Cruisin' Around Corpus

Corpus Christi is a great city to spend a weekend, a vacation, or a few days playing. You'll find some good lodging, great restaurants, fun nightlife, several interesting attractions, and lots to see and do in and around the city of Corpus. Take a look at our Top Ten Fun Things to See and Do in Corpus and our Corpus Christi Map to see where all this fun stuff is located.

Here's our idea for a weekend adventure Crusin' Around Corpus. For this fun weekend you'll need your bikes, running or walking shoes, bathing suit, and other sports gear like kayaks, fishing gear, surf board, wake board, tennis racquets, golf clubs, beach chairs or other equipment that you'd like to use during a fun weekend.

Where to Saw Some ZZZZ's

We'd recommend that you stay downtown around the Corpus Christi Marina, that way you can park your car and bike, walk, or take the city trolley to all the activities and sights. You have three choices for hotels that are across the street from the Marina and offer great views of the bay and easy access to lots to see and do. The Omni is the most upscale and is a multi story high rise with all the typical more expensive hotel amenities; the Bay Front Inn is a smaller 120 room hotel; and Motel 8 or Best Western may have the best rates - all are across the street from the marina and close to the action and attractions.

If you're bringing the RV or travel trailer, then Hatch RV Park (very close to downtown with ok amenities) and Puerto del Sol (an older, somewhat run down park but it's right on the water and close to some of the Corpus Christi attractions, a good beach, and fun restaurants) are the closest to downtown. If you want to be close to the beaches and the Gulf of Mexico and all that it has to offer, then stay at Colonia del Rey or Padre Palms. If you don't camp, Colonia del Rey has cabins with full kitchens available for overnight rent. Here is a link to the Corpus Christi RV Park Locator Map which will have our review and rating of these four RV Parks.

• Stop and visit the History and Science Museum or the Art Museum at the north end of the trail
• Cruise by Heritage Park and check out the historical homes dating back to 1851
• Take the two turns into the Marina and drool as you ride past some huge beautiful power and sail boats
• Take a break from the trail and head two blocks away from the bay to Water Street and stop for a lunch break, appetizer, or cold one at one of the many restaurants or bars in that area
• Or stop at Landry's or Joe's Crab Shack, both of which are on the water in the marina, and sit on the deck and watch the boats or sunset as you eat lunch, appetizers, or dinner and sip a margarita - remember, not too many, you've got to ride your bike back to the hotel

• At the marina, rent a paddle boat, jet ski, or kayak
• Charter a sail boat for an afternoon or evening sail
• Jump on board Captain Clark's 200 passenger Paddle wheeler for a tour of the bay, sunset or a dinner cruise
• get some air and excitement by taking a kiteboarding lesson from South Coast Kiteboarding

• at the marina you'll find several eager to take you fishing, or
• call one of these local Corpus Christi fishing guides or check at the marina for some fishing boats
• break out your own gear and cast a line from the shore, one of the piers, or head to the beach for some surf fishing

• visit the Museums - Science and History Museum, the Art Museum, Maritime Museum, or the Surf Museum
• head across the bridge to the Texas State Aquarium or spend time exploring the USS Lexington

Eat, Drink, and Party - in the downtown area you have excellent choices for all three, most of which you can bike or walk to from any of the three hotels we mentioned earlier.

• On Water Street, the Executive Surf Club has good burgers, cold beer, and live music on the patio;
• Water Street Cafe and Oyster Bar have excellent seafood; and Brewster Street Ice House has a fun crowd, excellent live music, and ok food.
• If you're on the other side of the bridge and you're hungry or thirsty after touring the Aquarium or Lexington, then Blackbeards has good food and live music and Pier 99 has a fantastic outdoor patio and pretty good food

• All the beaches seem the same to us, so pick a Gulf beach access road and drive on the beach until you find the perfect spot for a picnic, fishing, games, surfing, kit flying, or just relaxing watching the surf and sunset.
• If sandy bunkers are your idea of fun, our two favorite choices for golf are nearby Newport Dunes in Port Aransas or Northshore Country Club in Portland. The proceeding links will take you to our review of each course.