Look what I Found on the Web

[oldgrowth]

[JamesTXSD]

Cool! Do you see me waving from the deck? I'm assuming you did a bit of Photoshop work since the lovely Wild Blue's perspective is a bit skewed! Of course, the fact that my neighbor across the street has a house that isn't pictured (and was built prior to Wild Blue being born) is a bit of a give away, too. You have her pictured right where we keep her docked, though.

Where did you find that, Dave?

Best wishes,
Jim

[oldgrowth]

The house with the red roof not being built in this photo threw me for awhile. In your photo album, the one picture of your place showed a red roof of a house that is not in this photo. I looked at photos of Port Isabel from all angles, N., S., E., & W.

The photo in your album from the bridge finally gave it away. It showed the larger houses to the south of you on the other side of the canal and I could tell that photo was taken from above the boat and water, so I started looking for bridges and two similar houses. One with white post on the railing and another with brown post.

Then compared what I found with what you posted in your photo album. I also knew from one of your post that you only had one Palm tree in your yard. From your album photo I knew the tree was on the right side of your house looking at it from the water.

All this added to just one place being yours, but the other house was still missing. That is when I figured it had to be a new house and was not there when this photo was taken.

Scary what is available on the web and what a person can find out about another person with just knowing their name and city they live in.

[JamesTXSD]

Wow, you should be a detective... CSI Oldgrowth. I've looked at some of the satellite images of our area that show our proximity to the Gulf and all the water around us...



Where "a" is our island (we're the red dot)
"b" is the Intracoastal
"c" is the Brownsville Ship Channel (Brazos-Santiago Channel)
"d" is the town of Port Isabel
"e" is The Queen Isabella Causeway (2.5 miles long to South Padre Island)
"f" is South Padre Island
"g" is the jetties, opening to the Gulf
"h" is the Gulf of Mexico
"i" is the Laguna Madre (our bay)
"j" is the swingbridge (the only way on/off our island)

OK, here's a challenge for you: find our favorite little water front bar/grille. I'll even give you a hint, so you can narrow things down: it's on the Laguna side, not the Gulf side.

And if you have that kind of time, why not buy a couple plane tickets and come down to experience the warmth yourself? Joan and I would be good tour guides.

Best wishes,
Jim

[Fairbro]

I count about 33 homes and only about 5 "real" boats. Where is everybody? Do you have an off season?

[JamesTXSD]

Yes, this is a very quiet time of the year here. The summer tourists are gone and the winter Texans have not arrived yet. There are about 1000 small residences on our little island (it used to be an upscale RV park, but has evolved into almost all houses now), most of them have water access. We originally bought here so we'd have a place to keep a boat; it was our winter escape from the frozen northland. In January, there are a lot more boats at the docks... but like most marina-type places, it seems that the most of the boats don't get out that much.

That good looking blue CD-25 you see in Dave's photo gets out almost everyday.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

[Old Jim]

Dave,

I've used Google maps and Google Earth but cannot get that kind of clarity. What program or software did you use? That is amazing.

I'm hoping to catch Jim out on his deck sunbathing in the nude. I could blow up the photo and use it to scare the geese away.

Jim

[JamesTXSD]

The geese? Hell, it would scare the neighbors so bad that they'd all sell and real estate values on this island would plummet.

I guess I can cross "topless waiter" off my list of second career choices.

Best wishes,
Jim (young Jim, 'cause I refuse to grow up)

[Old Jim]

Where the hell does it say that being old equates with being grown up?

[oldgrowth]

[JamesTXSD]

[oldgrowth]

Jim - I had nothing to do tonight so I thought I would do a search of your post for the word "palm". It only came up in four post and always used in the content of trees.

Its not any fun if its too easy and you giving me the name of your favorite bar & grill made it too easy. But as I was saying I had nothing to do and had caught up on my reading here, so I decided to put you and Joan at your favorite Bar & Grill. Unfortunately I could not find a close up aerial photo.

[Alyssa Jean]

Somebody on this site has WAY too much time on there hands. Probably more than one, now that I think about it.

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Dave,
We got back this afternoon from a couple days/nights out on Wild Blue. Grabbed a shower, hopped on the motorcycle, and had a late lounch at Palm Street Pier. Came back, fired up the computer... and look, there we are!

Have I mentioned our favorite stretch of beach? It's 35 miles long, beautiful firm sand, perfect for walking. A mile of it is our regular starting point. Are you familiar with Wyland, the artist? There is a project trying to get pushed through to bring gambling to South Padre Island... complete with a fancy new marina and a proposed aquarium designed by Wyland. The locals are not in favor of this because it would change the character of this "island of white." Can you find us?

Happy Hunting,
Jim

[oldgrowth]