Aransas Pass Photos

New Community Center

Fire Department

Aransas Pass Community Park & Aquatic Center

Community Park at Ransom Channel

Aransas Pass Conn Brown Harbor

Conn Brown Harbor Park

Memorial Tower in Memory of Fishermen Lost at Sea

Yacht at Conn Brown Harbor

Shrimp Boat Coming Into Harbor

Harbor Cafe & Bait Shop

Abandoned Dock Buildings

Formerly JBS Shrimp Co

This is just one of many closed Conn Brown Harbor Buildings that housed shrimp and fish processing companies and associated support companies.

The oil industry continues to be a significant part of the South Texas economy. For example, there are four oil refineries located in Corpus Christi and Corpus Christi alone continues to produce over .5 million barrels of oil each year.

Aransas Pass – A Closer Look

As I stated in my earlier post, this is the most economically depressed coastal town I have visited. After studying the town history I realized that Aransas Pass has every reason to be depressed, economically and otherwise. Dating back to 1853 their dream was to make Aransas Pass harbor a major deepwater port for the lower Gulf coast. For various reasons ranging from financial panics to hurricanes, the dream was only partially fulfilled. The harbor channel was eventually deepened and widened and oceangoing vessels began to use the port in the early 1900s. Then successive hurricanes in 1916 and 1919 did major damage to Aransas Pass and harbor shipping facilities and in 1920 the Corps of Engineers selected Corpus Christi to be the primary deepwater port for the lower Gulf coast. Aransas Pass harbor continued as an oil terminal but for all practical purposes no further cargo shipments were made in and out of the harbor. So Aransas Pass lost out to Corpus Christi in a fashion very much like the Galveston port lost out to the Houston port after the great 1900 hurricane. Steady growth of shrimping and fishing fleets operating out of Aransas Pass helped the town recover. At one time the shrimping fleet was the largest on the Gulf coast with over 300 shrimp boats. Allied industries grew up around the port and city to support the fishing and shrimping industries. But once again long term economic success eluded the town. Competition from foreign fishermen and domestic fish and shrimp farms has led to a slow decline in the economic condition of Aransas Pass.

Regardless of all of this, Aransas Pass is a little town of 8000 that keeps trying. They attract larger numbers of boaters and fishermen and they continue to provide numerous community parks, beaches, free fishing piers and public boat ramps. I was also surprised to find that they have a large 24/7 fitness center and an Art, Music & Live Theater that provides an art gallery, acoustic music jams, classic movies, live theater and yoga classes.

Will provide Aransas Pass and Rockport photos later after I move on to Victoria, TX. High speed Internet is very bad in this area, making it impossible to upload photos onto my blog.

Tai Chi Master Hoping His "Moving Medication" Cuts Health-care Costs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Bill Douglas has two words for a country desperate to cut its skyrocketing health care costs: Tai chi.

He's not kidding. In a few weeks, Douglas will give a presentation to the National Institutes of Health focusing on tai chi as a modern health solution, the first ever. And thanks to what he calls a "groundbreaking tectonic shift in health care," he's taking some persuasive ammunition with him: a stamp of approval from Harvard Medical School. A May 2009 Harvard Health Publication said that tai chi, often described as moving meditation, should more aptly be called moving medication. The complete article is available at Tai Chi as Moving Medication

Chocolate linked to stronger heart

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug 14, 2009 -- Chocolate eaters in a study of heart attack survivors had lower blood pressure and were less likely to die of heart disease, scientists in Sweden said. … The research built upon earlier work which suggested a strong link between cocoa-based products and improvement in blood flow. The complete article is available at Chocolate Linked to Stronger Heart

Rockport Fulton

I've moved on to Rockport. Actually I'm staying in Aransas Pass, which is about 10 miles away from Rockport but hotels are about 40% cheaper. Aransas Pass is the most economically depressed coastal town I have visited, which explains the cheap hotel rates. Rockport and Fulton are two towns about 30 miles south of Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi & Port Aransas Photos & Comments

Although they have many beaches, Corpus Christi and Port Aransas are primarily fishing and boating towns. Below are some places I visited. Click the titles for their web sites.

South Texas Botanical Gardens & Nature Center

This 180-acre center is located on the city's affluent south side nearly touching the northern reaches of the world-famous King Ranch. There are many upscale housing developments nearby, so it's a good thing they acquired the land for the center years ago. Their booklet states "The Center is a leading South Texas tourism destination showcasing a unique blend of colorful, exotic floral exhibits bordered with vast conserved areas of native habitat and natural wetlands." They go on to say "Our wetlands are natural, so water levels vary from extremely full to completely dry, depending on the heavy moisture or definite drought cycles - both common to South Texas." Needless to say the wetlands aren't wet right now. The severe drought makes the center look a little muted – they water very few of the plants. Nonetheless it's amazing how well the mostly native plants continue to thrive. They have a large greenhouse for the bromeliads, orchids and roses and are completing a 2600 square-foot open-air butterfly house that has a wide range of colorful flowers and vines. It will house both native and migratory butterflies. But the really impressive areas are the native habitats that have a wide range of native cactus, grasses, shrubs and small trees.

