Parker Memorial Park

John and I were driving around Flour Bluff and came across Parker Memorial Park.  In addition to the pool, tennis courts, Senior Center, and Pavilion, there is a walking path around perimeter of the park.  The distance is about 500 ft.  The actual distance was posted on a sign but I forgot it.  I think it was like 483 ft.  There is also a playground with some toys.  Sharing the same parking lot is a Health Center and Police Station.  This is probably a very safe park to visit.  We only walk once around the park because the temperature, cold wind and light weight jacket made for a cold outing.

Memorial Park, Rockport, Tx

We went to Rockport today. We stopped at Memorial Park. There were many small children playing soccer. The park has about two miles of walking/nature trails. The mosquitoes were pretty bad. Plus the heat and humidity made the walking conditions especially unpleasant. The park has basketball and tennis courts, playground areas, and an exercise circuit. If not for the mosquitoes I could have spent more time enjoying the nature trail area. I will remember this park and day long after my mosquito bites stop inching.

South Bluff Park

We stopped off at South Bluff Park after Blucher Park.  There are some very impressive brick and stone entrance and sidewalks in the park.  We didn't stay very long because the mosquitoes were very hungry.  There is a playground area with slides.  Also saw a basketball court.  I'm not sure how many but also saw some tennis courts.   I guess you could say were just did an "eat an run".  The mosquitoes ate us while we were running.

Blucher Park

I saw on the news that the city had spent over 85 thousand dollars to renovate Blucher Park. We found the park but drove around trying to find a good spot to park. Eventually we decided to use the Channel 10 parking lot. Ours was the only car there. We saw several groups of people wandereing thru the park. Several of them had binoculars and cameras with large lenses. John and I were practically running thru the park to keep from being carried away by the hordes of hungry mosquitos.

I had used a repellent but had not applied it to my back. I can feel that is back is covered in bites.

We liked the park. It has many pleasant areas to view birds and nature. We just thought that we would visit the park again when the mosquito feeding season has ended.

Norma Urban Park

We first visited here November 3, 2007. I took photograph of sign. I called it Marina. Since then the area has been named for Norma Urban. She was involved with the downtown public art projects.
I really love outdoor art. She died of breast cancer in March 2008.

Sherrill Park

We rented a bicycle surrey and rode up and down sidewalk along the bayfront. I jumped out and went across the street to take photo of sign. I didn't wander around the park cuz John was waiting. It looks like maybe a couple of tables and one of those floating stone spheres. You can kinda see the black sphere off to the left.

Candlewood Park

We spotted this park as we were driving down Williams Drive over in Corpus Christi. It is fairly large and has a lot of area to walk and fields to play. There is a basketball court and a play area. The climbing wall was very sturdy. It feels like even big people could enjoy it. There is also a covered picnic shelter.

Ropes

There are a series of small parks along Ocean Drive and Shoreline in Corpus Christi. Ropes is one of those. The beach access isn't very easy. The parks have signs on the stairs leading down to the water warning users that the stairs are dangerous etc.

We didn't stay here very long. Several young women/girls arrived wearing bikinis. I think they were going to take pictures. It isn't really a park that I would go to sunbathe or swim.

It does have a nice picnic table with the view of the bay.

We left and drove down to Cole Park. There was a large crowd gathered for a skateboarding thing. People involved with the Corpus Dog Park group were also there. They are trying to raise money to build a dog park. The city is not helping with any of the finances. We miss the dog parks. Zip loved to go there and play.

And we were told as we were leaving Chris Tucker (actor in Rush Hour) was scheduled to be there. We didn't go back to see him. If it had been Jackie Chan maybe!!!

H E Butt Park

We went to Corpus to go shopping etc. We checked out HEB Park. There were many people playing at the Tennis Center. I'm not sure if a tournament was taking place or if it is naturally busy.

On the other side of the parking lot was a swimming pool. It wasn't filled with water. You would think since it is officially summer they would have it opened. Other pools in the town have been opened.

The park also had a small play area with swings etc, two open racketball courts, basketball halfcourt, and sidewalks. We didn't look around very much because I found a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. The other nestmates were perched around the nest. I placed it on a lower branch in the tree. Hopefully it will be able to hop up and over to the nest or maybe momma bird will find it. I'm not sure what kind of bird it is. I should have photographed it. It wasn't a bird I would have recognised like sparrow, grackle, or mockingbird.

