I traveled to Texas and Mexico with my brother Gary in June . Gary goes to Mexico to have his teeth done!!His DDS there is really good and he has made 4-5 trips over the years and has saved $1000's of dollars doing this, plus gets a week vacation every time( as he has to make multiple visits within a few days of each other). He says now he looks forward to having his dental work( unlike most of us that hate it). Well i thought he was crazy when he first told me about this but when i heard he went alone on his last trip i offered to go with him on the next trip if he didn't have a traveling companion. Of course i made it very clear that i would stay at the hotel in Texas and would not cross over into Mexico with him due to all the border violence I had read about lately. Turns out we went and I had a GREAT time!!
I thought i was a bit nuts as 99 degrees forecasted for our trip, the first week of Hurricane season and lots of border issues with Texas and Mexico border towns due to the drug cartels. I went on line to the government warning sites i use in my mission travels out of the country to look for any Mexico warnings posted and to research this a bit . I found out that the violence was being created by the drug cartels. In 2007 the Mexican government decided to crack down(pardon the expression) on the drug cartels in an effort to reduce their activities. It turns out according to the State Dept notices) that the drug cartels decided to fight back by hiring ex- police officers in Mexico to form their own new armies!!. And the violence was taking place mostly in Mexican towns near the US border , even shoot outs in broad daylight where innocent Mexican citizens were being killed caught in cross fire!! There had also been some violence toward American citizens on border roads that involved car-jackings to steal vehicles for drug traffickers and even kidnapping to use American ATM cards to get max. cash payouts each day they held their captives. Yikes!! So what the heck was I doing offering to go to Texas in 99 degree temps( I hate hot weather!), during Hurricane season( Are you kidding?), and around the violent Mexican /US border!! (Was I nuts)??!! No not really. I guess it was just a sister trying to spend time with her bachelor brother...hehe
Gary made his DDS appointments, we booked out flights, Gary made a hotel reservation( at a place he had stayed in Texas close to the Mexican border). Turned out my brother made his flights out of Milwaukee and I made mine out of Chicago? He could have saved $300 by driving to Chicago and flying out with me but oh well. We met in Dallas to take the short hopper flight to McAllen. It took the better part of a day but we arrived by 4pm and his first DDS appt was at 6pm, so we drove right to the hotel . It was a discount hotel with a pool,really quite nice although a bit deserted(only 3 cars in the parking lot when we arrived but it was a weekday). Since there was a man laying out by the pool on a lawn chair and not very many other people around, I decided it may be safer to go with my brother to Mexico( Gary looks a bit like a bouncer, strong and muscular and a bit over weight and his dark tanned french skin makes him even look a bit Mexican...my very own body guard.) It was hot hot hot but off we went. It turned out we drove for only 10 min, parked and left the car on the US side for $2 in a lot with an attendant right on the border, crossed( walked) over the big bridge over the Rio Grande River( that separates the US from Mexico), and each put 25 cents in the turnstile( yes i said turnstile!) on the far side of the bridge and entered Progresso,Mexico!! Crazy hey????( I wondered who determined the amount of money,25cents, to enter Mexico- this felt like a carnival amount?!) There was a Mexican Army tank with a machine gunner on the far side of the bridge facing traffic leaving Mexico- just a reminder that yes this was another country and one with unrest!!They were really checking vehicles thoroughly,making all drivers and passengers get out of the vehicles, looking under and behind the seats, and removing everything from the car and trunk ,plus having the drug dogs sniff each car or truck leaving Mexico!!There were a few Mexican soldiers in uniform walking around the end of the bridge but they just looked our way and smiled - very nonthreatening really! (Later in our travels in Texas we went through a road block near Brownsville where the US border patrol was stopping all vehicles- there were alot of abandoned cars parked here, officail border vehicles and some people even being handcuffed near a ditch closeby this highway border patrol checkpoint.)
Yikes...we were now in Mexico!!Turned out that Gary's Laser DDS was the first office after the bridge( less than a half block off the bridge).This town was very welcoming of visitors from the US as they have many "Wintering Texans" come each year to add to their livelihoods. They even had a sign up that said "Welcome back Wintering Texans!!" When we checked in with the receptionist, she said it would be about 30 min as the DDS was with a patient and was running late( just like the U.S. i guess). So Gary and I decided to do some street shopping while we waited as everything was so very close. He bought some Harley Davidson stuff for his girlfriend and a hat for a guy friend of his and I looked at some silver bracelets. Turned out most of the street sellers spoke English and they took American money for purchases! I had never been to a Mexican border town like this so Americanized?! So all in all i felt quite comfortable. Then we headed back to the DDS office and I sat in the waiting room while Gary had his first appt.
