New Braunfels

Mach.12

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Mach.12
Anyone in town for Wurstfest who needs some freelance instruction? I'll be down there with the wife and available Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"PoA" rates...call at 410-302-7778 if interested.
 
Anyone in town for Wurstfest who needs some freelance instruction? I'll be down there with the wife and available Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"PoA" rates...call at 410-302-7778 if interested.


Where are you based Mach? I'm too far from New Braunfels for it to make sense.

Doc

edit: Never mind Mach, I see that your area code is Maryland. LB
 
Where are you based Mach? I'm too far from New Braunfels for it to make sense.

Doc

edit: Never mind Mach, I see that your area code is Maryland. LB
While he may actually be in Maryland, don't always count on an area code to tell you where someone is these days. Telephone number portability means that he could have gotten the number there and now live in Texas.
 
Hey, if you're in New Braunfels, stop in to see Gen. Charlie Duke. The guy walked on the surface of the moon during Apollo 16.
 
I actually don't live in NB...my inlaws do and I am down on occasion for occasions. Wurstfest in this case and Christmas next time. I live outside of Kansas City.

No significant tail wheel time. I'm mainly a tricycle single engine low time instructor trying to stay smart on flying by teaching or part 91 gigs.
 
Hey, if you're in New Braunfels, stop in to see Gen. Charlie Duke. The guy walked on the surface of the moon during Apollo 16.

Surprisingly, he is a family friend of my inlaws...he was involved in my bro in law getting into the academy...or becoming and Eagle Scout, I forget which. I have not met him yet, but hope to over Christmas.
 
I actually don't live in NB...my inlaws do and I am down on occasion for occasions. Wurstfest in this case and Christmas next time. I live outside of Kansas City.

No significant tail wheel time. I'm mainly a tricycle single engine low time instructor trying to stay smart on flying by teaching or part 91 gigs.
If you are in the area, stop by and say hi.

Ryan
 
While he may actually be in Maryland, don't always count on an area code to tell you where someone is these days. Telephone number portability means that he could have gotten the number there and now live in Texas.

Exactly - I still have a RI area code.
 
Watch out for the chinese students, it's like an episode of Godzilla but in the air (yes I know Godzilla is a Japanese reference). We had to dodge them all the time up in Randolph as we're coming in on the arrivals from the northern low levels (conveniently their practice area). Good times this last summer :)
 
Be sure to support the embattled FBO in New Braunfels while you're there. We flew into Wurstfest last weekend, insisted on parking at their FBO (the one by the Texaco sign), and met some really nice folks who are in a death-struggle with the city government to survive. (Search PofA for the entire sordid story.)
 
Be sure to support the embattled FBO in New Braunfels while you're there. We flew into Wurstfest last weekend, insisted on parking at their FBO (the one by the Texaco sign), and met some really nice folks who are in a death-struggle with the city government to survive. (Search PofA for the entire sordid story.)

I'd been following the FBO saga on here. There are some screwy things going on in that town. Not only did they have the airport issue, but they had some issue regarding the river that was pretty decisive within the town...seems to be some bad politics going on there.
 
I'd been following the FBO saga on here. There are some screwy things going on in that town. Not only did they have the airport issue, but they had some issue regarding the river that was pretty decisive within the town...seems to be some bad politics going on there.
Hey, that "issue" regarding the river is about trying to preserve what is / was a lovely little Texas German town. I for one am very glad the container ban passed the vote. I love that town.

Ryan
 
Hey, that "issue" regarding the river is about trying to preserve what is / was a lovely little Texas German town. I for one am very glad the container ban passed the vote. I love that town.

Ryan

Whoo-wee, we met all SORTS of people at Wurstfest who were absolutely incensed about that proposed container ban. From the hotel clerks to the bus drivers, they were all against that ban.

From what I've read, though, the ban has passed. From what I was told, tourism will be badly hurt because of it -- although (in my cynical way of looking at things) I would expect that the tourists will still come, but they will now drink hard liquor out of hip flasks (instead of beer out of beer cans), thus making for a bunch of rip-roaring drunks in inner tubes, rather than a bunch of mildly buzzed people in inner tubes.

There might be less litter, though.
 
People that claim to be POed about it ignore the fact it only applies inside the city - if you start near canyon lake you can easily float for a few miles before the city can touch you.
 