May 11, 2009 The bird was a scissortail.

Collier Park

We were driving over to find Hamlin Pharmacy. We missed the turn and was doubling back when we found this park.

The pool was opened and being used. We just wished we had brought our swim suits. The park has a big child size climbing wall. This park must be a favorite for birthday parties. We saw three different tables decorated complete with pinatas.

Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge

This is another park that it mentioned in Birding Corpus Christi book. The book warns that the park is prone to break ins. There are numerous signs stating that the area is "Under Surveillance". On one side is a boardwalk beside a freshwater channel that is the effluent from the wastewater treatment plant. It flows into Oso Bay. We saw dozens of white pelicans grouped together. There were many smaller bird "fishing" along the shore. Some birds were so small I wondered if they might have been "chicks".

We walked over to the trail that leads thru the park. It is a pleasant walk. We saw a very red bird but not sure if it was a cardinal. There were many lizards racing along the path. At the other end of the trail I actually was able to hang from the monkey bars. I think I could have hung longer if I'd been wearing some gloves.

Paris

My niece Kristi went to Paris.

West Guth

In honor of the first day of spring, we went to West Guth park in Corpus Christi, which is located just off of I-37 between Carbon Plant Road and Rand Morgan Road. Never could find the carbon plant. The park has a duck pond with some noisy and aggressive inhabitants, a nice concrete walking trail, a disc golf course, numerous picnic areas, a swimming pool (public), a pavilion, a senior center and plenty of open space. The duck pond has a bridge on the east side that crosses over to an area bordered by a public school. This particular bridge was guarded by a battalion of feisty geese but we managed to cross over without major goose attack. There are also numerous rolling hills to walk, run or crawl up. The trail itself also has hills to present a varied walking/running challenge.

Lake Findley

For our 12th anniversary we decided to drive over to Alice, Texas and see the sights. My bird watching book suggested we check out Lake Findley. It also said we needed to get a permit from city hall before going out to the lake. We found city hall but it was closed. It was Saturday so it wasn't very surprising. Across the street was the police department. We walked over there but were unable to find anyone either. But fortunately there was a garage sale going on in the city hall parking lot. John and I wander over to some of the people working at the sale and asked them about the permit. A local woman said she had never heard about needing a permit so we were able to drive out to the park without a permit. Of course we checked out the junk. They were selling anything for a quarter. We managed to find five dollars worth of 25 cent stuff. John was pleased with a bunch of CDs he found.
We drove out to the lake. It has a levy around it so you cant see it as you drive up. It is the water reservoir for the city. There are several large picnic benches. There are many cypress trees that are a pleasant change from the usual mesquite. You can canoe on the lake. We watched a group with a small boat preparing to launch out on a voyage. We liked the place and felt it was worthy of a return visit.
For lunch we ate at Danny's. It was a Mexican food restaurant. John and I had the enchilada lunch special for only $3.99 (a lotta food for little $$$). We spent 20 buck and that included a generous tip for our waitress.

City Beach

We drove over to the beach. The sign said the sand conditions were poor so we did not want to drive very far on the beach. Because it was so cold and windy very few people were out. We walked a little along the shoreline. I saw quite afew shells etc. I didn't gather anything which is very unusual for me. I was concerned because of the beach parking permit requirement. We didn't have one and didn't want to get a ticket. I think the cold weather probably would keep the permit enforcement patrols to a minimum but we didn't want to risk it. We didn't stay very long. Next time we will get a permit and explore the beach.

Community Park

We drove over to Port Aransas to visit some of the parks. The first one we stopped at was the Community Park. There is a 1.1 mile walking/jogging trail. Along the front part of the trail are many exercise stations. The back half of the trail goes thru a birding area with a couple of observation area. This is one of the best maintained parks we've been to in South Texas. It was a cold day and very few people were out. A woman walking her dog was concerned about some teenage boys. She thought they had guns. They did have paintball guns. Also there is a skateboard park and a heated swimming pool.

Paradise Pond

This is the last park we visited before leaving Port Aransas. It is very difficult to find. There aren't any signs on the street. It isn't a very large park. The park is sandwiched between houses and businesses. There is a raised boardwalk leading you thru a wooded area. Three observation areas are positioned along the boardwalk. They look out over an open area. Currently the area was dry but according to the signs during some seasons it is a water/lake area.

