There is so much to see and do in this area; even though
we’ve been here since November 1, 2013 we’re not done yet!
Tuesday we visited the Texas State Aquarium, located in
Corpus Christi. What a treasure! The Aquarium is a nonprofit aquarium dedicated
to promoting environmental conservation and rehabilitation of the wildlife of
the Gulf of Mexico. Friends Ron and Kathryn joined us for this adventure.
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| Aerial view of the Aquarium |
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| Walkway to the Aquarium. |
Located on the Gulf of Mexico (and next to the USS
Lexington), the aquarium covers an area of 6.3 acres. Although parts of the
aquarium weren’t open due to renovation, we saw a lot! Exhibits include:
· Amazon complete with poison dart frogs and piranhas, boa constrictors, and a bird eating spider, as well as an Amazon parrot can
be seen in the Amazon exhibit, along with many other reptiles and fish.
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| Chestnut Mandibled Toucan |
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| Green tree frog |
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| Piranha |
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| Green Amazon parrot |
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| Boa constrictor, in the process of shedding |
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| Bumblebee dart frog (very poisonous in the wild) |
· Dolphin Bay with a 400,000 gallon saltwater tank,
housing 2 Atlantic bottlenose dolphins that put on educational presentations 2
or 3 times per day. Video of dolphin show
· Eagle Pass featuring rehabilitated raptors,
including a bald eagle named Grace. All raptors in the exhibit are not able to
be released due to physical limitations and disabilities stemming from their
injuries.
· Floating Phantoms is a 800 gallon exhibit that contains
a variety of jellyfish and sea nettle, most of which can be found in the Gulf of Mexico.
· Flower Gardens replicate a coral reef in a 40,000
gallon tank. This exhibit includes tarpon, green moray eels and stingrays. (currently
closed for renovation)
· Hawn Wild Flight Theater featuring a variety of trained birds, including parrots, hawks, owls, falcons and buzzards. And, the coati.
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| Harris Hawk |
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| Maccaw |
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| Military Maccaw |
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| 1-Winged Buzzard |
Here are some videos of some of the birds and animals in this exhibit.
Islands of Steel, the largest exhibit at the aquarium,
is a 125,000 gallon tank featuring sharks, amberjack, tarpon, grouper,
barracuda, sand tiger sharks, and many other species that could be found in a naturally occurring habitat in the Gulf
of Mexico.
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| Redfin Shark |
Living Shores includes a really cool “touch pool” exhibit that allows visitors to interact with hermit crabs horseshoe crabs, lightening whelks and pencil urchins, among other creatures. In this area are a variety of seahorses, too.
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| Alligator eggs and babies |
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| Hemit crab |
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| Hermit crabs and Horseshoe crab (flipped on its back) |
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Pregnant Seahorse; note that the male
carries the young until they are born. |
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| Toad Fish (above and below) |
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| Vaca Bicolor |
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| Yellow Surgeon Fish |
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| Yellow-tailed Damsel Fish |
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| Neon Goby (above and below) |
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| Lionfish |
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| Matamata Turtle |
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| Clownfish |
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| Blue Crab |
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| Yellow Angelfish |
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| Yellow Banded Leporinus |
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| Pipefish |
· Otter Creek features 4 North American River
Otters that interact with one another and their trainers. (not open when we
were there)
· Stingray Flats is the aquarium’s largest outdoor
touch pool where visitors can touch Atlantic and cownose stingrays. (not open)
· Swamp Tales brings a 10½ foot American alligator
up close and personal. Also in this exhibit are 6 species of freshwater turtles
and tortoises.
· Tortuga Cay, an exhibit of rehabilitated sea
turtles that due to their injuries cannot be released. This exhibit includes 3
green sea turtles, 1 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, 1 hawksbill sea turtle, and a
loggerhead sea turtle.
After a wonderful
4 hours at the aquarium, we needed sustenance so we headed back to Rockport, to
Shempy’s Grill for their fabulous hamburgers, onion rings, fried okra, and wonderful rum-soaked bread pudding and a
brownie ice cream sundae. YUM!
