View from our hotel room on South Padre Island
Me and the boys walking on the beach on South Padre
The Rio Grande river on the Mexican border (border patrol truck in the distance)
Drury Plaza Hotel in San Antonio
Late night walk on the River WalkMonday June 2
In the morning, we enjoyed the free hotel breakfast and then the boys went for a swim in the pool. After the pool, we went for a walk on the beach.
We checked out of the hotel and then drove around South Padre some before heading into Brownsville on the way to Progresso. The ladies at the visitor center in Port Aransas suggested Progresso as a nice place to cross into Mexico.
In Progresso, we parked our car and got the OK from US Customs to cross into Mexico without a passport. However, they warned us that a passport will be required in 2009.
There was a nice pedestrian bridge over the Rio Grande river which separates the US and Mexico. We were expecting the Rio Grande to be more, well, grand. It was more like a creek. When I mentioned to someone how we were surprised by how un-grand the Rio Grande is, the person replied, "Why do you think so many illegals cross it?"
The security on the US side was present, but more like the security at an airport or a large event. However, the security on the Mexican side consisted of soldiers with automatic weapons and at least one tank looking vehicle. When we asked one of the US customs people about the discrepancy in the show of force, they just shrugged their shoulders and said it was a different country.
We did notice quite a border patrol presence in the area. As we were driving, we would see these white official looking trucks in the distance along what looked like lightly traveled dirt roads. It took us a while to figure out that it was border patrol. We were even stopped at a border patrol road block on the way north to San Antonio.
The ladies at the visitor center in Port Aransas told us that Progresso (Nuevo Progresso on the Mexican side) was a cute little town. We didn't think so. There were shops on both sides of the street with a flea market type atmosphere outside the shops along the sidewalks. It reminded us of a cruise destination, where all the merchants descend on the fresh tourist meat. The most popular types of shops were pharmacies and dentists. There must have been 5 of each in a 2 block area. Men would stand outside the doorway of the shops and try to get you to go in as you passed. Nothing threatening, just sleazy.
The ladies at the visitor center also recommended a restaurant called Arturo's. We were very happy with their recommendation of Snoopy's in Corpus Christi, so we were looking forward to Arturo's. We were picturing an authentic Mexican dive type of restaurant with great food and atmosphere. Instead, it was a white tablecloth restaurant with waiters in ties. The food was good, maybe a notch above the usual neighborhood Mexican restaurant in the US. I ordered a margarita, expecting it to be something authentic and special. Instead, it was small and very average. And to top it off, the food was more expensive than Mexican food in the US.
The restaurant was only a couple blocks from the border and we didn't bother going any further. We bought Adam a cowboy hat on the way back to the US. Derek didn't see one that he liked.
After Mexico, we drove north to San Antonio. We got into town at dark and drove around a little before looking for a hotel. We settled on the Drury Plaza. It's in an old converted bank tower in heart of the city. As part of the conversion from a bank, the hotel extended the River Walk so that the hotel would be on the River Walk. It was a really neat hotel and we were glad we stayed there.
Overall, we had good luck getting a hotel room without reservations. There were several time where I balked initially at the rate and they substantially lowered it. This was one of them. Sometimes, it was obvious that the hotel clerk had no authority to negotiate, but we never felt like we were being gouged either. I would use the hotel computer to do a price comparison and found that the walk up rate we got was as good, if not better, than the reservation rate.
We checked into our hotel and then went for a walk along the River Walk. It was almost 10 o'clock, but the place was still hopping. We had heard that the River Walk was nice, but I was skeptical. I figured it was just another tourist trap with shops, but I was impressed. It's very nicely done and bigger than I thought it would be. You can walk a long ways in the city along the River Walk with easy access to and from the city streets via nice bridges and stone staircases. Most of the hotels and restaurants are accessible from the River Walk or the street level.
We stopped in one of the shops and Derek picked out a cowboy hat. The boys were very cute in their cowboy hats and got lots of comments. They wore their cowboy hats whenever they would go out for the rest of the trip. Adam would always ask for the room key and then keep it in his hat, along with some of his other valuables. When we would get to our room, he would dip his head forward and take off his hat and produce the room key.
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