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wehotex,
You are correct. There used to be an Exxon Station on the NW corner of Alameda and Everhart. An American Bank stands there now.
next to the Exxon, was a small strip center. I worked at Town and Country Pharmacy from Sept 81 until May '85. Tenants in that small center included a Craig's Factory (records, cassettes) then a Radio Shack in the same location. a Beuty Shop and and now Kelly's Compounding Pharmacy.
Oh whatever dude. You'll die of loneliness on this forum. There are few old time Corpus Christians that are computer literate enough or have the desire to entertain the old days in corpus. No need to be so arrogant.
LoL. What kind of information, Rust? Please explain? This is information that you can't read in the history books.
I do remember the grainy 1950s images of the Andrea Dorea.
LoL. What kind of information, Rust? Please explain? This is information that you can't read in the history books.
I do remember the grainy 1950s images of the Andrea Dorea.
(Lol Old Man Dreama)
>Oh whatever dude. You'll die of loneliness on this forum. There are few old time Corpus Christians that are computer literate enough or have the desire to entertain the old days in corpus. No need to be so arrogant.<
My lady friend in CC says I'm cracking her up. She reads these from work. I was going to give it a rest and toss it off as an excited utterance ...maybe a bit of excited urination, as in a puppy. I'm not interested in micturing contest, but since you brought it up, I cannot resist. . .
An apathetic response to close any discussion when you have no argument left, particularly with stoners, surfers and skateboarders.
[/color]Searching my computers I found this one case of someone addressing me as "Dude."
>I included this quote from Sylvia Plath:
“If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic
as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.”
Sylvia Plath
Friend wrote:
"Dude, Sylvia Plath stuck her head in an oven over that kind of $hit!"<
You'll die of loneliness on this forum.
Goodness Gracious Me, the solitude in Lonelyville. Well, I still have my teddy bear to cry myself to sleep. It appears this forum has been hemorrhaging for a long time.
>There are few old time Corpus Christians that are computer literate enough or have the desire to entertain the old days in corpus.<
Is "Corpus Christians" a contradiction in terms, an “Oxymoron?” I am not responsible for old time Corpus Christians.
>No need to be so arrogant.< Perhaps that individual misinterpreted my condescending tone for arrogance. If you can't read, WTF?
You wrote: What kind of information, Rust? Please explain? This is information that you can't read in the history books.
City Detective, what kind of informations are you referencing?
Maybe this? "Casa Debris" or the historical fact of a helicopter crash on a CC elementary schoolyard playground. The fact we had dove stuffed with wild rice and pecan for dinner that night. The fact, the talk of the town was Marilyn Monroe and playwright Arthur Miller's marriage at the time of contract bridge parties? I loved them, adults talked too much ( Little pictures have big ears) and the rules were arcane enough to eliminated the slow folk.
History was written by the victors . . .what we don't find in history sometimes is the depositions, sub-rosa
conversations, the specific "code' of the moneyed class who made the rules. Maybe what went on behind closed doors?
I gave up my mind reading skills and selfish womanizing ways for Lent!
If this man standing at the edge of the seawall has not moved
for such a long time, it is because he is looking out at the raging
Gulf and watching the birds attempt to fly over the narrow passage--
For no other reason than to intoxicate themselves with pleasure.
The harbor is deserted-- A tropical storm is approaching.
A mass of liquid wind, engulfed between the two jetties,
Carries everything along with it.
The birds that cross from one side to the next are sometimes
Assaulted by gust that shut their wings with a sudden dry noise,
Hurling them and crushing them against the rocks, where they remain
Until a higher and blacker wave comes to peel them off
And wash them away.
The terns, the gulls----excellent sailors with voices so powerful
they can hear each other through the storm--have taken refuge
High up in the green sky and remain silent.
Why do some of them dive down and pierce the smoking sea water
That has now risen up in furious columns?
Why do they clamor and brush against the havoc of the wind,
Dust and foam------which they know, is deadly?
Who urges this cruel-eyed animal to test himself against the Storm?
