Introduction: Living in Texas is like living in a whole different country. Driving places always show me new things.
Stayed at work until 4:30am, drove home and went to bed. I woke up at 11:00am, stretched my body then left to Hobby Airport to pick up a rental car. Unlike waking up at 9:30am last week, I felt a bit better on driving. Arrived at a parking near the airport, and got a shuttle van ride to the terminal. Looks like the airport was expanding its parking facility by bulding more garages. After arriving at the airport, I withdraw some cash at ATM before getting on another shuttle bus for the offsite Enterprise Rental Car. The shuttle ride was very short, upon arrival, I was offered three cars. Fiat 500, Chevy Spark and Hyundai Accent. I picked the Fiat.
Fiat 500, my
weekend ride
Getting on the car at 1:50pm, set the GPS then left the parking. I drove I-45 north then changed to TX-59 south toward Victoria. The traffic within the city limit was quite heavy and I was concerned that the whole trip will be delayed. Maybe because I was tired, I was getting sleepy so made a stop at Bucee's in Wharton at 3:15pm to grab coke and water. I continue driving south and arrived at Victoria at 4:25pm. I made a stop at Hiller House, then parked my car at downtown to check out the church, courthouse, and the oldest deli in Texas.
Driving on TX-59 at 2:13pm
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| The Hiller House | St Mary's Catholic Church | Fossati's Delicatessen | Victoria County Clerk's Office |
Get back in the car and began head east on US-87 to Port Lavaca. The road was quite straight and I had no issue driving. Turning left at TX-35 and drove for a mile to the old lighthouse at 5:20pm. A slight rain started to fall as I arrived. I took picture of the lighthouse which was built back in 1858 while feeling seas breeze with smell of ocean. A short ride to the downtown area, where has a former train station serving to San Antonio. It was a quiet town, there weren't many things I was interested so I headed out to the next place.
On the way to Port Lavaca,
I can see the road miles ahead.
Port Lavaca Lighthouse, constructed on 1858, served until 1943. 5:27pm (Lighthouse Beach: 700 Lighthouse Beach Rd Port Lavaca, TX 77979
Old Port Lavaca Depot, connecting with San Antonio from 1850s. Served customers until 1930s.
5:30pm (Lavaca Depot (near)
Port Lavaca Police Department: 201 N Colorado St Port Lavaca, TX 77979)
Now I kept driving on the TX-238 to southeast then on TX-316 to Indianola, the road was flat but quite winding at a time but arrived at the statue of La Salle by Blind Bayou at 6:00pm.
La Salle 6:00pm
Turned around and came back the way I came in, turned left on FM2541 then reached TX-35. Kept going to southwest, passing Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Crossing LBJ Causeway into Rock Port, took local TX-35 to Aransas Pass, turned left to Redfish Causeway, passing a couple of bridges before arriving at a ferry port to cross to Port Aransas at 7:25pm.
The ferry runs at free of charge, I was guided to a section and the ferry headed out in 5 minutes. It was only 10 minutes ride to the Port Aransas. While crossing, I got off from the car and took a look around. After the ferry arrived, I began heading toward the Tarpon hotel. In this area, I see many people riding golf carts and I guess it was good enough.
Getting on a ferry,
operated for 24 hours, free of charge. 7:25pm
Tarpon Inn: 200 E Cotter Ave Port Aransas, TX 78373
Roberts Point Park: Port St Port Aransas, TX 78373
Tarpon Inn 7:40pm
Took a break at Roberts Point Park then took a ferry back to the other side at 8:10pm, began driving toward Corpus Christi, today's last stop.
Returning from Island 8:06pm
When I left Port Aransas, the sky was getting more like evening. I took TX-35 back and passed Gregory, then crossed the bridge at 8:40pm which was illuminated.
Crossing the bridge to Corpus Christi 8:40pm
The street was too dark to see things, so I gave up walking around because of safety concerns. I stopped at Visitor center, and took a picture of a house with the moon in the sky. In a mean time, I got bitten by mosquitoes like crazy.
Galvan House 8:45pm
Get back in the car, drove to the downtown area, parked my car and had dinner around 9:30pm, stopped by at churches, and statue of Selena, and Whataburger. There was a homeless riding on a bike taking the same path and needed to take a caution.
Whataburger: 121 N Shoreline Blvd Corpus Christi, TX 78401
Texas Surf Museum: 309 N Water St Corpus Christi, TX 78401
Centennial House: 411 N Upper Broadway Corpus Christi, TX 78401
9:40pm
Hotel: Hampton Inn Kingsville 2489 S Hwy 77 Kingsville, TX 78363
I took a freeway out of the city and continue going down south to Kingsville on I-37 then US-77 south. It was pretty dark and the speed limit was around 70mph with very few traffic. Sometimes it’s hard to predict what’s ahead of me. The hotel I reserved had a narrow entrance between brightly illuminated two automobile dealerships so I missed my first try and needed to go around. Safely arrived at the hotel at 11:15pm but as soon as I got off the car, a lot of mosquitos attacked me. Checked in at the hotel and brought all the items in, went to bed around midnight.
11:15pm at hotel
Woke up at 6:00am, went to down stairs to workout at the gym before grabbing my breakfast. I took a shower and get ready for the day. Because I have missed most of items at Corpus Christi yesterday, I decided to go back there to take pictures.
7:00am breakfast
Checked out from the hotel at 7:45am and hop on the car, took US-77 north then I-37 east. There were some constructions works going on and a couple of Police cruisers were looking for speeders. Arrived at the visitors center around 8:30am. This place have many old houses and it was worth the drive, checked out the old Union Pacific station. I was able to take better picture of the church, too.
