Port Aransas

[justhookit 4205]

14 hours ago, mchookem said:

what?? that makes no sense, keeping people within 500 feet of the access road. don't they WANT people to spread out, isn't that the point?? gah... what a mess...

It’s really never been about that. They are trying to limit the number of tourists coming down and a full or partial beach closure does work for that. The unintended consequences however weren’t well thought out.

edit- *knock on wood* despite the large number of tourists in Port A we still really haven’t had an outbreak here that’s spread to locals. Corpus has had the HUGE problem, and it’s not tourists driving that. To expound any on that would go too CR for this thread.

Edited August 13, 2020 by justhookit

[horn4life 3831]

Well hopped down to North Padre Sunday- Yesterday and of course the nice water was long gone by the time I got there Sunday afternoon.  We drove into Port A to see if the beaches were actually open and they were.  Ate a burger and had a couple of pretty good drinks at Lelo's.  IF we go out we tend to go out in the early afternoon.  We were at the front door at 5 for Rock and Roll Sushi simply to try and limit crowd contact to some degree.  

Gotta time it better for the good water, but it was for a buddy's birthday so that dictated the time.  Still enjoyed just putting the toes in the sand, but I tend to like to be as isolated as possible and lugging your crap means not so much on the isolation front.  I'm hoping things slot down after labor day, but i am concerned it might take until mid October to slow down...

 

[Ag with kids 581]

Well, apparently SOME parts of NPI are opening back up to vehicle traffic.  Access Rd 5 and Windward (and I think Whitecap).  But, it's still closed south of Bob Hall due to clean up from Hanna (and PINS is still closed, but heard they might open later this week).  Access Rd 4 is also closed due to sand from Hanna.

[justhookit 4205]

Yup. Port A is supposed to totally open today. Hopefully we won’t have anymore closures.

[justhookit 4205]

Beach was great today. We actually DROVE on it. No problems at all and it wasn’t crowded. It is rough driving though and I wouldn’t recommend driving anything other than a golf cart or truck. 

[horn4life 3831]

On 8/17/2020 at 10:50 PM, justhookit said:

Beach was great today. We actually DROVE on it. No problems at all and it wasn’t crowded. It is rough driving though and I wouldn’t recommend driving anything other than a golf cart or truck. 

I keep looking through the Sea Gull Surf cam.... it's absolutely sick flat today.  Green and clear...  And I was wondering about the sand depth, and without folks compacting it constantly it gets pretty mushy.  Of course if I hop in my truck and haul ass... it will be milk chocolate by the time I get there.  But the way the surf looks today is why I feel so close to God when I am ankle deep at sunrise.  Just beautiful.  Got myself hooked up from mid-September until the end of October, so if we don't have a late hurricane season, I should have fun this fall.

 

[Ag with kids 581]

Yesterday was interesting on NPI.  Sounded like a jet was taking off all day long.  

Turns out that the Magellan rig right off shore had a gas blowout and was venting all day...

[Teebox 90]

What will the impact of this City/Port settlement be?  Without ever knowing too much about it, I've been leery of the port's development of the project on Harbor Island, especially the VLCC component.   In the long-run, what will be effects be?  Anybody on the ground in Port A knowledgeable about it?

[justhookit 4205]

Yeah yesterday they called a guy I know that owns/runs a crew boat to see if he could get a team out there to work on it. It was too rough and they were going to try again today.

[Ag with kids 581]

6 minutes ago, Teebox said:

What will the impact of this City/Port settlement be?  Without ever knowing too much about it, I've been leery of the port's development of the project on Harbor Island, especially the VLCC component.   In the long-run, what will be effects be?  Anybody on the ground in Port A knowledgeable about it?

Lots of money?

The Port is one of the top revenue ports in the US already.  If VLCCs can come in it'll make a LOT more money for the area.

Maybe then they can fix a fucking street or two...

[justhookit 4205]

3 minutes ago, Teebox said:

What will the impact of this City/Port settlement be?  Without ever knowing too much about it, I've been leery of the port's development of the project on Harbor Island, especially the VLCC component.   In the long-run, what will be effects be?  Anybody on the ground in Port A knowledgeable about it?

