Dolphin Park

It's been ages since I've walked along the North Beach [where the sand and surf meet the hotels and tourist attractions that bring visitors to the shore]. Like maybe 10 years? At least. The last time I walked there, the beach was so inundated with trash and jelly fish, I just never felt compelled to return there. Until Thursday. A reported rare bird was spotted in the bay near Dolphin Park at the end of the beach near the Nueces Bay Causeway. There is now a trail [2 miles one way] that is paved along the beach. Lined with scattered palm trees, granite benches and street lights for night walking....and....THE AREA HAS BEEN CLEANED UP!!! [I remember long ago, on the local news channel, that the residents of the area complained to the city that the condition of the beach area was in terrible shape, and the city crews moved in and made many improvements with a passed bond issue.]   Tho I didn't find the rare bird, I did enjoy the warm sunny afternoon, seeing this:

At times in the past for both this blog and my birding photo blog I've mentioned Indian Pont Park [which is across the causeway of Nueces Bay]. As usual, while there at Indian Point, I shoot photos of Corpus Christi Skyline from its pier. Well, while at Dolphin Park, I searched the horizon from this vantage point, across the bay the OTHER way, and found Indian Point Park and the fishing pier.  This time, you're looking from the city's skyline side toward the pier...

....the Dolphin Park. The area with the playground equipment was encircled with musical instruments...drums, and many xylophones, etc. A gentleman with his child at the swings, was playing one xylophone, and the sound was beautiful....like a distant wind chime in the tropical forest. I sat and listened, and enjoyed it very much...

For the most part it's a children's playground, a covered observation deck, and a lot of signage with nature facts and historical interest. I was most interested in the history...

...about the sign of the 1919 Storm follows:

NORTH BEACH – 1919 STORM

September 14, 1919 dawned with unusual weather. About 9 a.m. the Weather Bureau issued a hurricane warning for Corpus Christi. Many North Beach residents ignored the warning, complacently recalling that the 1916 storm did little damage. But this time a rising storm tide cut off the peninsula from Corpus Christi and by 1 p.m. the 240 homes on the beach were under water. At the height of the storm 14 foot waves inundated North Beach. Except for three structures, the buildings were all demolished, torn into pieces and swept into Nueces Bay. People who did not evacuate were trapped in rapidly rising storm waters. Those that did not reach safe refuge in Spohn Sanitarium, Judge McDonald’s mansion, or the U. S. Government Hospital fought for their lives in the raging waters. The violent winds and waves carried them to the west and north side of Nueces Bay to White Point and the Taylor Ranch at the mouth of the Nueces River. More than half the North Beach residents died in the storm. The official death toll of the entire area was 184, but historians believe three to four times that number perished in the terrible storm of 1919.

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I will return for a good 4 mile round trip walk, again.