Corpus Christi Day 1: USS Lexington and the Republic of Texas

James and I had been wanting to take Andrew down to Corpus Christi since last summer, but have never was able to yet. And we kept talking about going this summer, but before we knew it, the summer was nearly ending and we still hadn't gone. And we had planned on going last weekend, but Andrew's illness derailed that plan. But luckily, we finally made it here!!

So, we packed up and left Houston this morning and arrived in Corpus early this afternoon. We drove straight to the hotel to check in and wash up. James and I had talked about staying at the Omni which is right off the bayfront and we remembered it from when we had lived here. I also had looked into getting a beach house or condo because I thought it would be really cool to stay at the beach, but it just didn't work out. Most of the places that I liked required a two-night stay; and we were only going to be staying one night. But it all worked out in the end because I ended up finding a package at the Omni hotel, which served our purposes greatly.

We were a little bit hungry so we wanted to grab a bite to eat. Not only was this trip about taking Andrew around to sightsee, but it was also a chance for James and I to dine at some of our favorites restaurants in the city. We ate at Silverado Smokehouse, which has these beef ribs that are so delicious!

In our hotel room package, we got our tickets for the USS Lexington, which was where we were headed next. James and I knew that Andrew would love the Lexington. I mean, it's a huge ship with airplanes on it. It's an amazing aircraft carrier with lots of history behind it and it's breathtaking to look at (well, to me, it is anyway). Andrew was happy to see all the cool things inside the ship especially the models of other ships.

There was also a 4D movie theater and the next show was one called AirRacers. We thought it might be fun to watch it, but Andrew kept saying that he didn't want to go in. We just told him to try it for a few minutes and if he didn't like it, we would leave. He starts watching it and seems to like it. But then, throughout the movie, he periodically asks "when it over?" And I reply to him, "probably soon". Sure enough, we make it through the entire movie and he says he liked it. Whew.

We go up to the flight deck and check out all the planes. This size of the ship is totally massive!! It's so amazing! We walk up to the Gallery Deck including the control center. Andrew said he didn't want to go up or down any more stairs. I think he was a little nervous how narrow and tight things were. And truth be known, I was a little nervous for him. He did do a good job walking everywhere, but I didn't see the need to push him. And he seemed to have enjoyed himself already, but was probably ready to go.

We made a quick trip to the gift shop and picked him up a diecast airplane and headed out to see more of the city. We drove around checking out the city to refresh our memories. We also stopped the Padre Staples Mall to walk around a little bit. Then, we went back to our hotel and took a dip in the hotel pool.

After we got cleaned up, we walked over to the other Omni hotel a couple of blooks down. We weren't very hungry from lunch, but grabbed a small dinner at the Republic of Texas, which was one of our favorites back in the day. We requested a view of the Lexington so Andrew got to see it all lit up at night. It such a beautiful view from up there!

We ended up eating more than we thought we would and decided to talk a walk down the pier and check out the marina. The weather was nice and cool with a light breeze. Totally reminded us of one of the aspects we missed most about Corpus. Then, we headed back to our hotel to call it a night.