One of them has almost managed to get through the forbidden
Passage on his back; the torrent pursues him and brings him down
With a volley of hail.
Only one has made it--the gale has stripped off a few of his feathers,
But he rejoins his companions, and they will make him their leader,
Crying out his victory until nightfall.
But he, fisher of the waves, knows that he was
Granted a miracle, and he remembers that moment with fear,
For tomorrow he will be the one they discover stretched out
On the seawall.
His dust will feed the wind that little by little wipes him away.
Nothing is stronger than the wind--No one is stronger than the wind.
I am wondering about "Casa Debris" and Lao Che or whatever his name was you mentioned talked to you when you were ten.
"Dude" is a term way after my time. LoL
A helicopter crashing into a school!?! When, Where, Why?
(a good detective must know everything)
Did we ever have a "Pizza Inn" around here?
A while back we talked about a place called "Peking Palace" on Weber. When did it close and become Wok A Mole.
Also I was wondering if you could tell me about a place called "China Kitchen" on Everhart Rd.
I am wondering about "Casa Debris" and Lao Che or whatever his name was you mentioned talked to you when you were ten.
"Dude" is a term way after my time. LoL
A helicopter crashing into a school!?! When, Where, Why?
(a good detective must know everything)
Did we ever have a "Pizza Inn" around here?
A while back we talked about a place called "Peking Palace" on Weber. When did it close and become Wok A Mole.
Also I was wondering if you could tell me about a place called "China Kitchen" on Everhart Rd.
Thanks
I had friends come in last Friday. We've been at SXSW an I've been busy. You were "wondering" about
"Casa Débris" . . .well I got that chapter out while driving plus a little research. Don't know about the pizza places only the old Angelos. I didn't eat pizza in CC.
Lao Che, of Indiana Jones you say?
>A helicopter crashing into a school!?! When, Where, Why?
(a good detective must know everything)<
Research the Caller-Times. It was in 1956 within four months of the sinking of the S.S. Andre Adora during dove season as I recall. The helicopter did not hit the school but the school yard. I saw it but forget what school. I looked and found some old school names changed. In 1980 I had a little job with Jack Fisk, director of "Raggedy Man" and researched the CC Library microfiche collection for North Beach bldgs. and storefronts, it's free.
In brief, making a close friend and not being employed, encumbered with many possessions, to include a car, footloose and fancy free with the promise of a good job, I went to Las Cruces, NM. Las Cruces is called "The City of the Crosses" the second largest city in the state and home to New Mexico State University. My friend was a successful, juried painter, with her own small fine arts studio and gallery in Old Mesilla Mesilla, New Mexico, USA
We lived on the plaza in a traditional Spanish Colonial adobe home when the area first began what is known now as "gentrification" in a quest for authenticity (an increasing their investment property values.) A reaction to the plastic, inauthentic world of Las Cruces proper, with all it's McDonaldized suburban tract homes and strip center sprawl.
One property owner, having a large pecan orchard on the nearby Rio Grande River, lived on a sizeable property with an old adobe, several outbuildings surrounded by a low adobe block wall which in some places was "melting." Since he was an original family owner he had chickens, a small garden with associated tools (things don't rust there) an old Ford pickup, a large and ancient Pueblo horno oven used weekly, two turkeys named "Christmas and Thanksgiving," several dogs and cats, from time to time a nursing goat whose "kid" was bound for the horno. Just recalled, the blue plastic kids wading/swimming pool, bikes and toys on the patio and big stacks of curing pecan wood used for outdoor cooking and home heating. . . .Are you getting the picture?
No one knew when, a long time before I arrived, someone(s) took the time and effort to "inlay" these words on the adobe wall to the left side of the front gate "Casa Débris."
It was not unusual for homes to have the designation "Casa" this, that, or the other on the exterior. But this one was a professional graffiti job, in lettering, however the fluorescent "Day Glo" orange paint appeared to have tiny pieces of reflective metalflake, blown on while wet, which illuminated in your headlights at night and caught your attention. I was told the reflective element was the same material the state department of transportation used on highway signs,ground to a dust and blown on the paint, let's call it "disturbingly vivid." Did I mention he had one or two roosters most of the time for the hens? Are you getting the picture?