People that claim to be POed about it ignore the fact it only applies inside the city - if you start near canyon lake you can easily float for a few miles before the city can touch you.

David, if you get out at the low water bridge just below Gruene (which is where we all got out back in my river rat days) aren't you still outside the city limits? If so, I don't see what the big deal is.
 
Whoo-wee, we met all SORTS of people at Wurstfest who were absolutely incensed about that proposed container ban. From the hotel clerks to the bus drivers, they were all against that ban.

From what I've read, though, the ban has passed. From what I was told, tourism will be badly hurt because of it -- although (in my cynical way of looking at things) I would expect that the tourists will still come, but they will now drink hard liquor out of hip flasks (instead of beer out of beer cans), thus making for a bunch of rip-roaring drunks in inner tubes, rather than a bunch of mildly buzzed people in inner tubes.

There might be less litter, though.
Sure, but if you had river front property, you might feel a lot differently than the average hotel clerk and bus driver. I know some folks in that category (I was born there). The fact that the measure passed the vote, tells me that more people in that town have sense than folks gave them credit for. A few tourism dollars vs. having the old feel of the town is probably worth the trade.

Ryan
 
Sure, but if you had river front property, you might feel a lot differently than the average hotel clerk and bus driver. I know some folks in that category (I was born there). The fact that the measure passed the vote, tells me that more people in that town have sense than folks gave them credit for. A few tourism dollars vs. having the old feel of the town is probably worth the trade.

Ryan

Well...I have no dog in the fight, but I have three observations:

#1 It is still a wonderful "German" town.

#2 This is the type of thing a tax is invented for. Similar to the plastic grocery bag tax in Washington DC to fund the clean up or the Anancostia.

#3 At the urging of my two brothers in law (who would apparently rather me get into a political argument than them because this is ridiculously divisive within the community), I asked folks about the ban. From what I gathered asking 15-20 people, it is simply an age demographic thing. Every "social security" aged person I talked to was all for the ban and everyone younger was against it...the funny part was that NONE - not one - zero - of the folks voting for the ban on drinking containers while floating had ever floated the river. Every single one of the folks against the ban said they floated 2-3 times a season and actually supported the tourist economy of the community.

In my mind, its no different than owning beach front property...in exchange for ridiculously prohibitive and exclusive property values, you have to deal with some litter. The divisiveness of the issue is insane and it seems to be reflected in your comments.

Again...I have no dog in the fight. Simply observations.

+++++++++++++++

On a more pleasant note...I was remiss for not getting out to the airport but look forward to over Christmas.
 
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I'd been following the FBO saga on here. There are some screwy things going on in that town. Not only did they have the airport issue, but they had some issue regarding the river that was pretty decisive within the town...seems to be some bad politics going on there.

:yeahthat:

It's really sad that AOPA isn't (seemingly) involved in that one. What a fustercluck.
 
In my mind, its no different than owning beach front property...in exchange for ridiculously prohibitive and exclusive property values, you have to deal with some litter. The divisiveness of the issue is insane and it seems to be reflected in your comments.

Again...I have no dog in the fight. Simply observations.

This is one of the things I absolutely LOVE about living on Mustang Island. Property rights do NOT extend to the water line; rather, they extend to the dunes.

What this means, in practice, is that the beach -- ALL of the beach -- is public. We can all enjoy it, camp on it, have a bonfire on it -- whatever -- without interference from property owners. I can drive 20 miles on an unspoiled beach -- something I could NEVER do in Wisconsin, where property rights extended into the waters of Lake Michigan.

It's funny -- every now and then I will overhear one of the owners of a posh condo bitching about "those people" driving on "their beach" -- and I just laugh. It is truly one of the best parts of living on the island, and it is why hundreds of thousands of tourists flock here.
 
:yeahthat:

It's really sad that AOPA isn't (seemingly) involved in that one. What a fustercluck.

I questioned that, when we were there. All the greybeards sitting around drinking coffee just shrugged.

My completely unsupported guess is that this is way too messy an affair for AOPA. There are allegations (and counter-allegations) of all sorts of misconduct, on both sides -- and AOPA isn't capable of sorting it all out from Frederick.
 
Sure, but if you had river front property, you might feel a lot differently than the average hotel clerk and bus driver. I know some folks in that category (I was born there). The fact that the measure passed the vote, tells me that more people in that town have sense than folks gave them credit for. A few tourism dollars vs. having the old feel of the town is probably worth the trade.

