Bayfront of Corpus Christi

This last posting for Corpus Christi will cover what we have been doing in the last couple of days, which has been essentially hanging around the waterfront.  Yesterday the park we are residing in had a wiener roast on the beach close to where we were parked last week.  There is a sense of community in many of the recreational vehicle parks here down south.  A lot of the snow birds come to the same place yearly. and after the winter months return to their homes up north.  So at the picnic yesterday John and I were the outsiders, but everyone was friendly and introduced themselves to us.  The food was delicious and afterwards John and I joined a group playing ladder ball.  Before leaving the seashore we did take some time for walk on the beach.  For some reason numerous jelly fish could be seen partially buried in the sand.

The jellyfish pictured above is of a different variety than the one I posted last week.  The stringy substance above the fish are its tentacles.  We also saw numerous dead monarch butterflies on the beach, and wondered whether that was a normal occurrence when they migrate along the coastline.  Guess I will have to do some research on that!

Today, Wednesday, we drove into downtown Corpus Christi to visit the art museum.  The first section, made of poured concrete and shell aggregate, was built in 1972.  The second section was built in 2006 and features 13 roof-top pyramids. Currently there is a special display of Christmas trees from around the world.  Public and private schools in the area decorated the trees.  They were encouraged to research their chosen country, create themed decorations and trim their tree accordingly.  After the exhibit the trees with their decorations will be donated to needy families.  Many of the decorations were made from such simple materials as popsicle sticks, felt, paper, yarn and ribbons, and yet the total effect was quite beautiful on every tree!  I especially like the Italian tree, which had a culinary theme.

 The South Texas Museum of Science and History is next to the art museum, so that is where we headed next.  We arrived in time for a tour on the Pinta.   In 1983 the Spanish Navy and other specialists engaged in a study of the three Columbus ships.  They then drew up construction plans for building the ships, taking care to insure authentic reproduction of the historic vessels.  For a variety of reasons the carvels ended up on the waterfront of Corpus Christi in 1993.  Unfortunately, they have since been damaged by a barge and now sit in dry dock.  The Pinta has been partially repaired and we were able to board it with a guide.  Actually, there is not much to tour on the ship- there is no galley, sleeping cabins or heads.  The crew of 27 slept out on the deck, during storms they went below to the cargo bay where there just maybe could be animals running around.  On calm days they could cook hot meals in an iron kettle on the deck.  After seeing the primitive conditions on those vessels I have developed a healthy respect for our early explorers!