DFWTexEx

Halftime crew is literally laughing at us and this game. Can we leave Herman in Dallas? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The village is just crap, but fuck Elon Musk. That being said, Boca Chica beach itself is beautiful. Or at least it was. As a kid, we would go out there and it was just like being on a real island. No amenities. No electricity. Nothing. You built a big fire. As kids, we had adventures. Jumped in the water. Got out to eat some grilled meat and then cold watermelon. It was perfect until it was time to come home. And you couldn't rinse off and you came home sunburned, sticky from the salt water and everything was full of sand. Those were the days.

Boulevardiere opened back up yesterday. We are going to do our first in person dining since the pandemic started on the patio at happy hour time this evening (assuming we can get safe outside seating). It's oyster happy hour and half price wine.

That was a pandemic highlight. Hearing Mandy say the line was was a bit emotional for me, maybe that is just the state I am in now. I think Carey acted well too. The whole thing was just fun and memorable.

He likes peaches and cream.

Lots of favorite restaurants have come and gone in my life. Some closings have made me sad. But, honestly, it's hard to imagine life without Luby's. It's the first restaurant I remember. When my parents didn't have much money, a splurge on a LuAnn platter was a real treat. When I didn't have much money, a splurge on a full order was a real treat. When we were flush, it remained a go to. That's 50+ years of fried fish, baked fish, liver and onions, roast turkey, mac and cheese, red potatoes, okra, and the best tea. Now, I go to the one down in Duncanville and get the best service and a terrific chicken fried steak. The last time I visited my parents (July this year), one of our meals was Luby's takeout and it was perfect.

That's clever and would help keep the homeowners and the individual trick or treater safe. Our concern is the chaos and crowding that is going to happen that night. We usually get 800-900 kids and they get bunched up in line. I am afraid our lights will have to be off this year for this first time. We may just leave town.

I love you all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The only thing really left that I like are the breakfast burritos. The tortillas could use another minute or so of cooking and they are not knock outs, but they are good, including the barbacoa and chorizo. And for a group, TC's early hours, the boxes and individually wrapped and labeled tacos, are really helpful. Local taco shops can't match up for satisfactory product and ease of use, even in Oak Cliff.

Speaking of Italian... We finally did a takeout from Lucia. Because of the small room and no patio, that's all they can do. It's a $100 package for a meal for 4, with a feature that changes every week (last week was fettuccine bolognese). You get a salad of some kind, the amazing bread and butter, a pasta main dish and dessert. The pasta is fresh but uncooked. You cook it at home and heat up the sauce. Damn, it was all really good. You can get salumi, other sides and wine bottles to pair with the meal as well. Macaeillo is also doing takeout meals, but they are big sandwiches featuring their cured meats.

Remember Phil Romano's lawsuit over the DMN Il Mulino review that alleged that the risotto was par cooked in advance? lol

Dallas Morning News this afternoon: Dallas County reported 182 additional positive coronavirus tests Monday — and fewer than 100 of them were recent cases. It is the first time the county has had under 100 daily cases in nearly four months. Dallas County also reported no new deaths from COVID-19 for the first time since July 5. Of the new cases, 84 were from March, April and May and are part of a backlog caused by coding issues in the state's reporting system. Local health officials have had to sort through thousands of previously unknown cases after the Texas Department of State Health Services released the data. Local health officials have focused on hospitalizations, emergency-room visits and ICU admissions as key indicators of the virus’ spread; those updated numbers will be available Tuesday. “This is the first time we’ve been under 100 cases on any day since April 27th,” County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement. “While this is great news, it is the result of much hard work on your part,” he said, noting precautions such as wearing masks, washing hands frequently and maintaining social distance. “We must continue to make these smart decisions for this trend to continue.”

I agree with the above and that is my intent. With respect to the other issues stemming from catastrophic damage to the property or an injury on the property (including common areas) that exceeds the HOA's coverage and reserves, there is loss assessment coverage available to protect from assessments in those situations and there is some business interruption coverage available, which would kick in from a windstorm. Does any of that help?

Is there a way to mitigate (not eliminate) the risk by examining the HOA reserves (and structure for use) and insurance coverages and getting into a newer building? Or is this just a hard pass for y'all?

