40 THINGS TO DO - THE RULES

In 2010, I'm doing 40 things I've never done* in Corpus Christi to ascertain whether or not people are accurate when they say 'There's nothing to do here."

When I hatched this scheme about mid-December I used the time between then and the new year to refine the rules and create my first pass at a list. 'Why rules?', you ask. Because you guys are going to tear me apart. Why didn't you do this? And why did you think this was good? or Why did you say that wasn't good? You think there's so much to do....there's nothing to do! etc. Don't believe me, go ahead and check out the FB page. Criticism already. So be it. This is important.

So here are my rules for our little adventure.

Rule #1: Try to remain as objective as possible. My goal is not to prove any pre-concieved opinion that there is or isn't much to do. Great cities offer their citizens a robust arts and cultural experience. This effort is more about grading what is out there.

Rule #2: Try to The Things as accessible as possible. This project will hopefully encourage you to get out there and try something new (or a few things). That said, I don't want to fill up the list with $100 items. It makes sense to try surfing or kiteboarding, but lessons for each can get up there quick. Wednesday night sailing sounds fun, but can anyone just show up and do it? There are some tickets and lessons that certainly cost a few pennies, and I will discuss those aspects of the events. Are average citizens not doing those types of things because they're cost-prohibitive?

Rule #3: All new Things*. If I'm using up 40 weekends to learn about the variety of CC's arts and culture, I will rely on my memory for the things I've done. If you haven't done these, though, you should start here: Harbor Playhouse, CC 7-Day Film Project, CC Hooks, Texas State Aquarium, Art Museum of South Texas, etc. All worth your time.

Rule #4: No restaurants. As much as I love B&J's Pizza and Hu-Dat, I'm not counting going to a restaurant as one of my 40 Things to Do for the purposes of this exercise. A Google Maps search for restaurants yields 2,500 listings in CC alone. There's no denying that the restaurant culture of a city is important, but for now I'm leaving them out of this list.

So only 4 Rules. That's not too stingy. Anything I missed?

Next Up: The First List