Old McDonald (let's call him) was perfectly within his rights to live exactly as he and his large family did on his residential rural mini-farm. In fact, Old McDonald was a little smarter than some folks gave him credit.
My job was a gig approx. 100 miles north at Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino New Mexico I drove up every Wednesday and back to Mesilla on Sunday afternoon after brunch, gas was still cheap then. In the beginning, not having transportation I rode up in a van with the artisans taking their wares to the Inn and rode back on the Alamogordo bus. I mention this because I was surrounded by artist, artisans and Mescalero Apaches, gradually learning about their culture, beliefs, and traditional way of life. They later took me to Sky City . . .quiet an experience with informed people.
Flashback to Corpus Christi when I was about 6 years old and first noticed the faux-adobe home on the corner of louisiana and Ocean Drive. It always struck me a little out of rhythm/form (follows function) although I couldn't articulate exactly why. We often drove passed it, and later galavanting around town with friends on Southern and Denver streets, I often passed it on my motor scooter/car. I recall some people called it the Santa Fe house.
In Mesilla I learned the style of native architecture is called Traditional Spanish Colonial characterized by thick adobe bricks walls, heavy lodge-wood roof beams which protrude the exterior walls, supporting flat roofs with soft, rounded corners, deep window reveals, wall niches, extended porches and patios for outdoor activities in daylight. Old adobes were rather dark inside and candles were burned for light before electricity so as much work as could be done outside saved candle cost.
Contrary to Texas Coastal light, which is rather harsh, the south-western Mesilla Valley light is known for it's soft luminous quality . . .The Land of Enchantment, remember, it feels cooler in the heat there without our south Texas humidity.
Think of CC's old Artesians Park at the corner of Twigg and Mesquite streets as it once existed with it's own Spanish Colonial vernacular homes/bldgs when it had big palm trees a bandstand and food was prepared outside to sell. You'll have to review old photographs to understand the difference.
Here's a fact for you. In Corpus Christi's summer the beach sand can get so hot you can hardly walk on it without burning your feet. In the White Sands desert north of Las Cruces, composed of gypsum crystals reflecting light, you can walk barefooted on it on the hottest days. Sunrise, sunsets and starlight are particularly enchanting in contrast with the vast white sand dunes.
The point of particular significance is to notice how native turquoise contrast with the surrounding sand colored rock.
In the Southwest it's used in jewelry, fancy knife handles, pistol grips. . .quiet elegant with silver work, clothing (Indian and Western) adobe wood trim around windows, shutters, to include doors. . .what have you depending on your creativity.
Still with me here? Ever notice how often you see boats painted turquoise, inside, in the south and the tropics, the world over? The reason, under a sweltering sun, turquoise is easy on the eyes, a cool, relaxing color with a sense of balance and harmony . . .a vivid, lively color that gives us an existential contentment of sorts.
The Mescalero Apache and Navajo have legends about turquoise going back to prehistory. In brief, ancient indians noticed the mineral in light beige canyon rocks an attached spiritual properties and beliefs to it. Turquoise fits in native landscapes found the world over. The indians say it's the " Sky Stone" that fell to the Earth and connects us to the Earth.
Metrics That Matter:
Primitive adobes had low ceilings with small windows. Being rather dark inside the walls and ceilings were whitewashed. They often had a whitewashed border around the windows to reflect light inside. . .remember they are very thick walls, often with niches for candles and stuff. The traditional style developed being influenced by the Southern Spanish/Moorish styles with sensuous soft rounded corners. What gave the building life, strength and vitality were heavy rounded roof beams (which do not easily catch fire) and the color blue/turquoise/red that contrasted with adobe light-beige. Doors and window frames/shutters were thought to protect the home from evil spirits if painted blue . . .seems they think it's water and the spirits can't cross water. The front door is the focal point of the adobe and should be immediately observable, for the eyes to rest and frame the structure. The water drains from a flat roof via canales which should project far enough from the vertical walls so there is no backsplash to damage a wall. Tiled roofs ought to extend past the walls far enough to avoid backsplash.