Lot of people here very opposed to it. Doesn’t matter, it’s happening. I’m pretty ambivalent about the whole deal. You can read about some of the opposition here https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrE19792k9f0CAAxGVx.9w4;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1599097726/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fgroups%2f1902178616554590%2f/RK=2/RS=DsvPJMJ1YjWIUExfqEsPuF.5xko-

[horn4life 3831]

Well went down from Wednesday until Tuesday.  Weather was OK and better around hurricane than the howling wind of Sunday and Monday. 

One cool thing I saw was a guy using one of the fishing drones.  I was actually pretty damn impressed, made a nice zip out straight into the wind and dropped at the water change maybe a half mile out.  Carrying a decent sized fish for bait.  I looked it up and it was a Phantom 4?  Which has a 5 kilo payload which is a pretty big bait along with the weight of the line.  Anyhow just cool to see, with best part being a drop directly into the wind to help keep the seaweed off the line.

Ate at La Playa one night, had 4 meals to go from Kody's, and ate twice at off times at Lelo's, my new favorite tiki bar joint. Poured good drinks, and the burgers we very solid, we especially liked their hummus appetizer just for something non fried with some vegetable components.  Didn't get my smoked amberjack dip from Giggity's... but next time.

Storm surge was pretty high on Wednesday and gradually receded over the next few days.  They are doing some sort fortification of the cement sea wall and with heavy equipment and barges with was interesting to watch for a little while.  Basically bringing in some smaller rocks to stack against the wall and then stacking granite blocks on top of that.  A LOT tighter fit to the granite with numbered multi-ton puzzle pieces lowered into place.  As soon as tide receded a hair the beach was easily drivable except for the spots where dumb asses set up in the damn road practically pushing the road into the softer sand.  Overall fishing was crappy but still managed enough for a decent meal.  Hoping that I can get down there on a flat green water day in the near future.

[Ag with kids 581]

49 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Well went down from Wednesday until Tuesday.  Weather was OK and better around hurricane than the howling wind of Sunday and Monday. 

One cool thing I saw was a guy using one of the fishing drones.  I was actually pretty damn impressed, made a nice zip out straight into the wind and dropped at the water change maybe a half mile out.  Carrying a decent sized fish for bait.  I looked it up and it was a Phantom 4?  Which has a 5 kilo payload which is a pretty big bait along with the weight of the line.  Anyhow just cool to see, with best part being a drop directly into the wind to help keep the seaweed off the line.

Ate at La Playa one night, had 4 meals to go from Kody's, and ate twice at off times at Lelo's, my new favorite tiki bar joint. Poured good drinks, and the burgers we very solid, we especially liked their hummus appetizer just for something non fried with some vegetable components.  Didn't get my smoked amberjack dip from Giggity's... but next time.

Storm surge was pretty high on Wednesday and gradually receded over the next few days.  They are doing some sort fortification of the cement sea wall and with heavy equipment and barges with was interesting to watch for a little while.  Basically bringing in some smaller rocks to stack against the wall and then stacking granite blocks on top of that.  A LOT tighter fit to the granite with numbered multi-ton puzzle pieces lowered into place.  As soon as tide receded a hair the beach was easily drivable except for the spots where dumb asses set up in the damn road practically pushing the road into the softer sand.  Overall fishing was crappy but still managed enough for a decent meal.  Hoping that I can get down there on a flat green water day in the near future.

Phantom 4 has around a 1 kg payload.  A drone with a 5 kg payload is considerably bigger than that.  We have some that have 5 kg payloads here at the office and they dwarf the size of a Phantom.

But yeah those fishing drones are cool.  I keep telling my boss we need to try that sometime.

BTW, that smoked Amberjack dip at Giggity's is AWESOME.

[horn4life 3831]

Correct on the drone payload!!!

I don't know how fast they recharge but it looks like 20-30 minute run time. was maybe 5 minutes of flight total out and back on the bait drop.  It would be really cool to have just to parallel your vehicle driving down PINS looks for a good spot to set up.  I'm not a monster shark fisherman, but to find variations in the bars from above would be awesome! 

