corpus christi!

ever heard of it??

it's right on the coast of the gulf of mexico!

it was a two and a half hour drive from john's house in san antonio. we made the trip last monday with john and kathy. we actually went to port aransas, which is a little town right outside of corpus christi. we checked into our hotel and immediately went to the beach! i have never been anywhere in the gulf of mexico and let me tell you...it was heavenly. 

it literally felt like i was in bath water. the weather mixed with the water temperature was absolutely perfect! we all spent a couple hours boogie boarding and just playing in the water. 

after the beach, we hurried to get ready and ran down to the boat dock where we had plans for a sunset cruise! so fun!

the view was so beautiful. there were probably only ten other people on the boat, it was really private. there were lots of places to sit and we could talk with the captain if we wanted. we even got to see a few dolphins! i love dolphins so much simply because they all have the cutest constant smile on their faces. 

(example a., example b. and example c.)

it was so beautiful and relaxing. it was nice to just sit and watch the sunset with no other distractions. the fresh air was nice and i really enjoyed just being able to talk to jon while surrounded by such pure beauty. 

i kept telling my FIL that i wanted to buy a cheap cowboy hat from a gas station or grocery store. these hats almost made the cut....almost. 

this was part of our continental breakfast at the hotel.

texas loves texas.

we woke up bright and early the next day (8:30 am...) and headed out on the town. we made a stop at this funny shark statue for pictures. there were more than one of these! i'm just glad he wasn't real!!!!!

then we drove to corpus christi for some site seeing. we toured through the uss lexington aircraft carrier. these things intrigue me so much, i love seeing the tiny beds the service members sleep in while on board and also love seeing where they visit the dentist. it seems like a very large doll house!! 

after the museum, we went to the texas state aquarium. jon was the most excited about this because he loves seeing the creepy underwater creatures which i am not a fan of. there were a lot of cool things to see though, including this real life alligator! i don't think i've ever seen one before! he wasn't that great...he just sat there.  

look at this scary picture of jon. so unflattering, but look at that little sea horse scooting by. those things are the cutest ever!!!! i love them! 

we headed home after a few hours at the aquarium. it was such a fun little staycation! i kept being amazed by my surroundings because port aransas and corpus christi were both unlike anywhere i have ever been before. it was a good experience, and i would definitely go back.