On a second trip over a few days later,Gary had his dental work finished and I actually had my teeth whitened( something I always wanted to do but thought too expensive in the US).This went ok and my teeth were about a shade lighter but his asst spilled a little bleach on my lip that got a bit swollen and on my inner gum that really burned( the doctor scolded her when he checked me before I left). I thought he was doing the whole procedure? I do not think I would not have done it had I known his Asst. was doing half of it? Oh well, it turned out fine and the gum irritation and swelling went down on my lip a few days later and at least my teeth were a shade lighter- oh silly vanity!! Afterwards we wandered a few blocks to look at more shops and stopped to have a Mexican beer at a street side , open air place. Turns out I like Mexican beer, as it is very light!!While we sat and talked with the bartender a bit( who also spoke English- Gary had been there before), more street sellers( mostly women and children) came up to us with basket s of goods to entice us to buy something. Such an odd assortment- everything from jewelry, hats, purses, brooms,trinkets and even car shade screens. I bought 2 sun shade screens as they folded into really small black pouches and a few trinkets from kids and women that looked pretty weary and discouraged perhaps about not selling too much on this weekday. I really didn't need or even want some of the stuff but felt badly as thought some of the women and kids would feel pressure from the dads/ husbands if they did not sell a quota that day-- maybe just my idea of hopefully preventing some potential violence in some of these families. I hated supporting child labor but this IS their reality and i can certainly afford to share some wealth if it helps them buy food for their families.A man and later a young boy came along to sing us songs with a guitar( for a donation) and i even found myself singing along to "La Bamba"to my brothers dismay and delight!I loved this...now i felt like not only the typical tourist but part of the culture- probably the stereotyped culture tho! But the entertainers seem to enjoy themselves and you could see the pride on their faces as they sang- especially the young boy who closed his eyes as he sang in full voice for all to hear.Anyway we headed back to our car a few hours later before dark, crossing over the bridge and going through the glassed in US customs counter where they simply asked what we purchased. looked at our passports. I do think that Progresso is one of the few and maybe the only US/Mexican border towns that IS still safe provided- you don't stray far and don't go at night and don't take your vehicle into Mexico.
The rest of trip was so very much fun. On days between or after DDS appts( he only had 2) we explored the coast area of Texas- Padre island and Corpus Christi. In crossing over the huge Florida Keys-like bridge( about 1hr away from Mcallen) you find a developed island on the ocean with businesses, ocean side restaurants, parks and beaches . We ate at some great seafood places some with live music( loved the different types of Shrimp dishes served),watched a fake pirate ship entertain a dock side restaurant with fake fight( so funny) spent time at the beach and explored the roads. The bridge to South Padre Island is in Brownsville,TX and the closest drive from McAllen. It is very developed. North Padre Island is a beautiful, wild coastline further up the coast . It is a National Park for the most part that just has a visitor's center, boat launch, beautiful stretches of undeveloped beaches that you can even drive your vehicle right onto to some, and amazing limited camping right on the ocean( some with electrical hook ups posts for trailers). It was the largest stretch of coastal grasslands i had ever seen!! It was truly breathtakingly beautiful!! I could have stayed for hours( Gary likes the more developed beach towns but i ill take the undeveloped beach coastline any day- we are opposites in that regard!!) .But it was getting dark so we headed out of the park and to find a seaside restaurant down the coast for dinner. I really recommend trying to North Padre Island National Park if you ever travel south to Texas, as it is a breathtakingly beautiful stretch of coastal parkland. And the park signs say that they do not think it will be around forever with the rising ocean waters as it is a very sea level piece of land that may someday be covered with ocean water. So go soon if you want to see it!
We also took a drive to Corpus Christi. On the way w stopped to see a bit of King Ranch in Kingsville. This is one of the largest ranches in Texas. They developed their own breed of cattle and race horses!! It is also a wildlife sanctuary for birdwatching( on the US National Birding Trail) and allows limited hunting for deer- such an odd combination. We stopped at the visitor center to see if they offered tours. They only had 2 weekday times for tours and since we missed them we decided to watch a video on the history of King Ranch and all the owners through the many many years of being a working ranch. The video also told of the diversity each new generation of inherited owners brought to the ranch.King ranch also owns the largest Citrus production farm in Florida!! How weird is that?! Who knew Texans owned so much of the citrus crop in Florida????Outside the visitors center we saw some of their cattle grazing and noticed the amount of birds around. They also said in the video that they had over 150 species of birds on the ranch-- a real bird watchers paradise!! (I did notice the continuation of this "Birding route" on the Padre Islands as well as well as Sea Turtle Restoration sites.)