I'll take your word for it (I've got zero interest in tubing down a river -- any river -- so I honestly don't care one way or the other) -- but I didn't hear from anyone who actually supported the ban.

Now, of course, I was in New Braunfels as a tourist, and was interacting with people whose jobs depend on tourism -- so naturally they were going to be against anything that threatened their families.

I think New Braunfels is a great town. Being from the Milwaukee area, and of German heritage, it feels very much like "home" when we are there. I would hate to see the city do anything to damage their image -- hopefully the ban won't.
 
There's two sides (or more) to the river issue.

First, not all of the recreational area is in the city. The much longer portion of the river in the county is not affected by the container laws. Counties are VERY weak under Texas laws and so for all practical purposes a booze or container ban won't happen there.

People drinking isn't the problem. Drunks with attitude spoil the fun. Families with kids don't want to come float the river next to drunk chucks going topless and drunk frat boys singing the "gang bang song" over and over.

It's all about money. And who will spend more in the city. The families or the drunk partiers. Time will tell.

I will say this. Galveston banned alcohol on its beaches years ago. All except for one beach on the far east end. The year before the ban, 18 drownings. Many alcohol related. Year after: 1.
 
I will say this. Galveston banned alcohol on its beaches years ago. All except for one beach on the far east end. The year before the ban, 18 drownings. Many alcohol related. Year after: 1.

The real question is: How many people go to their beaches now, versus before the ban? Any time a government entity gets into the business of banning things, in my experience things go down hill quickly.

I'm pretty new to this area, but I have heard that Port A picked up a lot of business that used to go to Galveston. That may be due to the hurricane damage over that away, of course.
 
The real question is: How many people go to their beaches now, versus before the ban? Any time a government entity gets into the business of banning things, in my experience things go down hill quickly.

I'm pretty new to this area, but I have heard that Port A picked up a lot of business that used to go to Galveston. That may be due to the hurricane damage over that away, of course.

There's another thing, Jay. The beaches at Galveston are not a shadow of the beaches at Port A - you have it much nicer where you are.

Galveston has plenty of other ways to appeal - but the beaches are not the best.
 
My completely unsupported guess is that this is way too messy an affair for AOPA. There are allegations (and counter-allegations) of all sorts of misconduct, on both sides -- and AOPA isn't capable of sorting it all out from Frederick.

You know what... I hear they have these things called... airplanes?

They're these machines that allow AOPA staffers to fly through the air! Can you believe it?

With one of those, they could go to airport meetings in Texas and everything!

;)
 
People drinking isn't the problem. Drunks with attitude spoil the fun. Families with kids don't want to come float the river next to drunk chucks going topless and drunk frat boys singing the "gang bang song" over and over.

They'd rather raise 'em up right, so they'll only start doing that once they send 'em off to college and encourage them to join the Fraternity someday like good little college-bound Suburbanites! :D :mad2: :yikes:

If anyone can point me to a river where families with kids aren't allowed, and the drunk topless chicks are encouraged, I'll make plans to head there instead of NB. :eek: :goofy: :yesnod: :lol:
 
They'd rather raise 'em up right, so they'll only start doing that once they send 'em off to college and encourage them to join the Fraternity someday like good little college-bound Suburbanites! :D :mad2: :yikes:

If anyone can point me to a river where families with kids aren't allowed, and the drunk topless chicks are encouraged, I'll make plans to head there instead of NB. :eek: :goofy: :yesnod: :lol:

The Chattahoochee on the North Side of Atlanta was like that from the '70's through the 80's, then the NPS came in and ruined it for everyone under 25. ;-)

As far as the container law around the NB rivers, I need to ask my out-laws about that. They own and operate one of the campgrounds/raft rental/beer selling places along the Guadalupe.
 
The real question is: How many people go to their beaches now, versus before the ban? Any time a government entity gets into the business of banning things, in my experience things go down hill quickly.

I'm pretty new to this area, but I have heard that Port A picked up a lot of business that used to go to Galveston. That may be due to the hurricane damage over that away, of course.

A lot. It's the closest beach and less than 90 minutes for 4+ million people so, by default it gets busy.. Galveston sucks for sand quality. I live 20 mins away. For a quick fix you can guess where I'm going..

For reference, the beach alcohol ban was enacted in the mid 90-s. my source was a Galveston medic who is now command staff in the Beach Patrol.
 
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