Indian Point

Indian Point Park and Sunset Lake park are connected together. We parked at Sunset Lake and walked over to Indian Point Park. Creepy bit of history, A mass grave for dead from the storm of 1919 were buried in the park, (bodies have been moved to a cemetary now) There are two boardwalks and a large fishing pier. Admission is a $1 per person/pole. We did not go out on the pier even though no one was present to take our money.
We saw a couple of dolphins out in the water. Looked like Flipper and a friend.

Sunset Lake Park

We drove over to Portland for the day. Sunset Lake park has a jogging and bike trail along the shoreline. We saw four pink spoonbills. Three were together as a group and when we returned to the car the fourth on was visible from the parking area. Many people were fishing along the shore. I even saw one guy fly fishing. Only time I've seen it is on the movie, A River Runs Thru It.

Bentsen Rio Grande State Park

We drove to the valley today to visit this park. It is a good place to bird watch. We saw lots of birds. The best was seeing three javelinas, an armadillo, and a big black snake. I was surprised to see the snake. I thought they were hibernating for the winter. This snake was laying out in the sunny part of the path. At first glance it looked like a stick.
We decided to walk around the park rather than rent a bicycle. We didn't see all of the park. According to my pedometer, I walked almost five miles. We plan to return to the park again and next time we will rent bikes.

St. Andrews

We were looking for a short cut thru a back street over in Corpus and came across this park. There is a playground with toys. One looks like a ship. There is a large open field that several people were playing fetch with their dogs. One guy was walking three weiner dogs. There is also a tennis court.

Labonte Park

The park is located in Nueces county. It is along the river. We walked down to the dam. It is an area that keeps the salt water from the bay from going up river.

Doddridge Park

The park is along Ocean Drive/Shoreline in Corpus Christi. It is a great place to just sit and feel the breeze and look out at the water.

Flato Park

The park is located in Kleberg county. It has a covered picnic area, a playground, and basketball court. I also found a homemade pipe hidden in a tree.

Hazel Bazemore Park

The park is located in Nueces county. It has several places for bird watching. There are a series of trails. It has many picnic tables that are along the river. It looks like a good place to go fishing.

Dick Kleberg Park

We saw several types of birds in the park. Even saw a cardinal, John's clan animal. We walked on the path by the water and noticed a sign that an alligator had been seen in the water. We didn't see it but thought we saw Bigfoot by the Lion. LOL It was very quiet and peaceful in the park. The anchor is still in the park. The airplane and firetruck are gone. The tennis courts have been converted to a skate park but looks to need serious repair. Otherwise everything seems to be the same.

Marina

We walked around on the T Head and thought we would ride on the boat but were told that they only go out if there are 30 passengers. The lady said counting us there were two people interested so far.

Selena

We also saw Selena. I thought her statue was in the middle of the street. So I was surprised to see her on the T head.

"The Nina"

We walked around on the T heads and spotted a ship from Columbus' fleet. John was ready to stage a protest, but we had other things to do.

Artesian Park

Another small park in Corpus Christi. It located across the street from the newspaper. John could hear the presses running.

Cole Park

Saturday we visited Corpus Christi and drove along the bayfront. Cole Park has an elaborate wooden structure for the kids to play on. It large enough for big people too. The view of the water is fantastic. Cole park is one of many parks running along Ocean Drive/Shoreline.

Amistad Park

We went again over to Bishop to check out another small park. This one has a walking trail around the perimeter. There is a field with one football goal, a volley ball net, and a backstop. There are three basketball courts with goals and new nets on the other side of the park. The playground toys appear to be new.

Bishop City Park

We decided to check out the parks over in Bishop. This one is on Business 77. It is quite nice for a small town. There are baseball, and basketball fields. There are several nice playground toys. The park needs some care. It looks like the last time anything new was added was in the last century. There is a very nice nature trail with bird viewing areas. The trail had just been mowed and there was still areas with very tall grass. I guess unusually wet summer could account for the really tall grass and unkept look of the park.

