaged to campground asking if they were aware that there was a sexual offender in the campground. I quickly got a reply back. It wasn't what I was expecting. They wanted to know if I was staying in the campground since they didn't have a Monello as a registered guest. The reservation is under Vrai's name. I replied back what difference does it make. Then they sent me a link to a different public safety site called ICrime. Indeed the person in question didn't come up on that search site. I then replied back including the link to the site I initially used.

I realize that daily we come in close contact to all sorts of criminals. They shop where we shop and walk the streets we walk. But it was somewhat concerning to me that in a campground with children that there is someone living there that either pled guilty to a sex crime or was convicted at trial of the same crime. I know there are different degrees to crimes of this nature but it's still unsettling to some degree. Vrai walks the dog sometimes at night. There aren't a whole lot of people out around here after dark. Anyway the office messages me back saying that if there was someone here on the list that they would be asked to leave. In all our travels so far, I've never felt the need to go and search out the places we've stayed. So that was my drama for the week.

1 of the junky rigs in the campground is gone. This place had all sorts of debris around it's lot. It's right by where we walk the dog. I'd shake my head every time I'd go by there wondering why someone in management doesn't tell them to tidy up. It's obvious they have kids as there were toys and bikes strewn all over. Then the other day they were gone, even though a good bit of the junk was left behind. Vrai opined that maybe they got evicted from the park. Then when we walked by that way we saw a car pull up. Vrai asked it they were there to clean the lot up and if the people had gotten evicted. Turns out it was the previous owner. She was there to get the last of her possessions. She also said the people that moved the trailer left a lot of stuff behind. But I already knew that stuff was there on the ground way before the trailer was moved.

Friday night I went to the clubhouse for Happy Hour. Here's the deal. For $5 you purchase 4 plastic tokens. Each alcohol drink costs 1 token. I asked the bartender if they had a liquor license and if not, how they managed to get around that requirement. Texans are known for their creativity. In Nederland we had to buy a 1 year membership to drink in the bar. By being a private club, the bar wasn't subjected to the same rules as a bar and as such, smoking was allowed inside. The bartender tells me that he isn't selling alcohol. He's selling tokens and gives the alcohol away for free. Wink, wink. OK, works for me.

Corpus Christi lawn mower
DSCN6263.jpg
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Folks, I cannot stress this enough:

Port Aransas is a short drive or ferry ride from Corpus, and infinitely more appealing. THAT is where you want to stay if life brings you into this area.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Our site (this is supposed to be a premium site, btw):

DSCN6254.JPG

The neighbors:

DSCN6260.JPG

The bay walk is pretty:

DSCN6265.JPG
DSCN6268.JPG

And literally one block away:
DSCN6285.JPG
DSCN6286.JPG
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
North Beach is what should be their boardwalk/shop/stay/play area. Unfortunately:

DSCN6296.JPG
DSCN6298.JPG
DSCN6320.JPG

I'd like to blame hurricane damage, but that's not the case. The last one that affected the area was Harvey over a year ago, and it subsided greatly by the time it hit Nueces County. It's pretty clear that North Beach hasn't been a valid tourist area in years.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
HOORAY! :yahoo: I'm so happy!!!! :cartwheel:

Friday we leave Hell and arrive at Port A RV Resort in Port Aransas!

:yahoo:

I decided that I cannot suck this up any longer after the stray dogs invaded the campground and the office people didn't seem terribly concerned. One more day! :bann:

I really don't understand why anyone stays here. Monello went to one of the happy hours and he said they're all chummy, so that has to be it - they're here because their friends are here. But honestly, you live in a freaking motor home and can live literally anywhere - what on earth made you pick this slum????

And that is only one of the nice things about motorhome living: if it sucks where you're at, you can easily be somewhere else.
 
Top