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South Padre Island


RollLeft

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Just use nice beach umbrellas. We have big canvas ones that have a heavy duty PVC anchor and I dig them in with a mini shovel, they are so much easier than a canopy. We had quite a few folks down there with us and we set up 4 umbrellas on the front row at 9ish every day. Once the cops did come make us move them because they were, I shit you not, 13 and one half feet apart, from edge to edge, and it was measured with a tape measure. I was trying not to cock block 80 feet of beach front row but no good deed goes unpunished. We tried to keep it 2 people per umbrella but many times had far more than that and didn't get a talking to. 

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On 7/11/2020 at 4:57 PM, Wanker Bob said:

If you aren't looking for ambiance and just quality food one of my favorites was always White Sands Restaurant in Port Isabel. Lower prices and damn good fried seafood just has a small town diner feel. 

Joes oyster bar in PI, hidden gem with great food and cheap.

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On 7/18/2020 at 6:19 PM, wood said:

Damn ... so not even one of these? Crazy.

7v2zk135n.jpg

just as a product endorsement, these things work great and can handle the wind.  all you need to a small bucket to fill the sand bags, and it travels light.  Though the kids accidentally bought be me the smaller version last year for father's day. Still works great.

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Was there over the weekend.  Ceviche Ceviche still has a line out the door.  Dirty Al's still does it for me when it comes to fried fish and shrimp.  The take out prime rib is as average as ever at Louie's.  The Island is not as sparse as i thought it might be.  That said people seem to mask and social distance pretty good.     

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4 hours ago, williemackgarza said:

Hidalgo Co went shelter in place, any rumors of Cameron Co doing the same?

This is a text from my cousin, she lives on SPI and runs Condos on the island.

This in one reply to the Hildago Co. issue.

“Yeah, it’s coming for Cameron too.
I think the lady who’s condo you we’re gonna rent, doesn’t want anybody in it because her daughter is coming mid Aug and she doesn’t want it contaminated 🙁!!!
She just told me that today ...”

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On 7/21/2020 at 7:48 AM, horn4life said:

just as a product endorsement, these things work great and can handle the wind.  all you need to a small bucket to fill the sand bags, and it travels light.  Though the kids accidentally bought be me the smaller version last year for father's day. Still works great.

Yeah we used it last year in SPI. It's pretty awesome, and like you said, it's very easy to pack in, put up, take down, and pack out. Can't recommend it highly enough.

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On 7/21/2020 at 10:48 AM, RollLeft said:

Was there over the weekend.  Ceviche Ceviche still has a line out the door.  Dirty Al's still does it for me when it comes to fried fish and shrimp.  The take out prime rib is as average as ever at Louie's.  The Island is not as sparse as i thought it might be.  That said people seem to mask and social distance pretty good.     

Yeah it hasn't been too bad. I feel more threatened by the dumbasses not covering up at HEB (when it's open) than I feel here.

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This is a text from my cousin, she lives on SPI and runs Condos on the island.
This in one reply to the Hildago Co. issue.
“Yeah, it’s coming for Cameron too.
I think the lady who’s condo you we’re gonna rent, doesn’t want anybody in it because her daughter is coming mid Aug and she doesn’t want it contaminated !!!
She just told me that today ...”


Eh, between our extended family we have 3 places down there & are down there currently, we haven’t heard anything saying it’s coming.
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So, re: the umbrella situation ... yeah, they're still enforcing 15' from umbrella edge to umbrella edge, and no umbrellas in the ground before 9am, which seems pretty late, imho.

Saw a huge Man O' War on Thursday, but only heard of a handful of minor jellyfish stings in 4 days. If you're into the surf like my family, the waves were decent last Tuesday - Thursday, but Friday morning the swells from Hanna were starting to hit, & it was fantastic. Then we had to leave... 

People wore masks around Suntide III and going to and from the beach, so that was cool.

Great time.

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Just leaving so padre. Weather was great. Nice break. Lots of folks social distancing in our area of the beach. Masks wearing at convenience stores.
Yesterday a swimmer (apparently from Austin) went missing in the afternoon. USCG plane, choppa & boat looked until dark and most of the night, without success.
Body recovered today. Water was churned up and roaring.

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7 minutes ago, williemackgarza said:

Just leaving so padre. Weather was great. Nice break. Lots of folks social distancing in our area of the beach. Masks wearing at convenience stores.
Yesterday a swimmer (apparently from Austin) went missing in the afternoon. USCG plane, choppa & boat looked until dark and most of the night, without success.
Body recovered today. Water was churned up and roaring.

thatescalatedquickly.gif

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Heading out tomorrow. Camping in the beach Tuesday night and then have an Airbnb on the beach for 3 nights.

