Heading for Padre

At Hatch RV Park, Corpus Christi, TX...

Corpus is a favorite stop on our way to the Rio Grande Valley, as it is about halfway between Houston and Harlingen and fits nicely within the 200 mile daily travel range that we prefer in Phannie.

Normally we would not be headed south in the summer here in hot Texas, but we've arranged a long weekend on South Padre for Mindy, Tyler and the boys, and we wouldn't want to miss being a part of that adventure.

While on the road, we usually pull into a rest stop around noon and fix a little lunch for ourselves and then try to find a new favorite restaurant for dinner once we reach our destination. Now since we are in Corpus, you can rest assured we will be after some seafood, and I read in Yelp about a real dive named King Seafood. 

I was pretty pumped to try this place because it was a mom-and-pop type joint with good reviews, and it fully lived up to its description as a hole-in-the wall. Walking in, we saw before us a small room with patrons at all seven tables. These folks appeared to be all locals who stared at us, seemingly in disbelief that someone from out of town would dare to try this restaurant which was anything but appealing to passersby.

But oh, was it worth it! We love fresh seafood, and although we are very fond of the much healthier grilled seafood, we sometimes just have to order it fried. We are from the South, after all.

We got a huge flounder filet, along with shrimp, fries and a drink for a little over nine bucks. What a deal! After we plowed into it, we agreed that it was some of the best and freshest seafood we had ever eaten--and I don't think it was just because we were hungry.

After recovering from this engorgement, we drove around Corpus for a while. At one point, we stopped and sat on a bench overlooking Corpus Christi bay, enjoying the cool breeze blowing inland from the gulf.

For those of you who are enamored with Whataburgers (and who isn't?), I just happen to have snapped a photo of Whataburger #1, built here in about 1950 and much upgraded since.

 

 

Earlier in the day, we stopped in Hillje, a little town on US 59 near El Campo, Texas to give Prasek's Smokehouse a try.

 

 

This huge place is a foodie's dream, packed with all sorts of smoked meats, cheeses and bakery goods, some of which we purchased and are working through to see which selections we like best. We'll give you a report on that later.

We will be in Padre Island tomorrow, and the kids will fly down and join us on Friday. Stand by for fun!

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life,

 and please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.