SpaceX Texas, solar eclipse

[Fermion]

We are planning a road trip in the early spring from Washington down to Florida (visit family in Georgia). We are going to take our F150 and pull our 17 foot sailboat, with a 7 foot Portland Pudgy on the truck tonneau for puttering around with the electric outboard in places too small to sail.

Anyway, that is the stuff we will have, plus some camping gear, although we will likely stay a lot in hotels and VRBO.

I know there is a nice solar eclipse spanning the USA during this time and my wife wants to be in that path.

Looking at the map, I am wondering if it is worthwhile to try and see the SpaceX facility down in Boca Chica, TX while we are somewhat close (somewhat in Texas is probably 500 miles). From what I have read, the public roads are right alongside much of the facility and you can rubberneck things you can't even get close to at Cape Canaveral. I don't think luck would have us there for a Starship launch, but maybe we could see it on the pad to get a sense of scale and awesomeness.

Have any of you been down there and is it worth the drive if we are somewhat near because of the eclipse? Would there be interesting places to sail our little boat? It seems there is a lot of public park with water ways, but it is REALLY close to Mexico and I am unsure of what is closed off.

It does sound sort of adventurous.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, you can go right through as it’s a state road to Boca Chica beach. The road is a little rough, but it does take you very close to the launch pad right before the beach.

Sailing? The Laguna Madre is very close - just north of there. You might be able put in from Port Isabel. Laguna Madre is between the mainland and South Padre Island - major beach resort.

Solar eclipse - I think Eagle Pass to Uvalde to Central Texas and Dallas/Arlington puts you in the path.

That’s still 300 miles driving from San Antonio.

 

[Fermion]

It looks like South Padre Island could be a neat place to stay and maybe sail a bit in the giant bay there or duck out into the gulf if the seas are reasonable. That is just a few miles north of Boca Chica.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, but you have to drive 25 miles to Brownsville from SPI and then another 20+ miles to Boca Chica as the Brownsville Ship Channel is in the way. Just FYI.

That giant bay (lagoon) is the Laguna Madre.

 

[Gumby]

We are going to Plattsburgh, New York to see the the eclipse.

For anyone else who might be interested, here are two useful maps showing the path of the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

https://nationaleclipse.com/maps.html

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5123/

 

[REWahoo]

One more link to an eclipse map: https://nso.edu/for-public/eclipse-map-2024/

I like this one as it allows you to zoom in to a precise location to see the exact time and duration of totality. It tells me that sitting on my deck the total eclipse will last three minutes, thirteen and a half seconds. I'm planning to time it to see how accurate this prediction is/was.

...fingers crossed for a cloudless day...

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

One more link to an eclipse map: https://nso.edu/for-public/eclipse-map-2024/

I like this one as it allows you to zoom in to a precise location to see the exact time and duration of totality. It tells me that sitting on my deck the total eclipse will last three minutes, thirteen and a half seconds. I'm planning to time it to see how accurate this prediction is/was.

...fingers crossed for a cloudless day...

That's a cool one, I like it. I'll be in Austin but planning to drive (early) to a natural area or park to get away from the urban environment (knowing they'll all be packed). Totally down to meet up with folks from here during my stay 4/6-9.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I think I attached a map of the path of totality. Please understand that is is extremely precise and there is no "let's get close and hope for the best." A total solar eclipse is a life experience. There is so much to observe...the birds...the insects... they all respond to it. You need to be as close to the center as possible.

AND GET PROPER EYE PROTECTION!

It is very important to be mobile. A single small cloud can ruin your experience. Be ready to hop in the truck and move 10-20 miles down the road at a moment's notice.

Can't help with spying on Elon!

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I just made my April 8th Eclipse Plans. I'm fortunate to live only 40 miles south of Erie, PA, and the eclipse will pass very close to there (just off shore in Lake Erie). So we should be able to view it nicely.

My best friend lives in Erie, right by the lake, and his sister and brother-in-law are going to drive up from central PA to see it too. I plan on bringing my 85 year old mother too. I have ordered viewing glasses for us all from a website that was "approved" by some government website (that I can't remember --- NASA or NOAA, maybe).

Should be a fun afternoon.

