The Gulf Coast

April 28, 2010

Drove from San Antonio, Texas to Corpus Christi and saw the Gulf of Mexico for the first time.  Apparently, the oil spill the is in the news is hitting east of Texas, so the beaches remain beautiful here.  We had heard of camp site in Corpus Christi and when we got there, we checked in and dropped the 5th wheel.  This is by far the southern most point in our trip.  We are actually about 1/2 way down Florida if you look at a map.  After we arrived we decided to go for a drive, across the bridge to South Padre Island (pictured).  There are miles of sand dune along the coast line and they have converted much of the dune into an island with resorts, shopping centres, etc.  The temperature is in the high 80s and the humidity is unbelievable.  The wind is blowing constantly so it is usually comfortable.  Most of the houses are built on stilts because of the constant threat of flooding from the gulf.  There was a State Park camp site out on the island but the wind was blowing hard so we ruled it out.

As you drive north/east up S. Padre Island, you cross a bridge onto Mustang Island and we continued to Port Aransas (pictured). We took a 10 minute ferry back to the mainland and continued to a little town called Rockport.  It is a small fishing village, much like where I grew up in Steveston, BC.  We found a small trailer park and they had a site from which you can see the Gulf and we moved there on April 29, and have been there ever since.  We love it here and have met some of the locals.  But is it hot and humid.  If you sit outside, you sweat without even moving.  Thank godness for air conditioning.  There is lots to do here and there are many funky restaurants/bars.  We went on a bike ride, and toured the Fulton Mansion which was built in 1870 and is beautifully restored.  They had a May Day celebration there today with people in costumes of the era, and games for the kids.

May 1, 2010 - Today we drove back to Corpus Christi to visit the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier.  It is an awesome exhibit as they let you tour throughout the entire ship, from down in the engine room, all the way up to the Captain's bridge at the top of the tower.  They also display many planes and fighter jets, from the early days of WWII to modern day jets.  They had a fighter pilot training film in the IMAX theatre, that put you in the seat of a fighter jet, and you learn how they train for battle.  It has always been a dream of mine to fly in a fighter jet and they had a flight simulator on the ship.  I was all excited about getting to simulate flying a jet, but it turns out that it wasn't that realistic....I had fun anyway.  A really neat function at the Lexington is they allow groups of kids to have sleep-overs on board the ship.  The ship is a kids playground but they would need strict supervision as there are many places that a young mind could get themselves in trouble.

I guess Laurie was right, I shouldn't have tried to sneak onto the Lexington without paying the entrance fee??

We are planning on hanging out in Rockport for a couple more days to enjoy the Gulf Coast