CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — All afternoon Wednesday, dozens of people ventured out on the bay front to see Mirador de la Flor, better known as the Selena Monument.
Wednesday marked the 26th anniversary of when the singer was murdered in a hotel room in Corpus Christi.
Selena was on the rise as one of the most famous Tejano music artists and became an icon for many.
Not just locals were visiting the monument, but travelers from all over.
"I’m so grateful and appreciative for her music and her personality," said Jannet Hammel, a San Diego native. "The person that—who she was. She inspired so many people. Her life was cut short."
"She used to be a certain inspiration to me, growing up and everything else," Ervin Zachary said, a Houston area native. "Her music empowered me a lot and it’s amazing just to be here right now. It’s really deep—it really—to actually see this for the first time. And I've been years and years wanting to do this."
Both Hammel and Zachary saw the monument for the first time, unknowing that it was on the anniversary of her death.
There are several other sites around Corpus Christi people can visit to honor Selena. There's the Selena museum, her house, the singer's grave site and a mural painted in her honor.