A Corpus Christi getaway

Corpus Christi has always been our quick getaway destination of choice. It's a short trip and much like Victoria, it doesn't have the traffic congestion or the feeling of a large city like Houston or Austin. When we have more or make time, we would rather visit San Antonio, Houston or Austin.

I'm sure Corpus Christi has grown but I haven't seen it, downtown is still empty, and during the non summer season, it's pretty easy to get a four star hotel for a reasonable price. I liked the idea of going out to the beach; having a drink and watching the tide come in. Saturday, we made a decision to finally make a commitment to watch a Corpus Christi Hooks game this summer. It might become habit forming.

On the way back from Corpus Christi my wife ran out things to tell me I guess, because she started listening to her music, so as I was driving home and my mind started drifting. I started thinking of our past vacations and wondered why we always chose a specific destination. I then started wondering why we never visited the landmarks between Victoria and Corpus Christi. I noticed several historical markers as we approached Refugio but I can't remember them now. I wondered who owned those historical homes and why don't I know more about them. I started wondering how I would feel if I ever attend a Refugio Bobcat game. I wondered if I could catch up in all of the fan energy. It's possible because I remember a three game series in Chicago where we felt the Chicago Cub fever. Their fans love their" Cubbies" win or lose and they are very knowledgeable baseball fans.

I think we get complacent because our state has a lot of history and out of the way places where a family could enjoy themselves. We're lucky to be living in Victoria because it is indeed the crossroads where it's merely a 3 hour drive at the most, to a great place to visit. I remember several years ago, (the song will almost date it) an old army buddy called me from North Carolina because he and his family that were taking a Texas vacation. He wanted to see two things; the Alamo and China Grove, the latter because of the song about the city. He was pretty disappointed because I remember him saying that the Alamo was no bigger than the average size beer joint and he must have thought China grove was a metropolis. All in all, the Hemisphere Tower, River Walk, Governor's Palace, great Mexican food, a few margaritas and Tecates more than made up for his brief disappointment. He and his wife said they definitely would come back to Texas but next time, they wanted to see Luckenback, Texas but to my knowledge, they never did experience that disappointment.

I used to think an old timer was crazy when he used to tell us that the best vacations are the ones where you take the back roads. I've had some of those but it wasn't intentional, it was because we got lost. Oh those pre GPS days.