Texas State Aquarium

The aquarium has a wide range of fish, sharks, dolphins and aquatic animals, as well as eagles. The most impressive part to me was their observation deck on top of the aquarium.

USS Lexington from the Texas State Aquarium observation deck

USS Lexington

The USS LEXINGTON rests in Corpus Christi Bay, just across the ship channel from downtown Corpus Christi, Texas. The carrier was involved in many critical Pacific battles and received the Presidential Unit Citation and 11 battle stars for World War II service. It was decommissioned in 1991 and donated to Corpus Christi to be operated as a museum.

Art Center

Mini park in front of the Art Center

Park behind Art Center

Omni Hotel on beach

Mansion south of Corpus Christi one block off the beach. There are many mansions right on the beach but it's hard to photograph them because of fences and lots of trees and landscaping.

Museum of Science & History
The museum has an overwhelming number of marine science, paleontology, earth science, natural history and nautical exhibits and a wide range of artifacts including many from three 1554 Spanish shipwrecks off Padre Island. The museum also has reproductions of Christopher Columbus' ships built by Spain to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his voyages to the New World. The Pinta and Santa Maria are located at the museum and the Nina is moored at the Corpus Christi Marina. It also has exhibits of important Texas historical persons, as well as an exhibit honoring Selena, a Mexican-American singer who has been called "The Queen of Tejano music."

WaterStreet Market
is a funky open-air courtyard of unusual shops in the downtown entertainment district. It has four restaurants including two seafood restaurants, a gourmet coffee shop and the Executive Surf Club that provides free entertainment most evenings. It also has a clothing store, record store, gift shop, graphic design store and a cat house. No, not that kind of cat house – it's a cat gift shop. It also has the Texas Surf Museum and the South Texas Music Walk of Fame. The Texas Surf Museum is just what it's name infers. It has hundreds of pieces of surfing memorabilia, including many historic Texas surf boards and photos. The South Texas Music Walk of Fame contains many musicians such as Guy Clark, Bubble Puppy and others who are largely unknown outside Texas. Buddy Holly (Lubbock) and Janis Joplin (Port Arthur), two of Texas' biggest stars, are not represented because they weren't born in or lived in South Texas.

Port Aransas

Mustang Island

North Padre Island

Padre Island National Seashore

Pharmaceutical Fountain of Youth Could Cost Pennies

"It's not a matter of if, but when," said gerontologist David Sinclair of a drug that promises a long and healthy life — not quite a fountain of youth, but perhaps a fountain of fitness.

Best of all, predicted Sinclair, you'll be able to afford it. …" The complete article is available at http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/06/pharmaceutical/

COMMENT: Medical science has known for some time that caloric restriction causes a slowing of the biological clock. Now some studies show that resveratrol targets a gene activated by calorically restricted diets.

Corpus Christi Impressions

Overall: Corpus Christi was lucky last fall when Hurricane Ike turned north and hit Galveston. They had only minor wind and damage. Some shops, stores, homes and even one large hotel downtown are closed but I think the economic downturn is the cause and not Ike.

Tourist: So far I have visited the beach, downtown entertainment district, USS Lexington, Texas State Aquarium, South Texas Botanical Gardens & Nature Center, Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History and the Corpus Christi Art Center. The Chamber of Commerce says this has been a good summer but there are very few tourists anywhere and only moderate crowds on the beaches. They say house prices and sales declined the first half of this year for the first time in over twenty years but that sales picked up again in July.

Weather: Upper 90s but much more comfortable than Galveston because the humidity is much lower and there is a constant wind off the Gulf. The locals say August is the worst month with higher temperatures and humidity.

Beach: Corpus Christi beach sand is coarse but Port Aransas and Mustang Island beaches are comparable to Atlantic beaches. The water is a beautiful emerald green and its temperature is about as warm as Ocean City MD, which was a surprise to me.

Seafood: Overall disappointing. First I tried Pier 99 on the beach that is supposed to be a tourist favorite. I had seafood gumbo soup and grilled amberjack. Okay but average. An Internet date took me to dinner at the Water Street Seafood Co. in the WaterStreet Market. The crab stuffed mushrooms were good but the crab cakes were disappointing. Problem is crab cakes in Texas have so much stuffing that you can barely taste the crab. The WaterStreet Market is a funky open-air courtyard of unusual shops in the downtown entertainment district. More on that later. So far my favorite is Blackbeard's On the Beach, a small grungy restaurant one block off the beach. I love their Pirate's Stew. They start with a tortilla soup base and add crab, shrimp, rice, veggies and a little hot sausage. I also liked their Seashell Salad, which is a salad with crab, shrimp and avocados in a tortilla shell.

Photos and More Comments: Will add later.

Dallas

I'm back in Dallas for some more stock options training. Will head to Corpus Christi next Wednesday August 5th.

I solved my blog post problem. It was a combination of Internet 8 and some changes that Google made in their blog server software. When I switched to Firefox the problems went away.