[Ag with kids 581]

38 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Correct on the drone payload!!!

I don't know how fast they recharge but it looks like 20-30 minute run time. was maybe 5 minutes of flight total out and back on the bait drop.  It would be really cool to have just to parallel your vehicle driving down PINS looks for a good spot to set up.  I'm not a monster shark fisherman, but to find variations in the bars from above would be awesome! 

Yeah.  That would be really cool getting up there in the air and looking down would be badass.

[Steamboat1874 4289]

20 hours ago, Ag with kids said:

Yesterday was interesting on NPI.  Sounded like a jet was taking off all day long.  

Turns out that the Magellan rig right off shore had a gas blowout and was venting all day...

[Ag with kids 581]

@justhookitHow's the beach up there in Port A?

I'm pleasantly surprised that our beaches here aren't just swamped with people.  Much more sparse than earlier this year.

Now...Corpus planted a shit ton of cops on the island to deal with what they thought was going to be an onslaught though...so be careful if you're driving after having a few on the beach.

And it looks like they're dismantling that oil rig that blew...

[After irth 1245]

3 hours ago, Ag with kids said:

@justhookitHow's the beach up there in Port A?

I'm pleasantly surprised that our beaches here aren't just swamped with people.  Much more sparse than earlier this year.

Now...Corpus planted a shit ton of cops on the island to deal with what they thought was going to be an onslaught though...so be careful if you're driving after having a few on the beach.

And it looks like they're dismantling that oil rig that blew...

Buncha broke-ass mofos had to give up and just plan staycations, I guess.

I have a good friend from Corpus who packed up the family and took them all to Lake Conroe.  No idea why.  But...at least they did something.  Said "fuck those beach restrictions" and left Corpus in the rearview mirror, I guess.

[Updawg 2378]

That’s a strange choice

[Ag with kids 581]

7 hours ago, After irth said:

Buncha broke-ass mofos had to give up and just plan staycations, I guess.

I have a good friend from Corpus who packed up the family and took them all to Lake Conroe.  No idea why.  But...at least they did something.  Said "fuck those beach restrictions" and left Corpus in the rearview mirror, I guess.

Beach is open on NPI except for the Bob Hall area (because it is going to have to be torn down and replaced).  But, I know we were expecting a clusterfuck here.  It didn't happen though...

[justhookit 4205]

Yeah didn’t really happen here either. It was more like a normal summer weekend. 
 

A few of the bars have started to reopen under the new “restaurant” TABC law. Bernie’s is open and so is Gaff and I keep hearing Reds will open soon. Oh and the beer hut opened too. 

[justhookit 4205]

Fuck 2020. Looks like we are losing  Liberty Hall/Inferno. Far and away my favorite restaurant here. It’s not entirely Covid related and I mentioned months ago on this thread that it was the restaurant I was most worried about. The owner has basically been looking for an excuse to retire ever since he lost Pelican Club because the building was falling apart.
Also sounding like Giggitys will be gone in about a month. That’s entirely unrelated to Covid. Lease is expiring and that whole strip will be torn down for the Fisherman’s Wharf and marina project. Bernie’s and Shortys will remain for now but they will likely be gone in a few years.

[Hook1997 5487]

2 hours ago, justhookit said:

Also sounding like Giggitys will be gone in about a month. 

Man Giggity’s had some surprisingly really good food.  I use to have a pic of some wagyu steaks they posted they had got in that they post on Facebook and they looked amazing.  I never had a bad meal there.

[Ag with kids 581]

15 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

Man Giggity’s had some surprisingly really good food.  I use to have a pic of some wagyu steaks they posted they had got in that they post on Facebook and they looked amazing.  I never had a bad meal there.

Their smoked amberjack dip is fucked up good.  Really sucks to hear they're leaving.

[drifter379 1116]

I’m am on my way to deliver in Corpus Monday am. And then I’m headed home to grab the camper and the wife to head down to port A Wednesday.

How fucked am I?