7:54am driving to
Corpus Christi
8:35am Union Pacific Depot
9:13am
Centennial House
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| Sidbury House | Seamen Center | Merriman House | McCampbell House |
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| Littles-Martin House | Lichtenstein House | Lawrence House | Jalufka House |
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| Gegenheim House | Grande House | Galvan House | Caroll House |
9:05am Whataburger
9:00am (Selena)
Get back in the car then began driving down south to Kingsville on a different route by TX-44 then US-77. The posted speed limit was 70mph, but there were a couple of stop signs at intersection, and also small towns which I needed to slow down. Parked my car near former Kingsville train station around 10:00am. There was a farmers market going on. I chat with the volunteer at the museum, checked out the exhibits then left to King Ranch.
10:10am Kingsville Depot
King Ranch Museum: 405 N 6th St Kingsville, TX 78363
King Ranch: 2205 TX-141 Kingsville, TX 78363 (10a-4p)
King Ranch Visitor Center
Ranch Tour 11:00am-12:30pm
King Ranch is located just west side of the town on TX-141. Drove up to the property and checked in at the visitor's center. I was told that there is a bus tour from 11:00am. I will be here only once so I decided to take it, but had to pay $16...
The bus departed on time and headed to the ranch area. They showed us farming equipment, different blocks of the ranching area. It was too bad that rain came in so I could not take pictures for a while, but it was worth it. There were wild animals around, too.
1:00pm, looks like
drivinging into storm
After the tour, I left the place and began head toward Alice. Kept going on TX-141 until I hit US-281 north. While driving, I can see stormy clouds which can bring heavy rain, so I proceeded with caution. I stopped at former Alice train depot around 1:00pm, and I was hoping that I can find a place to eat easy. Failed and ended up eating at Whataburger.
Former Alice Depot 1:07pm (Former Alice Depot (near) Hoelscher Liquid Feed & Fert: 100 S Aransas St Alice, TX 78332)
1:30pm, lunch at Whataburger
At 1:30pm, I stepped out from the store and set the course to Fort Lipantitlan.
To Fort Lipantitlan, I get on TX-359 north until hitting FM357 then changed to FM70. I saw a sign at FM70 and Co Rd 58 at 2:15pm.
I looked around but no sign of fort. I proceeded on the county road until I hit the dead end with another sign.
1:50pm Storm is
ahead of me.
2:15pm(6118 Lipantitlan Park Rd, Sandia, TX 78383)
It's time for a little long drive, began driving on local country road to Kenedy. Following FM 70 then met up with TX-359, passing I-37 and arrived at Skidmore. Now I changed to US-181 to north, passing Beeville. The weather was good, so I did not have to slow down.
Driving toward Kenedy 3:40pm
3:45pm, sight of Alien Enemy Detension Center. (Graham Rd & Elm St
Kenedy, TX 78119)
Arrived at the address I found over the research. There weren't nothing I can see it notable. The only thing I think it was from the time was a couple of clumns across the street.
I guess this is as far as I can go for this trip, so it's time to head back to Houston. Leaving Kenedy around 4:00pm. The road toward Goliad was under construction and there was an oil truck in front of me which was moving slow. Since I cannot pass it, had to follow all the way, feel like I lost time a lot. After arriving at Goliad, I stopped at two places, the first was Goliad State Park & Historic Site.
Goliad State Park & Historic Site 108 Park Rd 6 Goliad, TX 77963
Presidio La Bahía 217 Loop 71 Highway 183 Goliad, TX 77963
1888 Linburg House Bed and Breakfast 736 N Jefferson St Goliad, TX 77963
Mission Espiritu Santo 4:33pm
I get back on the car and began driving south on ? street and
Presidio La Bahia 4:55pm
Zaragoa House 5:05pm
Linburg House, now you can stay as B&B 5:25pm
To the last stop for the weekend trip, after leaving Goliad, I headed to east on ? to Fannin. They had a memorial for the battle of ? and the park was open.
I walked around then left.
Fannin Battleground State Historic Site St Park Rd 27 Victoria, TX 77905
I thought I could do a little extra, so after arriving Victoria area, I headed north on US-77 to Shulenburg, TX, a typical small town developped after train track with main street running along. They had a old building with brick. Parked my car, took a quick picture then left.
Sengelmann Hall 7:07pm
From here on, I get on the I-10 East then change to TX-71 at Columbus around 7:35pm. It was getting dark but I was surprised more about the wooded area on the both sides of the road. Turned left to get on US-90 Alternate, and I passed a freight train on the way to Eagle Lake. Eagle Lake was another small town, I made a stop at the train depot to take a picture. Leaving around 8:00pm.
Getting off from I-10, 7:35pm
Eagle Lake former Depot 7:55pm
After leaving the town, I took Highway 3013 east toward Sealy. I saw a prairie chicken refuge on the way, maybe I should go visit someday. Getting back on I-10 east and headed toward Houston. Changed to I-610 and drove to Enterprise rental car near Hobby Airport. I dropped off the rental car at ?, took a shuttle back to the airport
On the way back to
Houston. taking a road to get back on I-10 8:07pm
I took another shuttle van to the parking. Looks like there are not many places I can eat after 9:00pm, so I just drove back home, arriving around 10:30pm.
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Copyright 2015 - Kosuke Ishikawa / Unauthorized copying of contents, partial or whole, is not permitted.