 

[EastWest Gal]

We are staying in Niagara Falls for the eclipse. Even if the weather isn't great, it will be a cool place to be. We were near Bend, OR in 2017. That was an amazing experience.

 

[gailwinters]

We’re planning to view the eclipse from Kennett, MO. We were very fortunate last time to only need to drive 30 miles from our home. It’s going to be an overnight trip this time!

 

[PaunchyPirate]

We are staying in Niagara Falls for the eclipse. Even if the weather isn't great, it will be a cool place to be. We were near Bend, OR in 2017. That was an amazing experience.

Great idea for Niagara Falls! A little more interesting than Erie, PA.

 

[braumeister]

Center of the totality path is about a 90 minute drive for me, so instead of making any reservations I'll just watch the weather closely and decide exactly where to head.

 

[shrdlu]

I visited Starbase at the end of Jan on a road trip from NY to CA. If you’re a fan of what they’re doing there it is worth it. You can drive on the beach as well which gives some great views of the launch tower. It’s also just a nice drive. Starship was not stacked when I was there unfortunately. There was a ton of construction going on and all the truck traffic to go with it. While you can pull off the road and take some pictures I would for sure drop the boat/trailer first.

 

[Fermion]

Awesome! Thank you for the pictures too. It is amazing how close you can get to Starbase Texas compared to Cape Canaveral.

 

[Fermion]

Well, it is looking like we are not getting out of here fast enough to catch a SpaceX launch, unless they don't get cleared for some reason. They are probably going to do the 3rd launch on March 14...dang, so close. We were planning on leaving Washington across country a bit later than that, maybe March 23 or so.

I had even scouted out a VRBO near South Padre Island, TX that had a boat dock. The week of March 31 to April 7 it would be around $1200 to stay down there and sail our Montgomery 17.

That is a long way to go though and miss a launch...Maybe we should come across South Dakota instead.

 

[Chuckanut]

Elon pretty much has assured us there will be at least five more test launches. Unless they get very lucky soon. And they do have a way of getting lucky.

 

[Fermion]

Getting a bit closer to eclipse date.

I am now thinking of staying for a few days or maybe a week in Galveston, TX, then backtracking very early on the morning of the eclipse to Killeen, TX or thereabouts. It is about 250 miles from the Galveston area to the path of totality near Killeen.

It is more that we want to relax a few days somewhere while waiting on the eclipse, then continue on to Florida. I have never been to Galveston and it looks seafoody and warmish.

 

[Fermion]

I imagine everyone is now freaking out a bit since the weather forecast is thunderstorms or rain for the entire path of the eclipse.

We don't know where to go...currently hanging out in southern Texas on the coast.

 

[nphx]

if Galveston gets old, Kemah nearby has a restaurant cluster and Nasa in Clear Lake is visitiable.

 

[ERD50]

I imagine everyone is now freaking out a bit since the weather forecast is thunderstorms or rain for the entire path of the eclipse.

We don't know where to go...currently hanging out in southern Texas on the coast.

Good! Seems the long term reports change as we get closer, I'm counting on them being wrong!

-ERD50

 

[kgtest]

I visited Starbase at the end of Jan on a road trip from NY to CA. If you’re a fan of what they’re doing there it is worth it. You can drive on the beach as well which gives some great views of the launch tower. It’s also just a nice drive. Starship was not stacked when I was there unfortunately. There was a ton of construction going on and all the truck traffic to go with it. While you can pull off the road and take some pictures I would for sure drop the boat/trailer first.

I want to talk to the guy with the Ridgid pickup box in the SpaceX lot. I bet he has wrenched on some cool stuff.

I need to check this out now. I've been to Vandenberg, Cape, and adding SpaceX would be a no-brainer.

 

[Fermion]

We went to Starbase today. Very cool, very very active. There is so much going on, it is like a entire city is being built all at once. I was amazed how close you could get to everything compared to Nasa facilities. They had done a test fire of the engines on a Starship yesterday or the day before and had the ship on a crane ready for a midnite ride back to the hanger. Would have loved to watch a launch but won't likely be here in May. We are renting a house on the canal system (with a private dock and boat launch!) in Corpus Christi for a week while we wait to see either an eclipse or the clouds just getting darker for 4 minutes.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow, I can’t believe you made it all the way down there!