Flying to Texas...recommendations?

If you want to keep the aviation theme going, head on over to Galveston.
There is a great aviation museum right on Scholes Field
(http://www.lsfm.org/) and Moody Gardens is very close by. You'll love the
hotel at T82, but it is a taxi ride into town and the restaurant on the
field is only OK IMHO. A good ariel tour of the hill country and a stop in
Llano for BBQ at Coopers would also be a nice diversion. WX is looking good
for the next 3-4 days.

- Barney

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
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 itself sounds very neat, and we'll spend a day or two
there, 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, but there's no telling this far out.

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"

On Wed, 7 Mar 2007 13:01:13 -0600, "Barney Rubble"
wrote:

If you want to keep the aviation theme going, head on over to Galveston.
There is a great aviation museum right on Scholes Field
(http://www.lsfm.org/) and Moody Gardens is very close by.

There's also the Schlitterbahn water park within a very short walk of
where you park your plane at GLS... It doesn't have as much variety as
the one over in New Braunfels, but it's heated in the winter... Or at
least a certain portion of it is... I haven't been there in the
winter, so I have no first hand knowledge of this though...

http://www.schlitterbahn.com/gal/

I've only been there once with my family, so I wasn't sure how close
it was to the airport, so I drove... Turns out that if I had flown, we
would have had to walk less than where I ended up parking my car...

The airport is within walking distance of the Galveston beaches --
about 1.5 miles... The road along the beach is considerably longer and
if you were wanting to explore around, bikes or a car would be nice to
have... Although I'm sure the weather is warmer than you're probably
experiencing in Iowa these days, it's not warm enough that a dip in
the ocean is all that enticing for us at least... Water temperature is
probably close to what the NOAA Galveston buoy is reporting...

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42035

Currently, low to mid 60Fs... Of course you could look at it on the
bright side -- it's 30Fs warmer than what you have in Iowa... grin

Even if you go all the way down to Brownsville, the water doesn't get
that much warmer... The best you can probably hope for is around
70F... If you want truly warm, keep heading south and stop around
Cozumel...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
snip

Any other Gulf coast destination recommendations?

Corpus Christi has beaches, dolphin watching and a museum aircraft carrier.

Danny Deger

"Grumman-581" wrote:

Although I'm sure the weather is warmer than you're probably
experiencing in Iowa these days, it's not warm enough that a dip in
the ocean is all that enticing for us at least... Water temperature is
probably close to what the NOAA Galveston buoy is reporting...

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42035

Currently, low to mid 60Fs...

My buddies and I surfed at those beaches this time of year when we were high
school kids. We wore full wet suits. 60 deg. F water will turn your grapes
to raisins in no time.

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

Jay Honeck wrote:
Don't your kids go to school?

"Spring Break" comes early to Iowa....

If only spring itself came early! :-)

March has started out pretty wild here in PA as well. It was -8F two
nights ago and 0F this morning. That is just not right for March!

Matt

Dan Luke wrote:
My buddies and I surfed at those beaches this time of year when we were high
school kids. We wore full wet suits. 60 deg. F water will turn your grapes
to raisins in no time.

I dive and 65-70F is acceptable with a 3mm wetsuit, even at depth... I
currently use a 5mm FJ style, thus 10mm in the torso area... It's quite
acceptable for 70F Florida caves even when you're down for an hour or
so... We used to do those same caves without a wetsuit, but after hiking
a mile through the woods to get to the cave in 95-100F weather, the 70F
water felt really good...

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

"Grumman-581" wrote:

My buddies and I surfed at those beaches this time of year when we were
high school kids. We wore full wet suits. 60 deg. F water will turn your
grapes to raisins in no time.

I dive and 65-70F is acceptable with a 3mm wetsuit, even at depth... I
currently use a 5mm FJ style, thus 10mm in the torso area... It's quite
acceptable for 70F Florida caves even when you're down for an hour or so...
We used to do those same caves without a wetsuit, but after hiking a mile
through the woods to get to the cave in 95-100F weather, the 70F water felt
really good...

I don't remember the specs on the wetsuits we wore. I do remember trying to
stand up on the board and not being able to feel my feet.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

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

Barney Rubble wrote:
If you want to keep the aviation theme going, head on over to Galveston.
There is a great aviation museum right on Scholes Field
(http://www.lsfm.org/) and Moody Gardens is very close by. You'll love the
hotel at T82, but it is a taxi ride into town and the restaurant on the
field is only OK IMHO. A good ariel tour of the hill country and a stop in
Llano for BBQ at Coopers would also be a nice diversion. WX is looking good
for the next 3-4 days.

Definitely go to Galveston. Then take the crew car (if you can) for
the short drive up to JSC and take the tour. Back to Galveston for
fresh seafood. Don't forget to pick up one of those cheap foam
coolers to fill with ice and fresh, live shrimp (are we in season yet?)
to take home. Wrap in a big plastic garbage bag, no problem with
the smell.