In October of last year, I spent a couple days in Corpus Christi at a work conference. One morning, I put on my running shoes, bought a cheap disposable camera in the hotel gift shop, and headed out for a run. I ran for about an hour (which is more than I usually run) and stopped along the way and took pictures of numerous churches and other interesting things I saw along the way. I did not remember that Selena Quintanilla was from Corpus Christi, so I was interested to see the memorial to her by the beachfront.
Mostly, I was struck by how run down the city was; there were actually only a couple restaurants even open in the area right along the beach and by the big beachfront hotels. Later, I talked to my brother, who used to live there and worked as a reporter for the local paper, who said that a greedy land developer owned almost all the land down by the waterfront and won’t sell it to let anyone else improve/maintain it. I cannot verify this story so please don’t ask me to.
It was sunny and about 60 degrees–an absolutely perfect “fall” day in Texas.
;
I enjoyed your walk (run) Heather.
That’s my hometown! I miss the bayfront.
Thanks Heather. You really just saw one small corner of Corpus. The growth and “development” has all been to the south. There is plenty of new strip-mall sprawl, mega-churches and all. And now days there is more beachfront activity out on the island.
Hey Nefilinda.
Indeed! I didn’t even have a car–just took a shuttle from the airport to the beachfront hotel. My brother and his family used to live there, though, so we’ve seen some other parts of Corpus as well! ;)
It has definitely grown since I lived there! But, oh, how I still remember the smell of salt in the air. I didn’t even realize how much I loved that smell until I moved somewhere with plain ol’ normal air. :)