Trip to Corpus Christi

Wow, I took my first business trip in a year to Corpus Christi, Texas.  Since I have never visited that city and the weather was nice, I got out as much as I could to explore.

I want to share a few things I did after work hours.

South Texas Botanical Gardens

Now, I don’t have much of a green thumb but I love plants.  I will only baby an ugly plant for so long and then it goes in the trash.  But visiting lush, green places makes me so happy.  I have always loved botanical gardens.

The weather was pretty nice while I was in Corpus Christi, but, after all, it was February and it was still winter.  That meant the gardens were not in full bloom and probably not as stunning as it might be in April or May.

They have cages around the property for “animal ambassadors.”  These are rescue animals who have safe homes there.  The cages were mostly empty for the winter and the animals were elsewhere.  I hate to see animals in cages, but I love that these are rescues.

Many of the same plants we have in Arizona were featured there and they weren’t so eye catching.  There was a building for bromeliads and I guess this isn’t their season because I didn’t see a bloom.  Honestly, that whole building full of plants would have gone in the garbage if I were the caretaker.

The orchid house, however, was a different story.  True story, I have a house full of faux orchids because I love them so much.  I don’t have the patience to wait for a year after one bloom dies awaiting another, so I buy faux.

Outdoor art graces the grounds and I loved the plant-filled roadrunner and butterfly.

Food

My co-workers and I found Hester’s Café located in an upscale shopping area with a dining courtyard.  We ate lunch there twice and their food was fresh, healthy and delish.  Blueberry iced tea, anyone?  Yum.  The weather was nice and the setting was so pretty and calming.  Loved it.

The cardamom tea I wrote about recently was from another restaurant I visited, Ginger Café. I ordered lentil soup and a vegetarian combo plate with all the usuals – hummus, falafel, etc.  Heaven.

Grackles

I haven’t researched this, but there were millions of grackles gathering on power lines and rooftops every evening.  I could hear them in my car with the windows up.  I have a feeling they migrate there for the winter, but wow, I’ve never seen so many birds in one spot.  Except in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, of course.

Beaches

The gulf waters were lovely, but the beaches were a huge disappointment because there were no continuous paths for walking, running or biking. Much of the beach was fenced off as part of homes’ private property.

That beachy air certainly felt good though.

USS Lexington

The USS Lexington is a WWII aircraft carrier converted into a museum.  I wasn’t able to visit, but it surely does look grand docking right there in Corpus Christi.

Mansions

Much of the town has very humble neighborhoods, but oh, boy, when those Texans build a mansion, they do it up big!  The huge houses make anything in Beverly Hills look petite.  There was quite a row of mansions just down about a mile from where I was working.  I changed into exercise clothes at work and walked all along the area enjoying the housing eye candy.

I saw feral cats several different places. While it breaks my heart to think about these homeless felines, I really get my kitty fix if they’re friendly. Near the beach I saw a Siamese older kitten. Honest to Pete, if I could have gotten my hands on that baby, it would have been coming home to Arizona with me. So adorable.

It was nice getting out and seeing a different part of this great county, meeting new people and seeing some old co-workers. All-in-all, a good trip.

Thanks for coming along with me. I’ll share some upcoming travel as well since I’m not home much to work on anything there. Well, shoot, I guess that means spring cleaning is going to have to wait.

Have a good week!