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| Outdoor eating area at Shempy's Grill |
Wednesday was a
day of sunshine and temperatures in the mid-70s. What more could one want? We
did our daily walk along Fulton Beach Road and observed egrets, blue herons, a
buzzard, ducks and the windy, raging waters. We never get tired of seeing these
birds.
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| Buzzard atop electric pole. |
That afternoon
we played our usual Wednesday games of Pegs and Jokers—this time with 10
people. Wow! Women took the men 2:0! Woot-woot!!! This was followed by happy
hour, then dinner at the Butter Churn with 13 fellow RVers to celebrate friend
Lyn’s birthday. What a good time!
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Butter Churn, L to R: Jim (with fist raised), Ed, Angie, Bonnie, Jerry,
Eugene, Margery, Lyn, (facing Bonnie), Joe |
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Butter Churn, L to R: Connie, Ed, Angie, Bonnie, Eugene, Margery,
Margaret, me, Lynn, Mike, Ida, (Joe's head), Jim |
Temperatures
were in the low 70s already by 8 a.m. Thursday. We walked along Fulton Beach
Road that morning, then met Ron and Kathryn for lunch. Located right across the
highway from Bay View, it’s an easy stop for lunch or dinner. A family-owned
and operated business, it’s open Thursday’s through Saturdays only. We downed
plates of BBQ brisket, pulled pork, and ribs, along with coleslaw, potato
salad, and pinto beans. Again, I say, YUM! They also roast and sell coffee beans and Blue
Bell Ice Cream. You won’t walk away hungry!
That afternoon
Dick and I met Bill and Carole for a few rounds of Pegs and Jokers. Sadly,
women could not pull off a win. Guys took the day, 5:0. Sad…
Friday we woke
to wind, wind, and more wind. Although the sun was shining and the temperatures
were in the low 70s, we decided to walk around the RV park as it was too windy to walk
along the water. Then, Dick rode the motorcycle to Aransas Pass to visit with
friends Dave and Pat (Wisconsin). We met them last year when they stayed in an
RV park across the highway from us.
After happy
hour at 4 that afternoon at the clubhouse, we were invited to have dinner with Ron
and Kathryn at their camper, where the fare was taco salad followed by Blue
Bell ice cream and hot fudge sauce. YUM! We then played a couple games of the
card game “Golf” before calling it a night. Oh, I won the first game; Dick won
the second. Such good times with friends.
Breezy and
cloudy, Saturday was a good day for baking and cleaning. While Dick took the
usual walk along Fulton Beach Road, I made banana bread and a batch of chocolate
chip cookies to which I added some Heath Bar chips. We shared some of each with
neighbors in the park, as we didn’t need to eat it all ourselves. While the
bread was baking, we moved furniture and vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom and generally
picked up around the camper.
We attended
First Baptist Church of Rockport on Sunday morning. Pastor Jones continued
his messages from the book of John, this time from chapter 18 where Jesus
proclaims He is King, doing the Father’s will as He prepares to go to the cross
as a sacrifice for our sins. Peter’s failure highlights the reason Jesus was
born: sinners need to be saved. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to listen to
the message; here’s the link: http://fbcrockport.net/online-sermons/
After church we met Ron and Kathryn for breakfast at
Caroline’s Turtle Bay Café. Ron had eggs benedict with ham, Kathryn had a pancake dish
with blueberries; Dick had crab cake eggs benedict, and I just can’t get enough
of Caroline’s corned beef hash and eggs. YUM! Later, we met Bill and Carole, Jim and
Patsy, Ron and Kathryn at the clubhouse for the ice cream social followed by a
few games of Pegs and Jokers. Today, men took 2 games, women won 1.
That’s it for this jam-packed week. Time is growing short
for us here at Bay View—just 3 weeks left before we head out on a trip west.
Hope all is well with you; we hope to see you down the road!
Hugs and blessings,
RJ and Gail
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