The museum has very good exhibits about the discovery of two Spanish ships that wrecked off of the coast of Texas in 1554. The ships were returning to Spain from Mexico, carrying several hundred passengers and millions of dollars of silver and gold. Many recovered artifacts are on display along with a short history of Spain’s involvement in looting Mexico’s treasures.
Another exhibit covers La Salle’s voyage from France in 1684 and his mission to start a colony in the mouth of the Mississippi and claim it for France. This venture ended badly with one of the four ships getting captured by pirates, one returning to France, another running aground and the last, the Le Belle, sinking. The resting spot of the Le Belle was found in 1995 and many of recovered artifacts are on display at the museum.
Besides the shipwrecks the history galleries have exhibits about early Corpus Christi, the Aztecs, and how diseases have affected native populations. These exhibits are a little scrambled but still interesting. The science galleries could use some updating. The mineral section is pretty good. The hands-on children’s gallery is bright and colorful and looks like a lot of fun.
The museum is accessible.
All of the parking in the main lot is angle-in and too short for RVs. We parked in the lot south of the traffic circle. The entrance/exit is rough with a dip and the crosswalk does not line up which makes it difficult for wheelchair travel.
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