[Ag with kids 581]

6 hours ago, drifter379 said:

I’m am on my way to deliver in Corpus Monday am. And then I’m headed home to grab the camper and the wife to head down to port A Wednesday.

How fucked am I?

Supposed to rain Sun-Wed and clear up after that..."Supposed to".

Depends on what Beta does, though.  Probably be a lot of storm surge in the Gulf so swimming won't be advised during that time...maybe it'll ease by end of next week.

[Hate 20232]

[mention]justhookit [/mention] how is the surf down there? I’ll bet with north winds and a storm in the gulf the waves are good for surfing.

[justhookit 4205]

1 hour ago, Hate said:

[mention]justhookit [/mention] how is the surf down there? I’ll bet with north winds and a storm in the gulf the waves are good for surfing.

I’m no surfer, but a bunch are out today and it looks good. Tomorrow should be even better

[Ag with kids 581]

Well, water is WAY up right now in the canals.  Almost over my lower bulkhead.  All the docks are a foot under water right now.  This is worse than Hanna.  Hope it stops soon...

[justhookit 4205]

On 9/21/2020 at 1:54 PM, Ag with kids said:

Well, water is WAY up right now in the canals.  Almost over my lower bulkhead.  All the docks are a foot under water right now.  This is worse than Hanna.  Hope it stops soon...

How’d it end up?

Port A did pretty good. Very minor flooding down in the marina area shut a few businesses down and the ferry stopped running briefly.  I haven’t been down to the beach yet though so I don’t know if it got messed up again. 

[Ag with kids 581]

1 hour ago, justhookit said:

How’d it end up?

Port A did pretty good. Very minor flooding down in the marina area shut a few businesses down and the ferry stopped running briefly.  I haven’t been down to the beach yet though so I don’t know if it got messed up again. 

It got about within an inch before coming over the lower bulkhead.  Luckily it stopped.  Dropped about a foot today so our docks aren't underwater anymore.

Water was up to the dunes on the beach in a lot of areas.  And apparently, The Waterline at Doc's (the bar under the restaurant) had water all the way through it since it's at the same level as all of our docks.

 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Ag with kids

[horn4life 3831]

Went down Thursday for my maiden RV trailer trip.  We planned on staying a week, but were chased out Sunday 10 am from IB McGee.  Beach was closed Sunday morning and water was up to dunes except for a tiny strip where the beach is widest closer in town.  Saturday was tight and when the tide came in the dumbass alert went way the fuck up with shit tons of sedans with their tires already 3 inches down in the sand and no movement to save the vehicles.  

Tons of kite boarders and a fair amount of surfers and windsurfers put on a show Saturday, but that was the highlight.  Unfortunately when the beach disappears with the higher tides, is simply squeezes more folks into less space.  Hopefully Sunday it will all be nice again with the wind laying, the green water moving onto the beach and trying to fill my freezer with Redfish.  I have a friends socially distanced (hopefully) birthday party Saturday our I would go down Friday as I think the weather is gonna be perfect into early next week once the sand and silt all settle.  I wonder how much effect the tidal surge returning to the gulf might have on fishing?  

We at some hummus at Lelo's (an excellent different choice) and some good drinks about 4 pm, and then were the first on the list at La Playa, when it opened at 5 pm.  Trying to avoid crowds but the food is so good and the crab stuffed Portobello shroom is off menu but worth asking about! Plus the beef fajitas are never disappointing.  Can't wait for the next few weeks of playing in the surf!!!

[drifter379 1116]

Is there a good quiet bar to watch the game Saturday?

[justhookit 4205]

6 minutes ago, drifter379 said:

Is there a good quiet bar to watch the game Saturday?

Define good and quiet.

Many of the bars here aren’t open. Your choices for the game are Giggitys, Stingrays, Gaff, and Bernie’s 

[justhookit 4205]

Giggitys is indoor but they keep the doors open and are taking the whole social distancing thing seriously. You don’t walk in without a mask and you don’t leave your table without one.

Bernies is pretty much the same way but might be harder to find a good place to watch. Cheapest drinks by far. 

Stingrays I have no idea what they are doing. It’s been a clusterfuck for years and I’m assuming still is.

