This month’s featured city proves: A Texas weekend getaway won’t get better than this!
Bask in over 70 miles of sand, sun, food, and culture on the beautiful Padre Island National Seashore.
You can build a beach bonfire, bike on the water’s edge, and unwind in the culture of Corpus! A weekend away doesn’t get any better than this, with more than 70 miles of sand and sun on Padre Island National Seashore.
Whether bicycling along the water’s edge or building a beach bonfire under the night sky, you’ll be able to unwind here in the Coastal Bend.
Don’t miss the Texas State Aquarium while you’re here—they’ve just completed a $60M Caribbean Exhibit’s 400,000-gallon shark tank and a walk-through jungle filled with flamingos, sloths, and crocodiles
Not a history buff? You’re still going to love exploring the USS Lexington, an awe-inspiring ship instrumental during Pearl Harbor. (It’s flight deck showcases more than 20 vintage aircraft!)
Enjoy a change of pace at the Art Museum of South Texas, where you’ll find world-class exhibits in constant rotation.
When the heat of summer begins to fade away, little feels as good as an autumn ocean breeze along the Gulf Coast. So go ahead! Get your nature on with a visit to Hazel Bazemore Park, where more than one million hawks migrate over Corpus Christi each fall.
Walk the trails of the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, stopping to see exhibits like the butterfly garden or the 40 resident parrots.
Witness a corpus of the endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles on the Padre Island National Seashore. Try your hand at midnight flounder gigging or spend an afternoon reeling in speckled trout or black drum with one of our experienced local guides.
Fall feels fantastic in the Coastal Bend. Come see for yourself how it does a body good.
Whether coming for a family vacation or organizing an annual corporate convention, Corpus Christi has the rooms you need for a perfect trip. The city has more than 11,000 rooms and more than 400,000 sf of meeting space at the American Bank Convention Center and Arena and premier hotels like the Emerald Beach Hotel, Embassy Suites, the Omni, and Holiday Inn Downtown.
For more information on planning your next trip to the Coastal Bend, visit visitcorpuschristitx.org, where you’ll find details on good eats, fun times, and great lodging.
Plan your trip around one of the Coastal Bend’s many festivals this fall!
SEPTEMBER
This 3-day music festival showcases 30 of the best bands in the Lone Star State, with an incredible lineup ranging from indie and rock to pop and Americana.
Don’t miss the 20th annual Celebration of Flight at the Hazel Bazemore County Park, where birders from around the world join to watch the massive raptor migration over the Coastal Bend. Bring the whole family to this fun event—and don’t forget your binoculars!
OCTOBER
Come in costume to this colorful event celebrating Day of the Dead. It’s a full-on cultural explosion, with three music stages, art demos and exhibitions, 100+ arts and crafts vendors, altar displays, a piñata contest, lucha libre wrestling, activities for kids and plenty of food, drink and dancing.
Put on your lederhosen and raise up your stein to the Coastal Bend’s answer to Oktoberfest. The festival features craft beers, contest, and live music, Prepare to polka.
STEVE MARTIN & MARTIN SHORT
Comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short will perform An Evening You Will Forget for The Rest of Your Life, a one-night-only show of comedy and music. Americanbankcenter.com
Jazz lives in New Orleans, but it spends three days a year vacationing in Corpus Christi, Texas! Take in the oldest free music festival in the country!
NOVEMBER
Last year, festival-goers ate 17,400 Greek butter cookies. How many will it be this year?! Come for the gyros, stay for the baklava—and dance the night away at this year’s annual Greek festival.
RANCH HAND FESTIVAL
Get a taste of the cowboy life at the historic King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas, starting with a full ranch hand breakfast of eggs, refried beans, biscuit’s ‘n gravy, sausage, tortillas, coffee, and juice.
There’s something for the whole family—live music, roping demonstrations, the kids corral, old-time cow camp cooking demos, wine and tequila tastings, book signings by local authors, storytelling, and a car show.
Get an early start for Christmas shopping at the art market, where you’ll find jewelry, ceramics, leather goods, mesquite woodwork, and much more. Don’t miss this weekend of food, fun, and family on this iconic Texas ranch!
CORPUS CHRISTI WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL
This tasting event features over 75 varieties of wine from all over the world (and even some Texas craft beers), with more than 80% of the wines new to the local Corpus Christi market. Grab a bite from a food truck, go shopping in the vendor areas, take part in the grape stomp, or just hang out, listen to some live music and enjoy the great festival vibes of Corpus Christi‘s SEA District.
Tamale time! Nothing says South Texas like corn husks and creamy masa. Stock up for the holidays with award-winning tamales from the festival. Compete in the tamale eating contest, learn the art of the tamale at cooking demos and enjoy the mariachis and folklorico dancing.
FRONTERA
With Frontera, the past comes to life through historical reenactments, post-modern historical plays, a town fair at Heritage Park, a speaker series featuring books about the region, exhibits at the La Retama Library and the Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History, downtown history walking tours—even a hip-hop musical based on the book The Inspiring Life of Texan Hector P. Garcia. Don’t miss this immersive experience of Coastal Bend history.
DECEMBER
Kick-off your Coastal Bend holiday with festivities for the whole family, including a children’s parade, the Snowball Express Motorcade, the lighting of the Christmas tree, plenty of live entertainment and, of course, Santa! Don’t miss the spectacular lighting of Corpus Christi Harbor, where illuminated boats and holiday carols from the captains and crews bring the season to life.