Not sure what all we will do. Bringing the bikes and will bike the Laguna Atascosa loop and plan on doing some kayaking. Other than that eating seafood and watching sunsets at the bars.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah it was a beautiful week, I was down for 8 more days and just got back. That's 13 days in the last 17 at my condo.

The weather was perfect, I swam in the ocean every day, was up before dawn each day with the dog on the beach for long walks, smoked the trouts and reds on plastics, played washers and drank an excessive amount of beer and bourbon. Crushed brews at Laguna Bob's, ate enchiladas at Cap'n Roy's and made some bad ass meals. Put some motherfuckers in the wall on the go cart track. Played golf at SPI golf club in Laguna Vista in 30+ wind. Also got some work in sitting on the balcony overlooking the ocean drinking Bailey's and coffee before the masses rose from their slumbers.  

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12 hours ago, 4th and 5 said:

Yeah it was a beautiful week, I was down for 8 more days and just got back. That's 13 days in the last 17 at my condo.

The weather was perfect, I swam in the ocean every day, was up before dawn each day with the dog on the beach for long walks, smoked the trouts and reds on plastics, played washers and drank an excessive amount of beer and bourbon. Crushed brews at Laguna Bob's, ate enchiladas at Cap'n Roy's and made some bad ass meals. Put some motherfuckers in the wall on the go cart track. Played golf at SPI golf club in Laguna Vista in 30+ wind. Also got some work in sitting on the balcony overlooking the ocean drinking Bailey's and coffee before the masses rose from their slumbers.  

Atta boy. Is your place on Gulf Blvd? How are your HOA assessments? The condo we stayed in was clean and recently updated, but the building clearly has a lot of deferred maintenance and hasn't been kept up since the 90s. Biggest consideration for us buying is the drive from San Antonio and whether the building falls apart after one more hurricane.

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1 hour ago, Eggo said:

Atta boy. Is your place on Gulf Blvd? How are your HOA assessments? The condo we stayed in was clean and recently updated, but the building clearly has a lot of deferred maintenance and hasn't been kept up since the 90s. Biggest consideration for us buying is the drive from San Antonio and whether the building falls apart after one more hurricane.

Yes, Gulf Blvd.

If you buy, make sure you have a good HOA and one that has capital on hand. Review them and the declarations and bylaws before you purchase. Our financials are very strong and the building has excellent maintenance. If maintenance has been deferred, prepare for special assessments. We frequently have some sort of improvement project going on, new pool deck, pool surface, outdoor restrooms and showers, balconies, etc. Adjacent to city of SPI newly improved beach access point is a huge plus for hauling bulky items directly to the beach. Seven day minimum rental keeps out the riff raff. All things to consider.

It ain't cheap though. Our beach bank account deposit is $1,500 a month for a budget that covers everything, including utilities (average under $100/mo.), slush fund for inevitable repairs.

Taxes ~$5,500/yr, HOA ~$8000/yr., and additional insurance for windstorm/contents is ~$1,300/yr.

It's a buyer's market, if you make an offer, lowball it.

The drive is worth it, SPI is a unique part of Texas.

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Just spent the weekend down there.  Even though I live on the other end of the island, it was a nice little getaway.  Had a few Wanna Wannas, dinner and some drinks at Laguna Bob.

Oh...and if you haven't before, get A breakfast taco at El Chilango Taqueria.  Just one.  It's enough, trust me.  But, it's damn good.

And we lucked out, Corpus got plowed with rain all Saturday while we were down on SPI out on the beach relaxing.  Sunday, it was rainy at SPI but we left and NPI was nice and sunny.

We're contemplating buying a condo down there, too.  I want to get one we can rent out but the GF wants to just make it our personal condo that we can use any time we want...

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1 hour ago, Ag with kids said:

Just spent the weekend down there.  Even though I live on the other end of the island, it was a nice little getaway.  Had a few Wanna Wannas, dinner and some drinks at Laguna Bob.

Oh...and if you haven't before, get A breakfast taco at El Chilango Taqueria.  Just one.  It's enough, trust me.  But, it's damn good.

And we lucked out, Corpus got plowed with rain all Saturday while we were down on SPI out on the beach relaxing.  Sunday, it was rainy at SPI but we left and NPI was nice and sunny.

We're contemplating buying a condo down there, too.  I want to get one we can rent out but the GF wants to just make it our personal condo that we can use any time we want...

Your girlfriend sounds selfish.

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Heading down there for a month starting in mid-December; I live overseas and have some time off and a chance for a re-integration trip.  Staying at my family’s duplex. 

For those of you who have been recently, has COVID crap really impacted the local restaurants? I could probably get by on a D’Pizza Joint/Dirty Al’s cycle but would prefer a deeper rotation. I know what’s there is open, but have any stalwarts gone under that you noticed? 

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