Flying to Texas...recommendations?

On 7 Mar 2007 06:41:40 -0800, Jay Honeck wrote:

but the kids want WARM weather -- and so do I. We're presuming
that we'll have to fly down to the Gulf coast to hit the really nice
weather,

Jay, March in Texas is not winter... it's spring here and I'm not kidding
when I say that we've be working on our tans for a couple of weeks.

The weather has be nothing short of delightful for weeks with severe clear
and mid 70's. Now comes the bad news, NOAA is showing a Pacific front
moving through over the weekend complete with spring thunderstorms so keep
your eye on the weather.

If you want a beach vacation you'll have to fly down another 265 nm to
South Padre. Any place further up the Gulf Coast you'll find disgusting.
The beaches are brown from the Mississippi mud and generally not charming.

Avoid Corpus Christi aka the "Redneck Riviera", it's a dump. A picture is
worth a thousand words:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ckRivieraE.jpg

Something happens at the very tip of Texas that makes much nicer white
beaches. The South Padre area will remind you of a poor man's Florida with
orange groves, palm trees and condominiums.

But, again you're pressing your luck a bit because it will be spring break
and just about identical to Fort Lauderdale in insanity. (I personally
don't mind 19 year olds in thongs, but the family might not find it so
interesting.) If you can rent a car and drive across to Matamoros, Mex
you'll find good food and fun... (Assuming nothing has changed since my
last visit 12 years ago.)

http://springbreak.sopadre.com/

All I can say is keep your eye on the weather and best of luck.

Dallas

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Any other Gulf coast destination recommendations?

Houston... NASA & Mission Control
If you have to divert west for weather, Carlsbad Caverns, NM
Conferate Air Force HQ (or whatever its called now) Hondo TX (?)
Mooney Plant, Kerrville TX

On the way down you might stop at Midland and see the CAF. The FBO in MAF
is great.

Houston... NASA & Mission Control
If you have to divert west for weather, Carlsbad Caverns, NM
Conferate Air Force HQ (or whatever its called now) Hondo TX (?)
Mooney Plant, Kerrville TX

We flew the kids to Carlsbad Caverns a couple of years ago -- it's
definitely worth the flight. In fact, it's one of those places to
"See before you die...".

I'd like the see the Confederate Air Force HQ, and check out how
"Fifi" is doing...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

john smith wrote:
In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:


Any other Gulf coast destination recommendations?


Houston... NASA & Mission Control
If you have to divert west for weather, Carlsbad Caverns, NM
Conferate Air Force HQ (or whatever its called now) Hondo TX (?)
Mooney Plant, Kerrville TX

Isn't the CAF at Midland, TX. Hondo is now the home of the Southwest
Regional Flyin.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

Jay Honeck wrote:
San Antonio is nice, and we have friends to visit there, but I'm
looking for alternate suggestions.

It sounds like you've been to SA before, and you may get in trouble with
the kids for inadvertently exposing them to something educational while
on break, but the Alamo is an interesting place to visit. It was
interesting in at least two ways to me: first, because it was the site
of a battle, and second, because of people's reactions to it. When I
was there, I noticed that the visitors seemed to fall into two broad
categories. One group was reading all of the displays, taking photos,
discussing the history with each other, etc: the "tourists". The other
group took off their hats as soon as they came in the door, moved around
silently, and generally acted like they were in church: the "native
Texans".

Any other Gulf coast destination recommendations?

My grandparents spent many winters in the Harlingen/Pharr area and we
visited them over Christmas once. We left Missouri with snow and ice on
the ground, and arrived in Harlingen to 65 degrees and grandparents who
were apologizing for how cold it was. This was about 20 years ago, but
I remember that we went over to the beach on South Padre Island and it
was quite nice. We flew commercial, so I don't know about the airports
in the area.

Matt Roberds

San Antonio is nice, and we have friends to visit there, but I'm
looking for alternate suggestions. We'll be at the mercy of late
winter weather, so being flexible will be our best defense!

Any other Gulf coast destination recommendations?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Have you checked with MX?
Maybe he'll let you borrow his sim for a dry run.

Tony
(just trying to be helpful

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE

Have you checked with MX?
Maybe he'll let you borrow his sim for a dry run.

Got my own, thanks.

http://alexisparkinn.com/flight_simulator.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 2007-03-07, Jay Honeck wrote:
We're hoping to depart for Fredericksburg, Texas (T82) next Sunday, to
pay a visit to the Hangar Hotel -- the only other aviation themed
hotel in the country (that we know of).

Fredericksburg is a nice town. I went to that field a few years ago
(with my bike in the back of the C172).

Other destinations you should visit:

Go to Corpus Christi Intl. and visit the USS Lexington. That's a very
good day out.

If you want to go to the beach, Mustang Beach is just up from Corpus,
and the beach is perhaps three minutes walk from the airfield. (The
airfield didn't have fuel last time I went there, but it's pretty close
to Corpus).

Fly into LaPorte near Houston and visit the Battleship Texas - another
good day out, and you can also sit on the AA guns and pretend to shoot
down passing aircraft :-) You can go right down into the bottom of the
engine room, too.

Also, the Johnson Space Center. Houston Gulf used to be the airport to
visit from this but it suffered the same fate as many private airfields
- now covered in tract housing.

Galveston Scholes has the Lone Star Flight Museum on the airfield. Most
of the planes aren't static displays, but flying examples. They also
have a Hustler there that was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis IIRC
(it had been set up for photographic reconnaisance and was nicknamed
'Peeping Tom'). Also, the Moody Gardens are well worth a visit if you
have the time. If it's IMC, you can tell when you're at the outer marker
- just wait for the foul smell of the Texas City oil refineries!

Good lunch stops - Victoria (Leo's Food Lot, traditional big lumps of
meat steak house, walking distance from the airfield), Weiser airpark
(Carl's BBQ, on the airfield), Brazoria County (food available on the
airfield), Brenham (a very good '50s diner, complete with waitresses in
poodle skirts and apple crumble to die for).

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:33:41 -0000, Dylan Smith
wrote:
Also, the Johnson Space Center. Houston Gulf used to be the airport to
visit from this but it suffered the same fate as many private airfields
- now covered in tract housing.

Although Houston Gulf was probably closer, Ellington is probably the
closest these days... Technically, there's probably enough room on the
empty fields around NASA to land there and there's even a bit of
pavement where they supposedly tested rocket engines many years ago
that probably is long enough to land on... There's a tower at one end
of it... They probably won't be all that receptive to you landing
there... For some reason, security personnel don't seem to be issued
senses of humor...