<– Day 27 – Fri. May 8th: The King Ranch | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 29 – Sun. May 10th: Breaking up the Beatles?? Not again!! –>

The clouds looked menacing, but it was a fine day for touring the USS Lexington — though the wind was a pain on the Flight deck.

On Friday night in Corpus Christy I was hungry, so after searching through YELP, I finally found a place to go eat some food that was highly rated AND open after 9pm (best hidden food gem in Corpus Christi was one review). It was a small ‘Asian Street Food (my description)’ place called Z Counter. The reviews were great and the photos of the food made me feel optimistic. So, off we went.

Click on the photo and you’ll be able to see the whole menu. They also had photos of all the items on a separate wall.

They only have this one location. I wish they had one near us in Pasco! I don’t quite get the name, but I sure like the food.

I’ll just cut to the chase and say the reviews were right on the money. I had a simple pork bowl, yet they turned that into delicious contrast of fresh, sweet, hot, and smokey (from the charbroiled pork) that made it delightful. We also had some Spam Musubi, which was also surprisingly good. In fact, I only had one problem with the Z Counter: I was too full to order and try some of their other dishes. So, Ann and I agreed that on Friday we’d return for lunch.

On Friday morning, we tackled our biggest planned event of the day, a trip to the USS Lexington (CV-16) Museum. The USS Lexington is an Aircraft Carrier ‘parked’ just off the shore in Corpus Christi. One of the things I learned is that some folks call the Carrier a ship (I’m told that is correct Navy-speak for a vessel of that size), while other folks gleefully call them boats (I’m told that was one way certain Air Force personnel would needle Navy personnel). So, call it what you want, but for me it was my first opportunity to explore an aircraft carrier.

The carrier is nearly moored on the beach. There’s a ramp to walk up to the museum entrance or visitors can wait for the shuttle.

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<– Day 26 – Thu. May 7th: Rainbow Flight & Texas Border Towns | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 28 – Sat. May 9th: A Big Boat (Ship) –>

Of course, we had to take this photo. Had we shot it last night, the sun would have been perfect. As it was this morning, we had to play with the light quite to make this work.

We woke up early Friday morning with plans to drive north.

But, before we left South Padre, Ann wanted to walk in the surf. So, we drove to the beach. Despite the red-flag-beware-of-the-water warning, we walked into the water. I had to deliver a reminder to my wife that she shouldn’t be playing in the surf at all, because I didn’t want to have to carry her back to the car. So, despite her inner-child, she behaved.

As we left the beach we encountered the South Padre Convention Center and these large upside down head sculptures.

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