Bumping this old thread. I grew up near South Padre. Because of current travel limitations and to be near my aging parents more frequently (and having a break from staying with them), I am considering getting a condo on the island. I plan to use it personally and have it available for friends / family. But would also like to have it as short-term rental when it's not being used. I have a long-term rental property but have never done anything like this. I don't expect it to be cash flow positive but would like to know what I am getting myself into. I can get to some sort of base line cost by considering mortgage, taxes, insurance and HOA. Then, I can make some reasonable estimate of rental income and subtract management fees (and cleaning etc.) and repair costs and compare the two. How trustworthy are rental numbers from the seller? I assume that a full-service management company will require that it be on the market enough days for them to make money. Is there an alternative to this - like a limited services management company, to clean, make repairs, deal with issues, etc., but market it myself on AirBnB / VRBO? What am I missing? Any tips? I'm thinking about a 3 bedroom so that my whole family can be there and also to market it for pandemic travel since the 3rd bedroom can be used for working or home schooling.

Yeah. It stayed open for just a couple of weeks -- just long enough for us to get a couple of takeout burgers. When COVID went south again, Brooks shut it down (all the restaurants, I think) and is focusing on Veritas right now. We are getting some good wine delivered from there, along with some meat. This week we getting some yellowtail collars he imported from Japan and grill them over smoke. The fish will be delivered with our wine. His description: Premium Crown Toro HAMACHI KAMA processed in Uwijima, Japan using ikejime. This technique prevents lactic acid buildup in the flesh of the fish when processed, resulting in the highest quality of fish possible. These yellowtail collars are the fattiest, juiciest part of the fish (same applies for the collar of any fish, but yellowtail, salmon, and tuna collars are especially delicious), and are simply sublime when grilled over wood.Beginning on Tuesday, Veritas Wine Room will be selling these beauties in 2.2 pound packs for $40 ($18.18 per pound)!! It is hard for us to adequately express how good these are - we are simply not aware of a better piece of grilled fish than Hamachi Kama.

Paradiso, just down the way in Bishop Arts from Boulevardiere, has raw oysters and patio seating. Pre-pandemic, I ate there a couple of times and enjoyed it. Very stylish place, perfect for a birthday. The outside seating is under the shade of a big oak in a pretty patio. I never had the oysters there (I think they are new to the menu) but I have seen other people post about them and they look good (although in no way will they be as good as Boulevardier, which has the best in town, but is completely closed right now). The one dish at at Paradiso that I don't recommend is the steak frites, mostly because it is so perfect at Boulevardier, but also the frites are heavily seasoned, soggy fries, akin to the garlic fries you get at a concession stand in California.

I'm very late to the Schitt's Creek party, but wow! We don't binge watch, but this is as close as we have come from. In fact, we are rationing the episodes -- usually 2 per evening -- to make this last. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite comedies of all time. The actual laugh our loud per episode ratio is terrific, and it's heartwarming. So glad we finally got to this show.

The MAT was Sunday lunch, watching NFL and checking fantasy stats. Food there was terrible, but that's where we went. The TV situation let you watch all the games at once. At Christy's, you had to pick a game or two to watch.

RIP Christy's. In the 90's this place was as close to a hangout as my buddies and I had. For a while, I could walk there. I watched so many Texas games there and it was our HQ for the Stars' cup run. Of all the places closing, this one hurts in an odd, nostalgic way. Since I moved to Oak Cliff, I stopped going to Uptown frequently so I haven't been to Christy's in years, but I felt this one in my gut as a loss of my youth. I wish I had had that rib-eye sandwich one more time. The press released hinted that they may reopen somewhere else. I doubt that happens, and even if it does, it won't be the same.

If you aren't there yet, it's too late -- at least for now. I showed up at 3:15 and the line was 200+ and around the building. As much as I wanted one, I will have to wait. Not standing out there in this heat. No social distancing either.

You know I have.

PSA: Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs pop-up at Oak Cliff Brewing Co. in Tyler Station (north Oak Cliff, red line station) today 3-8 p.m. Bring your own wax cup.

As much as I hate to admit it, we have gotten take out dumplings -- including really good soup dumplings -- from Sum Dang Good. Nothing like it on this side of town. [He kept the absurd name, but backed off and removed all the offensive stuff from the menu]

This really is terrible. In the early days of the pandemic, the RGV counties had it under control with strict orders. They were actually pulling people over for violations, ticketing etc. My family down there was taking it very seriously and everything was very strict, even compared to Dallas. Then, the state government intervened.