Los Hermanos Flores Park

We have moved to Kingsville. There are fewer parks in Kleberg county and will not take too long to visit them all. This park has a basketball court, several toys, swings and jungle gyms for kids to play on. It also has several lions. I have always liked the lion water fountain. As a child I worried that it might bite me while I drank. LOL

Kenedy Park

This is a small park on the corner of Kenedy and 14th. It needed to have someone come and mow it. The grass was very high. The landscaping needed to be tended to also. The park looks almost like an overgrown lot.

Thompson Park

The last of the three parks we visited on Sunday. We didn't wander around because of the number of people. I just took picture and left. There are many toys for kids to play on and a basketball court.

The Cabin

The family has relocated to south Texas. Here is a picture of the rustic garage apartment I'm living in for awhile. I didn't get a chance to visit all the parks in the Houston area. I will now be checking out the what is in Kingsville/Corpus Christi area.

Collins Park

We stopped by at this park just to take the photo. It is just down the street from mom's new apartment. It has many toys on the playground. I think it has one of the tallest slides that I've seen. We will have to come to this park again when we come back to Houston for visits.

HEB Kid Fit Park

This is a new exercise area in Nottingham park. There are several sizes of equipment for young kids and adults. There is a small climbing wall. I even climbed up a couple of "steps". I was happy to realize I could do it.

There is John sitting on the curb around the climbing wall. The gnome is blocking the wall.

Fry Road Park

We were on our way back home and I noticed this park on the Key Map. the park is near Saums and Fry. It is a very nice park. There is a small walking trail, play ground toys, restrooms, and lots of parking for a pocket park.

Katy City Park

This park is next to Mary Jo Peckham park. You can see John in the background over by the restrooms. The park is ok but Peckham park is much nicer. The park has playground toys, baseball and a dog park.

Bill Archer dog park

We decided to check out this new dog park. We did not bring Zip with us. It has been too rainy. There was so much water/puddles we could not walk around the whole park. It is very large. The website said 17 acres. There are two sections for small and large dogs. Zip would have to go to the large dog part. There are water hose with spray nozzles to clean your dog after playing. John used them to clean his muddy (dogs) feet.

My new gnome is from Donna, a Swapbot friend. He has traveled all the way from British Columbia, Canada.

Bigfoot Post Office

Stopped off at Bigfoot on the way to Pearsall. There was a small park across the street but didn't see a sign.

Southdown Park

We drove over to Pearland today and visited Southdown Park. I want to call it Sundown park. It has a Water Splash park but currently it is closed for repairs. Apparently the pine bark mulch clogs the pipes etc. I like the recessed water park area. It allows a little privacy.

Next to the park is an enclosed Bark Park for dogs. There are some agility equipment. We noticed most of the dogs were just sniffing each other rather than running around.

There is a a sidewalk weaving around the park. There are exercise stations scattered along the pathway. The city has also landscaped many areas along the walk. The park has many covered picnic tables, a large pavilion area, and a event center.

Dow Elementary

The school in the background is being renovated. It looks like it will be made into townhouses/loft apartments. I don't imagine this park will be here much longer just looking at the changes occuring in this neighborhood.

In front of the "school" is an unusual Virgin sculpture made out of aluminum cans.

Tony Marron Park

The last park of the day. We just came upon it without planning to visit. There is a trail running along the bayou. We did not walk on it but it appears to go for quite a ways. The playground had very new equipment. I liked the small climbing wall. We need to return again to this park and check out the fountain/splash? park. It wasn't operating today but it looks to be a really interesting design.

Fox Park

John was parked in the street and I hurriedly took the picture. This park is just a small grassy space. It is barely larger than the sign.

Eastwood Park

A small park that I just took a picture of the sign.

John T. Mason Park

Park of the month for March

The park is over 100 acres and is divided into three areas. We did not visit the part across 75th street. A lot of construction is taking place in this park. Some of the projects are a lighted soccer field and a series of trails along Brays bayou. The park currently has a pool, disc golf course, indoor basketball, soccer fields, tennis courts, and community center.

When all the work is completed this will be a fantastic place to visit again.

Wright Bembry Park

The last park we visited today. It is a very small one (pocket park size). This neighborhood is rapidly changing. On one side of the park was a street with older small homes and on the other side were brand new homes being built. I imagine if we were to return later this year the both blocks will be rebuilt with all new homes.