It even gets cold down here!

A beautiful view of Corpus Christi.

We visited Goose Island State Park Tues. The CCC built roads, bridges and a concession building here.

The Big Tree on Goose Island is protected by a fence.  It is one of the largest live oaks in the U.S. and is estimated to be over 1,000 years old.  Live oaks were used for ship building because of the curved wood, and because they are resistent to decay and disease.  Live oak was used to build the U.S. Constitution. 

Their heavy  limbs plunge toward the ground and may be supported by cables and braces.

There are over 100 campsites with water and electric. This group is overlooking the bay.

Near the fishing pier someone was sketching.

I'm not sure how much of the bay is shallow, or how shallow, but there were several sets of stairs on the long pier that went down to a shelled area that fishermen could wade out on.

Someone had left a trail of their alphabet snack on the pier.

The pier went out a long ways.  Looking back at the campground on the shore.

This pile of shells, on the edge of the beach, looked like rocks.  

Near Goose Island S.P. was Our Lady of Schoenstatt (German for beautiful place) Shrine, also known as the Shrine of Confidence.  Dedicated in 1959, it is a place of  spiritual help and guidance. There are 207 Schoenstatt shrines through the world with one also in San Antonio and Austin, TX.   The Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary of the Catholic Apostolate have a motherhouse here. It was very peaceful and calming, both for me and probably Pat, who got some alone time in the car while I explored the shrine grounds.

The shrine is a replica of the 1914 shrine in Germany, founded by Father  Joseph Kentenich.

There were several buildings on the grounds.

It sits on Copano Bay with a beautiful view.

Fr. Kentenich, together with a group of seminarians dedicated their lives to Mary, Mother Trice Admirable.

I'm curious as to what these rocks, with what looks like windows, are.

This building housed a gift shop.

A historical marker for the town of Lamar was near the shrine.  The town survived until 1914.

A few days ago I mentioned that my sister-in-law's books,  "Clouds over Bishop Hills" and "Shadows over Bishop Hills," could be purchase on Amazon.  I failed to mention that Mary's web page is: https://marydavidsaver.weebly.com/

We learned a lot about Corpus Christi on Tues.  I'll share some pictures from there tomorrow.  Time to get to sleep tonight. Due to potential ice Friday morning, our original departure day, we are heading out tomorrow.  Thurs. and Fri. nights will have temperatures dipping below freezing.