After the visit to King Ranch,we continued or drive to Corpus Christi(about 4 hrs from McAllen).We stopped to tour the USS Enterprise, an aircraft carrier used in WWII with alot of airplanes on its deck.I took alot of photos of the planes for David.It was very very interesting- e walked all the decks, took lots of photos and stayed about 2 hrs!Then we headed off for the Texas Aquarium , just a short walk away.They had beautiful viewing areas for dolphins, sea turtles and even birds of prey- we enjoyed it alot. Plus it was cool inside which was an added bonus on this very very hot day. I noticed in the photos we had developed after the tip that i really got a bit sunburned on my face from the Enterprise walk which was in full sun on deck with full metal reflection-oops!!'Now we had a full day so we headed off for supper and a hotel. We ate, swam in the dark at eh hotel pool afterwards the headed to our room. My brother picked the hotel( which used to be nice) but which really lacked upkeep- glad we had only one night there!! Put it this way my brother is a bargain shopper traveler when it comes to meals and hotel ...i know this from my trip to Costa Rica with him- sometimes it is fine and others well its not!! I too like to save money but I prefer no stomach problems and a clean place to rest my head at night when i am on vacation.But all was fine.
The rest of trip was just eating out , driving around and swimming at the hotel pool.Gary took me to of his favorite places to eat near the hotel. An inexpensive taco bell type place that had at least a dozen different toppings and sauces for your tacos and that served frozen margaritas from a revolving drum- fun! And of course an "all you eat" buffet place that was a chain in the US( have one near us but had never been to it), The food was really good quality and variety and include BBQ ribs,prime rib,great salads and desserts, i was impressed. He actually ate less than me on the trip- neither of us ate alot..maybe because it was so hot. Our favorite was the gas station chains we used on the way to and from CC that served fresh fruit cups for $2- we must have had about 5 of those- yum. And the fruit was clearly grown in this arEe, was fresh and plentiful and hit the spot of these hot days in the car!! Gary really cannot take the heat( must be a family trait( Gary,me and my dad all hated hot weather). So he likes to swim at the pool at the beginning and end of the day in Texas. He was not happy as these hotel pool hrs. as they were only open 11am to 7pm- how weird is that for an outside hotel pool with lights? Well he told the hotel his complaint and said he told me that he would not stay there again.They said they didnt open the pool in the moenring as peole would check out and then come balkc to use the pool- we didnt understand why they had to take the privelege from paying cudtomers vs supervise the situation?? But we still got a bit wet with our dips in the pool as we could time them. I found a fun Shrek donkey toddler toy poolside to float around the pool with my new blue and white cowboy hat to protect me from the hot sun-- Gary loved this and took some photos of me looking silly and relaxed! It felt great to cool off a bit!Gary doesn't even like to walk on the beach just sits under an umbrella to view the ocean- this drove me a bit nuts as i need to walk for exercise when we spent so much time traveling in plane and car- but off i went alone to walk the beach if Gary decide not to( he needs the exercise- this was a missed opprtunity to a healthy vacation . I love walking along a body of water ...i can go for hours if i have a coastline to follow. This is my favorite thing along the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin or Lake Superior in Upper Michigan. But i must admit i will take the Great Lakes anyday over the ocean. As although the ocean coastline is beautiful to see, swimming in salt water, waves and with biting species--well I am a Midwest girl after all whose childhood was spent swimming in Lake Michigan and the Wisconsin inland lakes!!
Later as I sat at the arirport waiting for my flight home I was dressed in an inexpensive yellow cotton summer sundress I bought near the beach, with my blue and white cowboy hat hanging on my back( as it did not fit in my carryon luggage bag) and with a foam yellow rose on a stick sticking out of my carry on bag( one i bought from a sad little girl selling it on the street in Progresso who was carrying at aleast 100 of them!). Boy did i look like the typical tourist...I really did like texas and would like to come again and although I will always be a Mid-Westener at heart, my trip to the south was really fun and I was happy to spend this time with my big brother Gary!