Adobe kivas and fireplaces have specific proportions for heating purposes. Large fireplaces are made of rock, kivas of fire brick or tile in the interior. Adobe home chimney caps are short and squat, often with tile rain protectors built above them. I don't recall ever seeing a tall adobe chimney .
The faux-adobe of distinction on Ocean Drive was built in 1937. The site comprises 1.483 acres. Nueces County Tax Office
Observe:
Square lines, sharp corners, ugly fenestions, no window trim or shutters, small short roof beams and tall chimneys, no color for contrast, adobe is light-beige, not weathered asphalt grey. Note the low surrounding wall and how it impacts the house. Note the orientation of the house on the site with regard to an occupants view towards the bay. The entrance is ambiguous.
Now that is what I call history!
Besides "Casa Debris", the Armenian Silkworm's Mediterranean style mansion, H.E.Butt's house, and that house that was in Billie Jean, What other interesting houses are there on ocean. They are all neat, but what about the history beneath the walls, such as Famous owner, Rags to Ritches stories, Etc.
Now that is what I call history!
Besides "Casa Debris", the Armenian Silkworm's Mediterranean style mansion, H.E.Butt's house, and that house that was in Billie Jean, What other interesting houses are there on ocean. They are all neat, but what about the history beneath the walls, such as Famous owner, Rags to Ritches stories, Etc.
Has Corpus Christi's water always tasted Nasty?
Do you remember Ms. Helens white Victorian house that set exactly on the site where the CC Aquarium sits today? I know that story.
Have you ever read a water sample analysis report from TNRCC? When I was there a friend worked at the then "Texas Water Commission" he and his family drank bottled water. . .'nuff said.
I always remember North Beach looking like a small little town. Now 60+ years later North Beach, "El Rincon" still looks the same, to me.
I was also wondering, because I don't remember, what percentage of businesses had Air Conditioning back in the 1950s. I was recently at a business suite on Reid Dr. That looked like, and smelled like it was from the 1950s, and it had A/C. I may, or may not have been original.
I also wanted to know what happened to Mr. doc Mason after the Dragon Grill was raided downtown.
I always remember North Beach looking like a small little town. Now 60+ years later North Beach, "El Rincon" still looks the same, to me.
I was also wondering, because I don't remember, what percentage of businesses had Air Conditioning back in the 1950s. I was recently at a business suite on Reid Dr. That looked like, and smelled like it was from the 1950s, and it had A/C. I may, or may not have been original.
I also wanted to know what happened to Mr. doc Mason after the Dragon Grill was raided downtown.
>I do recall a motel there where the Texas State Aquarium is now,<
That threw me at first. The Edgewater was taken out in a pre 80's hurricane. Ms. Helen moved her house on the site sometime before 1980. Ms. Helen owned the Lynn Motor Inn on Shoreline, a block north, across the street.
"El Rincon," I saw that . . .reminds me of El Rincón del Viejo (The Old Man's Corner) in Nuevo Laredo.
In the 1950's people went to the movies for AC. I don't know what percentage of businesses had AC, I know Wilson Elem., Hamlin Jr.High and Ray didn't have AC. Most people didn't have AC unless you lived in Lamar Park/Pope Place or a custom home. Lamar Park Shopping Center, Model Market, etc. all had AC. If you recall, a lot of women wore white gloves when they went out and my dad always wore a suit, tie and hat. He would not have been caught dead wearing flip-flops, shorts and t-shirt!
>what happened to Mr. doc Mason after the Dragon Grill was raided downtown.<
No I didn't know about that. That was a little before my time. LoL
But tell me EVERYThING about it!
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or the historical fact of a helicopter crash on a CC elementary schoolyard playground. The fact we had dove stuffed with wild rice and pecan for dinner that night. The fact, the talk of the town was Marilyn Monroe and playwright Arthur Miller's marriage at the time of contract bridge parties? I loved them, adults talked too much ( Little pictures have big ears) and the rules were arcane enough to eliminated the slow folk. 
