Corpus Christi Because We Can

Today we leave San Antonio and head south to Corpus Christi, a city of about 350,000 on the Gulf of Mexico. We hope to see four attractions before bending north-east towards the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

Texas State Aquarium

Just kidding. The Texas State Aquarium is a fairly big deal. It has extensive exhibits covering Caribbean waters and shores. It's much more than a shark tank. Have a look at the link above.

Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

I am particularly interested in the exhibit of La Salle's flagship "La Belle", sunk in 1686. As you can see they recovered large bits of it and many more artifacts. This ship and three others in the fleet brought great changes to this part of North America. 

Here's a little video of the recovery, restoration, and exhibit of La Belle.

After a couple of hours at the museum we are ready for lunch at Catfish Charlie's:

Now we are ready for some orchids.

South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center

This features 180 acres of different ecological niches including an orchid house with 3,000 orchids, and 100 varieties of my favorite tropical flower, Plumeria. We are only here for a short visit as our fourth goal is the seashore.

Padre Island National Seashore

North Padre Island is a 65 mile long beach, the longest barrier island in the world. The park is primitive with limited access to the public. We are here for the shore birds.

Roseate Spoonbill and Great White Egret

Did I forget to mention that this trip is really all about birds? We are here in South East Texas to view the spring migration of pretty much all the birds of east and central North America. It's in this area that the Central and Mississippi Flyways intersect and birds wintering in South and Central America cross here on their way north. Over a six week period 300,000,000 birds pass over a fifty mile stretch of coast, and they are all in breeding plumage (and all flying 2 metres apart).

Here's a little video about the kind of stuff that gets me excited:

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

We have been happily surprised at the number of things to see and do in and around this area. I hope you enjoyed our little travelogue today. In a day or so we will move along to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and Galveston.

Here's a more extensive list of things to see and do in Corpus Christi

[Editor's Note: I have sprinkled links throughout the text which will tell you more about the places we are (almost) visiting. Rather than call them rabbit holes to get lost in, I prefer to think of them as Easter Eggs - you might find a surprise]