Gaff is a favorite of mine but they really only have 2 or 3 good tables to watch a game.

[justhookit 4205]

You also might try calling black marlin out at the golf course and ask about their outside bar.  I haven’t been out there since COVID but I’m pretty sure I remember they have outside TVs. That’s going to be your quietest bar. No idea if they will turn the volume up to hear the game though. Pretty good food, too.

[Ag with kids 581]

If you're willing to drive a little (20 min) from Port A, there are a number of places with TVs to watch games on N Padre.

Padre Island Burger Company - Can't sit at bar though so I'm not sure you get great views of TVs

Padre Pizzeria - Haven't been since COVID, YMMV

Boathouse - downstairs bar is nice and quiet

Costa Sur - Haven't been since COVID but it was a good place to watch games.  Lots of TVs placed at eye level behind the bar

Angry Marlin - Nice and quiet, becoming my new go to bar here on the island.

 

I'll probably watch my game at Boathouse, though.

[justhookit 4205]

Crazy weather we’ve had here lately. Obviously Beta, but we’ve also had a north wind every day for over a week and it’s not predicted to switch to our normal s/se until Saturday. I can’t ever remember that happening any time of year, much less in September.

If anyone is thinking of coming down, the weather forecast thru Oct7 is amazing right now.

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by justhookit

[Orange&White 5566]

I'll be there Sunday - Tuesday.

[mchookem 16742]

1 hour ago, justhookit said:

 

If anyone is thinking of coming down, the weather forecast thru Oct7 is amazing right now.

 

man i hope it holds out... we're headed down 10/5 for the week 🤞

[utee94 16071]

We'll be there 10/9-10/13, so if the weather gets crappy, you'll know who to blame.

 

[drifter379 1116]

My definition of good quiet bar is cold beer and drinkable whiskey.
And where I can hear the game and not some top 40 pop country blasting through the speakers.

I’ll look into those recommendations. Headed down today.

[Ag with kids 581]

2 hours ago, justhookit said:

Crazy weather we’ve had here lately. Obviously Beta, but we’ve also had a north wind every day for over a week and it’s not predicted to switch to our normal s/se until Saturday. I can’t ever remember that happening any time of year, much less in September.

If anyone is thinking of coming down, the weather forecast thru Oct7 is amazing right now.

 

I've been working from home on my back patio today.  It's been amazing...low 80s and just a light wind.

Going to have to do some beach time and then ski canal time this weekend with this weather.

[troph 25099]

We'll be there 10/9-10/13, so if the weather gets crappy, you'll know who to blame.
 

Us too, can’t wait.

[drifter379 1116]

Great social distancing on the beach yesterday!

Looking for the best fish tacos.

[justhookit 4205]

Probably La Playa for a typical fish taco. It will be crowded as fuck this weekend so if you try there, go early. Shells and Kodys do a tuna taco. 
a really good alternative is Harbor Lights next to Back Porch in the Woodys building. They don’t have fish tacos but they do a huge plate of blackened fish nachos. Takeout only.

[Leeroy Jenkins 2475]

On 9/23/2020 at 10:37 AM, Ag with kids said:

If you're willing to drive a little (20 min) from Port A, there are a number of places with TVs to watch games on N Padre.

Padre Island Burger Company - Can't sit at bar though so I'm not sure you get great views of TVs

Padre Pizzeria - Haven't been since COVID, YMMV

Boathouse - downstairs bar is nice and quiet

Costa Sur - Haven't been since COVID but it was a good place to watch games.  Lots of TVs placed at eye level behind the bar

Angry Marlin - Nice and quiet, becoming my new go to bar here on the island.

 

I'll probably watch my game at Boathouse, though.

Is Farah's still open?

[Ag with kids 581]

3 hours ago, Leeroy Jenkins said:

Is Farah's still open?

I haven't seen any cars outside of it in months...so I'm going to guess no.

I did hear that Pelicans is opening up since they had a kitchen in the building that they've fired up to make the required food...

[drifter379 1116]

Decided to skip the bars today.

[Hate 20232]