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Brownsville KFC
Brownsville KFC
After a 6 hour drive from Houston Nasa to Boca Chia I finally arrived at Brownsville. A small and pretty standard US township with all the standard mod-cons and chain restaurants you could ever need. In fact, a particular shout out to the Brownsville KFC as it was particularly and surprisingly good! I'd highly recommend it - the crispiest and juiciest KFC I've ever had - and I've tried a lot of them all over the world!
Wyndham Brownsville
Wyndham Brownsville
I stayed the night at La Quinta by The Wyndham at Brownsville a pretty bog standard US style Motel chain. Comfortable and a large room it's in a convenient junction location as you drive-off Route 77 heading into Mexico - but don't go that far! You'll be right on the border at Brownsville. The room, predictably was adorned with SpaceX photos. Must be a lot of SpaceX fans passing through... 😁
Road Closure @BocaRoad
Road Closure @BocaRoad
It's about a 40 minute drive to the launch pad from Brownsville a short-drive. Just load up some water and sun-cream it gets pretty hot. But as I arrived the road was closed for a TEST DAY!!! Ughhh the Police had barriered off the road and said it was shut from 8am to 8pm that day - DISASTER!!! What was I going to do having driven all the way and flown from London UK - lol a wasted trip - I'd highly recommend for future reference you check-in with @BocaRoad on X to get the latest traffic reports on road closures.
South Padre Island
South Padre Island
I found an alternative site to view the launch pad at South Padre Island which is further down the beach from Boca Chica and the only place you can access to view the launch site when the Boca Chica road is closed. As you can see from the photo opposite it's quite a distance away but you can still make out the rocket and chopsticks. The nearest point you can take photos from is at Jetties South Padre Beach so head there if the road is closed. Luckily I bumped into a local photographer who gave me a tip-off! She said on Test Days they state on the Internet the road is closed 8am to 8pm but it's usually re-opened by early afternoon. So I should pop back around and try my luck!
Johnny Rockets
Johnny Rockets
So on the way back I stopped at Johnny Rockets South Padre Island - an old favourite of mine that I first visited way back in California probably in 2000! I can report it's still good but they don't sell the secret seasoning like they used to back in the day unfortunately!
South Padre island is about a 1 hour drive from Boca Chia and a good alternative option to Brownsville if you have time to spend on the Island. It's more family friendly with beach side Hotels so if you're planning a longer stay I'd recommend the Island instead of Brownsville for a short beach side break and more eateries and restaurants.
Flight 5 on Launchpad
Flight 5 on Launchpad
Super Thanks to the local photograhper's tip off at South Padre Jetties - she was absolutely right - Boca Chica road had re-opened by the time I had lunch and drove back around! The police blockade had been removed and I was able to drive up to the Launch Pad. Amazingly, and by total luck they had rolled out Flight 5 for a Test. So I got to take some amazing photos right beneath her a few weeks before her now super famous launch which made world history - enjoy the Photos!
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