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A Little Bit of Corpus Christi

So I feel bad I know I’ve been MIA forever and I must explain, I am an avid reader and if something really catches my attention it consumes me until I finish it; occasionally this happens with series of books, so then it seems like I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. I recently watched the series “Game of Thrones” on HBO which then lead to the books, all five of them 🙂 needless to say I highly recommend them but now that I have finished them I am back and I promise not to be so negligent again … well, at least until the next book comes out.

I know I have been promising to take you to the coast forever, with the sweltering heat lately I thought we needed some visual relief so today, for the next couple of posts I am making good on my word. Recently I spent an afternoon and night in Corpus Christi and these are a few pictures from that adventure. Usually I pass through Corpus on my way to Port Aransas but I was in town for a short while so I decided to share some of it with you. These first few shots are some artwork that was posted outside of a tattoo studio that was down town. I thought it was cool that the artists chose to advertise by displaying some of their artwork on the side of the building. This first picture is Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, an icon often seen; I could do a whole blog post about her alone but for now I will say she will always remind me of my Grandmother.

I have a thing for Dragons, many people say I myself am one (even though according to Chinese Astrology I am actually a Water Ox) but I thought this Dragon’s third eye was an interesting addition.

This caught my eye because I thought it was a surf board design, upon closer inspection I realized it is not and it was probably just the shape that made me think that.

BUGS!!! This piece reminded me of M. C. Escher.

I have this thing for looking up at things, one of my favorite things to look up at is Palm fronds; I will at some point in time spend a whole day looking up at a Palm tree just to humor myself.

The point at which it seems the street just ends is actually where the bay begins, so only three blocks away was the water.

If you are going to cruise through Corpus often it is necessary that at some point you stop by the Selena Memorial, which I happened to do at 2:30 in the morning but I thought the dark shots came out cool.

She was a very talented young lady who was taken from this world too soon.

Mirador de la Flor (Overlook of the flower), one of the biggest hits was Como la Flor which the memorial is themed for and as you can see someone has given her fresh white roses.

I was only in CC overnight and this is Corpus Christi Bay mid-morning, in the distance you can see our next destination.

Tomorrow we head out to the Island.

Posted by LahainaLaura | August 4, 2011 | Categories: Como la Flor, The Republic of Texas | Leave a comment

Deep in the ❤ of the Lone ✯

These are actually pictures I took last spring but one of my best friends has asked me to post them several times because they are some of their favorites. In Spring we in Texas get many beautiful flowers including but not limited to the delicacy of Dandelions, the striking beauty of Poppies, the exceedingly aromatic Mountain Laurels and let us not forget the incredibly beautiful state flower our Blue Bonnets.

I hope you fancy our beautiful flowers and I’m thinking for our next journey some fun in the sun is in order.

Posted by LahainaLaura | June 10, 2011 | Categories: Como la Flor | Leave a comment

Luminaria: Arts Night

Luminaria is an annual celebration of artists for every major discipline; one can find everything from dance, theater, poetry readings, music, painting, sculpture, and film, held at night it is a breath-taking sight to behold and one that as a San Antonio resident you definitely do not want to miss. Luminaria is located in downtown San Antonio at Hemisfair Park which was built-in 1968 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio and was also to host the 1968 World’s Fair.

Within the park is The Tower of the Americas, standing at 750 feet tall it has offered breathtaking views of the Alamo City for 35 years, it is surrounded by the six national flags that have flown over Texas. Texas was under the Spanish flag from 1519-1685 and then again from 1690-1821, under France from 1685-1690, under Mexico from 1821-1836, following which point we became our own republic from 1836-1845, in 1845 Texas joined the union and became the 28th star on the flag of the United States of America, however in 1861 with the outbreak of the civil war Texas flew the Confederate flag from 1861-1865, after the war we then returned to the glorious Star Bangled Banner which we fly to this day. You can see almost all of these flags surrounding the Tower in the photograph below.

The Institute of Texan Cultures has many collections and exhibits that document both the history and growth of our great state. This particular evening it was lite with both abstract art and a beautiful slide show.

Many artists are able to display their wares on the fair grounds and this display of colorful abstract art was quite a sight to behold.

This intriguing exhibit reminded me of colorful illuminated lollipops.

At the edge of the Lollipops was a striking illuminated rooster.

I’m not quite sure which mythical creature this person was but I liked their monochromatic theme and the attention to detail.

This giant sculpture is always on display but fit right in with all the other art exhibits that night.

I must say this piece really struck my fancy as The Lady in Red.

She then promptly changed into the Lady in Blue.

When she metamorphosed once again I simply decided to call her the Lady.

The following is an homage to one of the favorite soft drinks of all Texans, even when we wander far from home we must always get a Big Red fix once we return.

With the Riverwalk being one of the main attractions to San Antonio, it is quite easy to find other small waterways with in the area; I love that this one was lite up in blue.

Alas we say good-bye to Luminaria to which we will return again next year, I couldn’t resist one last look at the illuminated entrance to the park.

As well as a parting view of the majestic tower.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a brief bit of Texas history and am excited to tell you my next post will be for someone very close to me as the pictures are some of their favorite ones that I have taken.