The next location on our Texas ‘hit-list’ was a little fishing town called Corpus Christi, it’s about a three and a half hour drive from Houston (slightly further than Austin and San Antonio) and we scored big on accommodation, using our credit card points for a seriously cheap stay.
Our first port of call, was dinner. We left Houston around 4.15pm and arrived at 7.45pm. We were starving. As always, I rely heavily on Trip Advisor reviews when I visit a new place and they directed us to a place called, the Water Street seafood inc. It was the first place we ate on our weekend away, and it was our favourite.
Hubby had catch of the day, grouper (pecan crusted) with fries and a salad. I had pecan crusted tilapia, with veggies and a salad, we shared some smoked gouda mac and cheese and they had delicious hot, fresh bread rolls with garlic butter – it was win, win and win!
Both of the fish were delicious (I tried hubbys too), I’m normally fussy about the batter fish comes in, but it was even delicious. I left most of it though cause it was so filling and I just wanted to enjoy the huge piece of fish.
Portions were great, the buttermilk walnut salad dressing was absolutely divine and I kept it after the server took my salad plate away so I could eat it with my entree. My only criticism about the food was there there was a way too powerful dose of herbs and seasoning on my veggies, which made them difficult to enjoy.
Service was fantastic, quick, friendly and even after we’d paid our check, our server asked us if we wanted to-go refills, which in itself is rare.
When I see ‘Texas State’ anything, I expect big, bigger than a regular aquarium, bigger than OUR regular aquarium – this place wasn’t as big as I had expected it to be. First things first, the majority of this aquarium is outside – bring sunscreen and water.
My favourite exhibitions were the rays (though they’d just started feeding them when we arrived so it was like a ZOO (haha!) over there!), the turtles and the dolphins. The inside exhibitions were a welcome break from the heat (God bless AC!) and we brought some little trinkets home from the gift shop. It is best for you to check Jimmy John Shark, for fishing related advice and information.
They also have a splash-pad and kids area so bring a towel!
Parking is $5, but if you go over to the USS Lexington parking, it’s $3.50.
Cost: $17 – Google for a coupon, we got a buck or two off
Duration of visit: An hour or two.
Not the best service, the lady wasn’t very nice at all, but the food was good and cheap, and the view of the Lexington and the water was lovely. The loud, live music could have been, uhm, less? We could barely hear ourselves talk over the noise!
Stay simple – have the fish n’chips, the onion rings were tasty too!
This was our 2nd WWII ‘museum’ vessel (first being the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge) and I have to say, I was very impressed. The Lex is HUGE, with so many additional dimensions to it, a floor filled with aircraft, different exhibitions, a wonderful view and a welcome breeze.
LOTS to look at and poke around, be sure to leave at least 3 hours for a good mosey, I wish we’d left a little more time to have a good look around all areas of the ship, but we got most things in.
Cost: $14.95
Duration time: 3+ hours
Again, I picked our second night dinner location from a list on Trip Advisor. We fancied some BBQ after having fish, fish and more fish since we arrived.
Plastic plates, cutlery etc really isn’t what I’ve come to expect from places, mostly cause it’s such a waste of plastic and it makes me feel like I’m in the ‘back of beyond’, surely we could do regular plates? No?
The food was good, bbq sauce was tangy with a kick, (though the chopped bbq was FAB!) the sides we also tasty, the atmosphere and staff are friendly and welcoming and the free soft-serve ice cream was a nice touch too, but a few hot, fresh bread rolls instead of sliced bread would also be a nice addition.
South Padre Island
We decided to take a spin to the beach and have a wee dander, ankle deep in the gulf. On our way over to S. Padre Island, we stopped at a tourist shop to shop for trinkets (it’s the one with the HUGE mermaid outside) and it wasn’t all that noteworthy. Don’t bother stopping!
Down at the beach, it was a gorgeous day, the sand was hot, the sun was bright and the beach went on for miles. It’s definitely worth a drive.
From there, we drove through a couple of small towns, to Port Aransas where we took the free, short ferry back over to Corpus Christi – that was fun. If you have a chance, it’s worth the drive. It’s a novelty, something quirky to do on your trip.
The last stop on our trip that I want to mention, (we did eat at one other place that’s not very noteworthy) is Snoopy’s Pier. It’s right next door to another seafood restaurant, I can’t comment on that one, but we did have fun in Snoopys.
First piece of advice, sit outside – it’s gorgeous out there, the view is nice and if you over the pier, you’ll see schools of fish swimming around next to you while you eat.
The guy here that took our order wasn’t particularly friendly or nice, but the food was good.
Cash only – wth? Are we in the dark ages?!
I tried the baked snapper, it was on the specials board. However it said it came with veggies, and I asked to substitute the veggies for fries. My meal came and it was fish with rice and fries…if I’d known there was a starch, I’d not have asked for fries!!
My snapper was probably the most expensive thing on the menu, and it was smaller than my husbands portion of fish and chips. It was as though they cut my fish into 2 or 3 pieces to give to other people. I was very disappointed cause it was tasty!
Fries were cold, but the rice was nice. Small criticism, drinks aren’t fountain drinks, so you pay for a can and don’t get refills.
Staybridge Suites Extended Stay Hotel Corpus Christi
One last place I should mention to y’all, is where we stayed. The Staybridge suites were, essentially the best hotel we’ve stayed in (minus the excessively loud AC unit that wasn’t as great at cooling as it was making noise).
The location was great, it was surrounded by places to eat, ok they are mostly chain restaurants, but if you don’t want to venture in to the belly of Corpus Christi’s restaurant scene, then it’s handy to have options nearby.
Aside from being clean and having great amenities (the kitchenette was very handy to have), the staff were friendly and made sure we could stay right next door to our friends.
The pool and hot tub area is great, they also have a basketball court and a few gas bbq’s so if you’re there a while and want to have a bbq by the pool, you can.
It was all about the ‘little things’ for me, having microwave popcorn in the room to pop while we stayed in on a rainy afternoon, was lovely. We didn’t even need to leave our room to sign for our pizza, the system works very well and we’d actively search for one of these hotels going forward, in any city we go to visit!
As for Corpus Christi itself…
If you want entertainment, partying and out on the town til the wee hours, this is not the place for you. But, if you want some quality ‘r & r’ and some gorgeous beaches and sea food? Head to Corpus Christi for a couple days, it really did the trick for me, I came back feeling rested and as though the beach washed away some of the worlds troubles…