My first experience with it was my dad picking up two scantily clad girls in our Rambler on SPID (South Padre Island Drive for you non locals) in our Rambler wagon. One wore a bikini, other a sun dress, probably bikini under that, headed to Padre. Picked up near Ayers, got them to around Nile, dropped off, they got out and stuck thumb out for guess remainder of way. Didn't tell momma about this though.
Living in ghetto with Interstate 37 as our front yard had THAT advantage though. Go up hill, stick thumb out, get picked up, usually get to location or near where headed. First experience actually hitching a ride was after momma and me had a argument. I was 14 at the time, and only way to get around was brother Tommy giving me a ride, or Corpus Christi bus. My destinations mostly same, K-Mart on SPID at Everhart and Padre Staples mall.
The issue here was if Tommy was too lazy to give me a ride, the bus worked, but could take hour and half to get to mall. Longer to K-Mart, Your Savings Place.
A number of times after checking out K-Mart, mostly stereo equipment but no place to plug it in at home, no electricity, would walk across Everhart and cut thru missus Blanche Moore's field. Her field of greens stretched from Everhart on north, SPID on east, Staples on south and Williams on west, so just disappear in field and walk along quietly. I would be a few more years before I met that nice lady when reading meters at CPL. Come out way down Staples, cross SPID and was at Padre Staples Mall. If I had any change (I usually kept some change to try to get home before busses quit running!) but any extra change was spent at Orange Julius, would kill for one of those now. Wandered around mall to see what is new or what I could afford with my next massive check or $42.00 from Charboy. Charboy was under Wilson Tower on Leopard street side, I was fry cook, dishwasher, janitor, busboy for $1.50 a hour in 1974.
You know, I probably only hitchhiked 20 times whole life down there. Can tell you it was difficult trying to get BACK to the craphole part of town, easy to escape it, tough to get back, even if I had surfboard! Was relatively easy to also get off Padre, gave myself 2 hours of sunlight just in case, but no one want to pick up kid (was 15-17 now) smelling like big coconut and surfboard it seemed, and if they did, I rarely got north past Weber anyways.
On opposite side, I crossed the I-37 turn to Crosstown, and hitchhiked to North Beach a few times, mostly to see friends. In 1970s, was all tattoo parlors, sailors, dingy bars and whores ready to take you to little motels no matter what age as long as you had money. I knew some of the girls too, but never gave them money for anything!
Tommy let me borrow his car a few times as long as I put gas in it. Then I saved some money from work and bought a 1970 Javelin from old black preacher man mister Fawcett who had Fawcett Auto Sales on Leopard behind Miller. It ran, drove, stopped, and was a AMC car for $600. Dad was happy as we could work on it if anything went wrong. Sure I blew up 9 engines in it, but could get another engine cheap at Smitty's junkyard on Agnes so no big deal, replace it one day. But then...my hitchhiking days in Corpus Christi were over.
Photos: Photo #1. Am standing in our front yard on Antelope street, THE SIGN photobombs upper right, it is in a lot of photos though as we never took photos inside house, too filthy and full of junk. Was about 17 here and trouble.
Photo #2. Just....walk up hill, stick, thumb out and get a ride in Corpus Christi, there is MY SIGN, wonder what ever happened to it. Crawled up and across over traffic on it twice, made momma cry, still regret.
Photo #3. This is I-37 looking south towards South Padre Island drive, but it is "new" Crosstown freeway being carved out over Leopard and Lipan, comanche, Agnes, Laredo and more, a lot of houses taken out for it.
Photo #4. Looking towards Padre Island from Agnes, the promise of a new day with sun coming up over freeway. On the left was tiddie bar Wolfie's many remember with the large 25 foor or so girl, first brunette, then blonde, I worked there when Dumas owned it, on right was Foxys, worked there too, when Daddy Frank owned that place. Difference between two strip clubs was how mean teeth girls had, wheee. Never have understood why Corpus Christi has not double decked SPID. Maybe year 3000 when Harbor Bridge finished.