This was a year unlike any other. Find more stories wrapping up 2020 here.
Blue dragons showed up on Texas beaches this year, along with a mysterious creature that officials at Padre Island National Seashore couldn’t quite identify.
KSAT anchor Steve Spriester was dubbed ‘Mr. Put Money in Bag’ after being featured on rapper Future’s new album ‘High Off Life’ when part of a 2014 newscast ended up in the song “Ridin Strikers” and for the first time ever people were allowed to drive through the San Antonio Zoo.
2020 may have blindsided the world with the coronavirus pandemic, among other things, but there have been some other interesting stories that are worth taking a look back on after what some people have dubbed a certifiable dumpster fire of a year.
Here are eleven interesting stories you might have missed from 2020:
- It’s the rap cameo nobody saw coming - featuring Steve Spriester himself. Roughly 2 1/2 minutes into the song “Ridin Strikers” by Future, Spriester can be heard talking about a 2014 bank robbery. Spriester said he found out about his rap debut on Twitter. “My kids are thrilled. They’re calling me ‘Mr. Put Money in Bag.’”
2. Beautiful but dangerous blue dragons discovered on Texas beach are ‘rare find’
- Aye there be dragons at the beach - but not the scale-covered kind from fairy tales of old. Nope, these are blue glaucaus, a type of nudibranch or sea slug and officials at Padre Island National Seashore called them a “rare find.”
3. What is it? Mystery creature washes up on beach at Padre Island National Seashore
- We might never know what the heck it was that washed up on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore in October but people were speculating that it was some kind of eel. “After endlessly researching eels and snake eels that might live in the Gulf of Mexico on the Texas coast, we have concluded that we still don’t know exactly what this mystery creature might be,” PINS officials said.
4. Huge spider greets family new to San Antonio
- This is not the welcome one family was hoping for when they moved to Alamo City. A giant spider was crawling up the outside of the family’s patio door when they moved into their new apartment. It wasn’t harmed - but released back into the wild. Zoo officials believe it was a Texas Tan Tarantula, a common species in Texas.
5. Don’t worry - the Annabelle doll did not actually escape from the Warrens’ Occult Museum
- Um, what? If you’ve seen “The Conjuring” horror film series, you already know how spooky the haunted Annabelle doll is but back in August some internet users were convinced the doll escaped from a museum in Connecticut. If you’re unfamiliar with the story behind Annabelle, or if you haven’t watched “The Conjuring,” it’s quite a haunting tale.
6. Once in a lifetime opportunity lets you drive through the San Antonio Zoo
- For the first time in history, guests were able to drive through the San Antonio Zoo in a motor vehicle. It was the first time guests could tour the zoo from four wheels since there were carts led by donkeys. After the coronavirus pandemic decimated the zoo’s ability to generate income, officials came up with this unique experience to help support the zoo while allowing guests a break from home-quarantine.
7. Man captures heart-stopping video of San Antonio Thunderbirds flyover from top of 500-foot tower
- Watching the Thunderbirds fly over San Antonio was cool but this guy got to watch it from 500-feet in the air. The man captured video of the flight but then he also panned down so we could see his feet a heart-stopping 50 stories off the ground.
8. Skyrocketing number of feral hogs in US has become ‘pig bomb,’ experts say
- The illegal transportation of wild pigs on the “underground wild pig railroad” has caused a massive explosion in population for the animals in a term Zoologist John “Jack” Mayer has coined a “pig bomb.” Feral hogs are an invasive species largely introduced to Texas decades ago by hunters. Since then, their numbers have skyrocketed.
9. Texas teen breaks Guinness World Record for having the world’s longest legs
- The longest legs in the world belong to a 17-year-old from Cedar Park, Texas. Maci Currin’s legs reach almost a meter and a half in length with her legs accounting for 60% of her height. (She’s feet, 10 inches tall!)
10. $320 million Texas ranch, half the size of Rhode Island, for sale near Big Bend National Park
- This massive 420,000-acre ranch on the north side of Big Bend National Park is more than 120,000 acres larger than the city of San Antonio. Brewster Ranches includes 5,000-foot high peaks, ravines, rivers, springs and wildlife, according to the brochure.
11. 9 Texas treehouses you can rent for unique weekend getaway
- We’ve shared a variation of this story several times but it’s hard not to when you know you can vacation in the trees. From “Tarzan” to the “Swiss Family Robinson,” there are plenty of movies that might have sparked your youthful heart to dream of living in a treehouse. From river-side treehouses to a treehouse nestled next to a small waterfall, there’s a little something for everyone in these unique vacation rentals.