Some fish, finally...

So, last time, I had me making reservations at Doc’s and heading off in hopes of giving Martha a wonderful, peaceful, quiet anniversary dinner at a cool, peaceful, corner table someplace. And...and...and...

Nah.

Nice restaurant. Wrong time.

Anyway, the next day we headed out and did a bit more touring. It was a pleasant day, and we got some really good photos. Martha takes terrific shots of the sea, the sky, and mountains. In Corpus we were short on mountains, but we were greatly supplied with ocean and clouds. I took some photos of Martha taking snaps, and I’ll post a few of them below.

Meanwhile, I experimented with some of my infamous close-ups. A few of those, too, I’ll post. Weirdly enough, I think the best of them is the resting old boat cleat that I got along the shore at one point. It looks a bit like a cave in a mountain or something.

I’ve wondered why it is that she is so much better at long-range photos, where I go in for wee tiny closeups. I’m guessing it has to do with our vision. Martha has always had excellent eye-sight, whereas I was myopic from childhood. As a result, if you want something breathtaking and awe-inspiring, say, an Alpine peak or a Turner-esque storm at sea, she’s the one you want.

If, however, you have the morbid desire to see the third nasal hair to the right in the left nostril of the common blood-feeding sand fly (a.k.a. “Phlebotominae,” a.k.a. “nasty little buggers”) of your choice...well, I’m your lad.

Anyway, we rambled about a bit. And then there came time for dinner. I wanted to make up for my faux pas the night before, so we hunted about a bit before we picked a restaurant. The Marina-area seemed a good bet, and there are several restaurants and cafes there.(1) At first we thought we might try Harrison’s Landing, which looked cool and informal.(2) But, we got there and discovered that we would have had to sit outside, and it was still August...dang it. Just too damn hot for al fresco, or even his brother Fred Fresco. Or his sister Filly Fresco. Or...okay, it was a lousy joke, but someone had to make it.

About the photos: First, Martha taking a picture of the sky. You can see her waaaay down in the lower right hand corner. Second, Martha in the wonderful air conditioned coolness of Landry’s. Excellent dinner, btw. Third, the Boat Cleat I mentioned. Looks like a cave, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s Felix Mendelssohn’s: https://youtu.be/zcogD-hHEYs?si=4mmfHySzcARZAnnG

Forth, another view of the same cleat, but a little more complete. Fifth, one of the murals we found in downtown Corpus. More on this to come. Sixth and last, a view of the sea from one of the lovely Miradores (gazebos) along the Corpus Christi Bayfront. There are eight of them, and all have historic significance. See “Miradores,” https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/department-directory/marina/about-us/miradores/

We ended up picking Landy’s Seafood House, and that was just fine.(3) It was air conditioned, indoors, and had a great view of the bay. And the food was excellent. Thus, we had a lovely dinner, and I was redeemed (within reason) for the debacle of the previous night.

Then it was back to the hotel. We’d eaten early, so we still had some sunlight. We put on shorts and took off shoes and headed out to the beach. We walked quite a ways.

Couple of amusing things along the way: A man we’d never met asked out of nowhere how long we’d been married. We told him, and he looked surprised, but pleased. What’s sad of course, is that we’ve had that happen before at various places. People look at us holding hands, or being affectionate at dinner, and they’ll ask if we’re *really* married, and if so, whether it is to each other. I get the feeling that it is not common to get a happy answer.

Another incident in sort of the same vein. We walked down the beach and we encountered a mother with her two children. The kids were building a sand castle, and I complimented them on it. This pleased their mother and she spoke to us briefly.

On the way back, we encountered them again. This time, the father had joined them and was working on the castle with his children. He stood up and smiled at us. Then he said, “When we’re your age, we are going to look just like you.” I’m going to take it as a compliment.

I told them that we’d been married 43 years as of yesterday. They were duly impressed. The wife asked what our advice was. Martha said, “Never call your partner names during a fight.” I added, “Don’t drink and fight. If you’ve had a whiskey or two, everything will get waaaaay worse when you have a disagreement.”

I’m not sure they liked the advice. But I stand by it. Particularly the drinking part.

Then it was back to the hotel. It was getting dark, so we headed up, washed up, and then caught a mystery on Prime Video. I think it was Brokenwood.(4) But, whatever.

That was our last full day at Corpus. But, we still had the morning of the following day. For which, by the way, we had plans.

And they included a rather marvelous tour.

More to come.

Footnotes:

1. For more on the Marina, see https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/department-directory/marina/

2. For Harrison’s Landing, see https://harrisonslanding.net/

3. For Landry’s see, https://www.landrysseafoodhouse.com/location/landrys-seafood-corpus-christi/

4. “The Brokenwood Mysteries,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brokenwood_Mysteries

Forth, another view of the same cleat, but a little more complete. Fifth, one of the murals we found in downtown Corpus. More on this to come. Sixth and last, a view of the sea from one of the lovely Miradores (gazebos) along the Corpus Christi Bayfront. There are eight of them, and all have historic significance. See “Miradores,” https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/department-directory/marina/about-us/miradores/

Care to help out?

I provide these blog postings for free. That’s fine and I’m happy to do so. But, long ago and far away, I was told that if you give away your material, that means you don’t really think it has any value.

So, to get beyond that, I’ve decided to make it possible for you to leave me a “tip” for my posts.

If you like what I write or the videos I produce, and feel you could make a small contribution to support my efforts, please go here:

https://michaeljaytucker.gumroad.com/l/lzumj

That will take you to a Gumroad page where you’ll have the option of leaving me a few pence by way of encouragement.

Again, I don’t mind if you don’t. I just want to provide you with the option so that I won’t feel quite so much like I’m just tossing my works into the wind.

Either way, thanks hugely for dropping by the blog :-)

~mjt

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