Gone but not forgotten- Old Corpus Christi (Roma, Center: dollar movie, college)

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by setrevino

Does anybody remember the restaurant "Bunks" which would have been close to where Elmo's now is?
They use to serve the BEST hamburger steak ever. This would have been in the '60's.

OMG- now you're singing my song. Bunks was across from the old Sears store on Leopard which closed when the new one opened up across from Gulfway shopping center (1974 or 1975), where it is today. My uncle owned a liquor store briefly next door to Bunks called "Sarges" about 1972-73 or so. Bunks had a hamburger patty with the most delicious golden covered gravy on top and homemade fries. Chat n chew, another landmark restaurant was in the same block of Leopard. that must have closed in the mid 80s or so.
I'm not sure where Elmos is though.

[BBB1963]

Originally Posted by Tres

Weren't Tiddies also made in CC, back in the day you could pick those up at most all surf shops and some Maverick Markets?

You know I cant say whether they were ever made down there, but I know for certain they were made in Pasadena because I worked there summer of '77. There was a small convenience store on Houston Avenue, and right beside it was an small access road going back to the Tiddie factory. It was an open-air building, nothing fancy at all. I just walked back there one day after school and asked the guys if I could make some pocket money, so they put on the assembly line pressing the layers together. The entire process was by hand. From cutting the layers with dies, putting glue on the layers and laying them under a heat lamp, pressing them with a levered press (I got paid a penny a pair for this part), putting the tubing in, and lastly running the bottom sole over a thing that looks like a table-saw with a dado blade that cut grooves in the bottom for traction. Spent many-a long hot day in that ole sweat shop pressing the sandals listening to all the other guys tell all kinda nonsense stories and the great 70s album-rock on the radio.

[Mel B]

Hello from Austin where I am researching an old TV series episode filmed in Corpus Christi in Jan. 1963. It was one of the popular Route 66 series starring George Maharis and Martin Milner as Buz & Tod, two guys "looking for the right place to fit in" by driving across America in a Corvette. The shows aired on Friday nights on CBS back when there were only three networks for TV viewing. At the beginning of season III Maharis left the show after a prolonged bout with hepatitis so the Corpus Christi episode was done with only Milner along with a kid actor named Roger Mobely and a well known character actor named Marin Balsam. They filmed all around CC including a drive-in burger place on Ayers, Favorite Barber Shop on Peoples downtown, CC Cathedral, North Beach, David Hirsch Elementary, the old Court House, etc. Does anyone recall this show who might help me find some of those locations? Some friends and I have put together a website that treats each of the one hundred plus episodes in a Then & Now format and that's what we hope to do with the CC episode titled "Somehow It Gets To Be Tomorrow". The website is titled Ohio66 because there were six episodes filmed there and that's how it began; Ohio 66 - Route 66 filming locations. I have done the Austin episode and a friend has done one shot in Gainesville. All the episodes are available on DVD by season now so you can check them out. The CC story is on Season Three Vol. 2 if y'all want to get it and see what Corpus looked like in the early 1960s. We sure could use some help from anyone interested in the Corpus area who might steer us toward some of the filming locations. Hope to get a response here if possible or you can contact me directly if preferred.
Adios for now, Mel B
ps; A second episode was filmed at Port Aransas a few weeks later that is also fun to watch since it shows Port A long before it turned into the mega-condo/tourist trap that it has become.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by gungemini

glad to see someone is doing this thread like we are in San antonio.

KEEP OLD MEMORIES ALIVE
I miss the old texas, not that im crying but keep it alive for these young cats nowadays!

Props from San Antonio

Yep, glad you all in Corpus started a thread like this as well. I've been pretty active on the GBNF San Antonio thread, and just went through all the posts on this thread tonight.

Growing up in San Antonio, going down to Corpus for vacation 2 or 3 times each summer every year was a tradition not just among my family, but the families of most of the kids I grew up with. I haven't been back much as an adult, I did 2 MS 150 Bike to the Beach bike rides and spent a couple of days after each at a friend's condo on North Padre, but that was about it until this past weekend. My wife and I went down there and spent the weekend in downtown Corpus. Man, did it bring back some great old memories!!!

Ships Ahoy on the Bay was always a tradition with my family. We would always go there on Saturday's when we were in Corpus, and more often than not, I would run into kids and their families I knew from back home! This past weekend I took several pictures of the now abandoned building, it was heart breaking. Unfortunately, my wife left the camera in the lobby of our hotel when we left this morning, and no one's turned it in to Lost and Found yet, so I don't have any pictures.

But I did find this in the Newspapers Archives for Corpus, consider it a gift to my friends in the city by the bay! I should be back in Corpus in a few weeks and will retake the pictures of the abandoned Ships Ahoy building then. Also, as an amateur Urban historian, I've already found some interesting stuff from your city's history, and I'll post what i got during the next week.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by GWhopper

Yep, glad you all in Corpus started a thread like this as well. I've been pretty active on the GBNF San Antonio thread, and just went through all the posts on this thread tonight.

Growing up in San Antonio, going down to Corpus for vacation 2 or 3 times each summer every year was a tradition not just among my family, but the families of most of the kids I grew up with. I haven't been back much as an adult, I did 2 MS 150 Bike to the Beach bike rides and spent a couple of days after each at a friend's condo on North Padre, but that was about it until this past weekend. My wife and I went down there and spent the weekend in downtown Corpus. Man, did it bring back some great old memories!!!

Ships Ahoy on the Bay was always a tradition with my family. We would always go there on Saturday's when we were in Corpus, and more often than not, I would run into kids and their families I knew from back home! This past weekend I took several pictures of the now abandoned building, it was heart breaking. Unfortunately, my wife left the camera in the lobby of our hotel when we left this morning, and no one's turned it in to Lost and Found yet, so I don't have any pictures.

But I did find this in the Newspapers Archives for Corpus, consider it a gift to my friends in the city by the bay! I should be back in Corpus in a few weeks and will retake the pictures of the abandoned Ships Ahoy building then. Also, as an amateur Urban historian, I've already found some interesting stuff from your city's history, and I'll post what i got during the next week.

what year do you figure that was, GW?

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by wehotex

what year do you figure that was, GW?

Looks like it was way back in 1965. I also found these pictures of the restaurant around the time of its grand opening.

[GWhopper]

And here is a post card from the original Ship Ahoy downtown.

[GWhopper]

I was able to pull this image from Google Street view. It must have been taken some time ago, because when I was there this past weekend, it was in a much more dilapidated state. The sign for The Islander Bar & Grill was missing when I was there. I am curious as to what else has been in this building since Ship Ahoy closed down. I vaguely remember it being a County Line Barbecue restaurant in the early 2000's the last time I was there.

For fun, its kind of cool to compare images from then and now.

[GWhopper]

And here is a shot of the old interior of Ship Ahoy on the Bay. I always loved the big wooden sailing ship, I wonder where it is now?

[GWhopper]

As promised, I retook the pics of the old Ship Ahoy building. Here they are:

It's a nice property, surely someone could do something with this building.