Adventures in Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Texas, is known as "The Sparkling City by the Sea," and while staying with my parents at their home on North Padre Island this summer, I had the chance to visit some of the local sites and attractions, including those in downtown Corpus Christi Bay, Flour Bluff, and Mustang Island.

Not surprisingly, the Island is home to some beautiful beaches. Warm, southern winds carry salubrious breezes from the Gulf of Mexico to the shore, where strong waves churn the surf day in and out.

My parents' house is within a 15-minute walk of the beach. Every afternoon, I followed the scenic, winding access road until I saw the thin strip of green-blue sloshing ahead past the dunes.

I realized quickly that no two days are the same on the beach. Every day, a new flock of tourists had driven down in their cars, trucks, RVs, and oddball transport (I saw an old, retired ambulance one day) to enjoy the coast. Different-colored flags were hitched to Bob Hall Pier each morning to alert beach goers to hazards, including strong currents and rip tides, jellyfish, man-o-war, and high levels of bacteria in the water.

A variety of fish and wildlife live at the shore, including seagulls, willets, pelicans, great blue herons, snowy egrets, and royal terns. Dunes rise up from the edge of the wrack line, scoured by wind and rain. Morning glories and railroad vines snake down their sides, and sand crabs pop into sight. Located in a humid subtropical region that closely borders a tropical savanna climate, the barrier island is home to some of the softest, most humid air I've felt.

Thankfully, the breeze kept me cool in the 95-degree heat as I frolicked in the waves, admiring the silhouette of a blue heron rising high up on one of the sandy hills or a group of people riding on horseback, or a pod of pelicans flying in a "V" overhead.

                                       

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A sea turtle rides one of the jetties. Gulls pluck mussels from the sargassum. A little girl pulls her dad in the water. A little boy drops his popsicle in the waves.

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One morning, my parents drove us to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, where we went on a boat tour and had the chance to view some of the area's birds as well as whooping cranes. The refuge is one of the last for the giant whooping crane.

Later in my trip, I traveled downtown to walk around and take some pictures of Corpus Christi Bay. It was about a 30-minute drive to the area, but the time was worth it, because the city offers a view of some really interesting streets. Downtown is quiet and serene with shops and businesses located throughout a growing cultural district.

The city's tagline really became evident when I saw some of the pristine white buildings, walls, and gates that had been bleached by the salt and sun.

Starry-Eyed Bike Ride

After living in San Antonio since February of 2013, I've had the opportunity to explore many of the city's streets, neighborhoods and historical districts on my bicycle.

I titled this blog post "Starry-Eyed Bike Ride" because I always set out on my bike with the hope that my latest ride will be as thrilling as my last. It usually is, but I also worry quite a bit about my safety as I'm sharing the road with motorists.

With the San Antonio City Council's adoption of the SA Corridors plan on Feb. 8, the time seems apt to take life by the handlebars and say what I hope this plan will do to ensure we live in a bicycle-friendly city.

Don't get me wrong: San Antonio has plenty of streets that are fun to explore on two wheels, and they're all the better for intrepid cyclists. There isn't enough adequate signage, greenway or avenues reserved for cyclists and pedestrians, however, to make it a truly safe place.

This is based, first and foremost, on personal experience. Since first moving to the Alamo City with the sky-blue hybrid bike that my parents gave me for my birthday, multiple experiences have shaped my views of cycling in San Antonio.

I bike every weekend. Weekdays sometimes, too. By now, I've forged a route from our apartment in Alamo Heights through the Olmos Basin to Trinity University and back.

One Thursday night over the summer, I joined a legion of riders who leave from Bike World on Broadway Street and cycle through the Olmos Dam to St. Mary's Street, the King William neighborhood and down Alamo Street.

A few weeks later, I biked down Broadway through Brackenridge Park and along the portion of Avenue B that was open at the time, taking St. Mary's south before turning back.

Riding near the Alamo Heights athletic fields.

It was an ambitious trip for someone who wasn't familiar with downtown San Antonio. Many of the lanes are one-way, and I quickly learned that while cyclists have the right-of-way on downtown St. Mary's, a ride in early to mid-morning was a jarring experience.

For one, vehicles park on either side of the street, making it dangerous for passing cyclists. Also, drivers are impatient. I remember several cars honking their horns as I cycled down the lane, while others passed me and zoomed ahead.

The right lane is reserved for buses, making it difficult for cyclists to enter the lane to make a right turn.

I did not feel safe. In fact, I recall a chain-jangling journey, thudding over bricks.

Then there was the street grate incident.

I'd just turned right off Broadway onto Third Street and was rolling along when, all of a sudden, my front bike tire slipped into a street grate with wide gaps, sending me flying over the handlebars onto the pavement.

All the traffic behind me stopped, but I was so shaken, it took a moment to remember what happened. It didn't register that the friendly man who helped me out of the street had been riding his bike behind me when it happened.

I've also seen other cyclists get into mishaps and wrecks, such as the time I was sitting outside Sip on Houston Street when a van edged into the intersection at a red light, throwing a passing cyclist who was obeying traffic rules off his bike onto the pavement.

Though the man was unharmed, the sight of him falling into the street on his bike was enough to dissuade me from riding through that area.

Maybe that's why I'm so excited about SA Corridors.

In addition to its support of a progressive plan for San Antonio that will attract federal funding for rapid transit lines, including bus rapid transit or light rail, it will also mean collaboration between the City of San Antonio's Planning Department and VIA Metropolitan Transit to create a "road map" to improve walking and biking over the next 20 years.

Local groups are encouraged by this news to come up with their own ideas to improve cycling and bike-friendly housing throughout San Antonio's neighborhoods.

One of those groups is San Antonio Neighborhoods for Everyone, which is currently drafting its own proposal to shape the City's future land use decisions and to make neighborhoods welcoming to people of different incomes, including underserved populations.

SANE held a meeting of Urbanists--cyclists who are interested in improving street safety--at Sancho's Cocina y Cantina in January, where guests broke into two groups to discuss unsafe streets and affordable housing.

The first group urged for improved bike safety on main thoroughfares, greenways, crosswalks and sidewalks, while the second advocated increasing engagement from renters by holding infill development workshops and programs to help people transition from residents to homeowners.
Upcoming Urbanist meetings are to be determined.