The weather on Days 22 & 23 of our RV trip to South Padre Island, Texas, was gloomy but a good time to shop in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico and Port Isabel.
Highlights
On Thursday we drove about 90 minutes to the Progreso International Bridge where we parked and walked across the border to Mexico. This is a relatively safe and easy way to visit Mexico for the day. There's a large parking lot near the bridge that charged $4 to park for the day. Public restrooms between the parking lot and the bridge are worth a visit because public restrooms are harder to find in Mexico and they charge a small fee.
We were required to pay a $1 fee on the US side before crossing the bridge over the Rio Grande river, which serves as the international border. Nuevo Progreso, Mexico is located directly across the bridge with many souvenir shops, pharmacies, and restaurants eager to liberate Americans from their US dollars. The many dental and optometrist offices are booming with American retirees in need of affordable dental work and prescription glasses. My priority, however, was a mani/pedi. I headed straight to Pauly's, where I had gone last year. I got a manicure and pedicure, far better than any I've had at home, for $20. While I was making a beeline for the nail salon, Tom and Dennis explored the bars and restaurants. Then I helped Tom find a huge straw hat for fishing. I couldn't resist buying some wall art and Mexican vanilla. One thing noticeably missing from our shopping day in Mexico were cheap t-shirt shops. Maybe we just didn't walk down the right alley. Before we started across the bridge back to the US, we were required to pay a 30 cent fee on the Mexico side. As we approached the border at the middle of the bridge, tents along the walkway on the Mexico side were filled with Ukrainian Refugees waiting to enter the United States.
Disappointed by the apparent t-shirt shortage in Nuevo Progreso, Dennis, Wendy, and I decided to end our Thursday with a shopping spree at the many souvenir shops on South Padre Island. No shortage of t-shirts here!
Friday morning was gloomy with sporadic rain... not pickleball weather and I suspected the Beach Bodies workout would be cancelled. I headed out early to beat the crowd to the one public laundromat on the island. The wet gloomy weather continued throughout the day. Tom went to the gym while Wendy and I embarked on another shopping spree... this time across the causeway in Port Isabel. Our first stop was Simply Good, an overstock outlet. We were hoping to find cheap workout shorts, and we did. But, the bargain of the day and probably the year, was a slinky black dress I found for $1.50. Say what??
We ended the day with live music and dancing. First at the Quarterdeck with Clay Underwood, then at Landshark in the new Margaritaville Resort with one of our new favorite bands, DeVilla.
Challenges
It was hard to resist wearing my slinky new $1.50 dress out that night. It wouldn't have looked quite right with my flip-flops or cowboy boots. If only I had found matching shoes!
Photos Day 22 - 23
You can view our most recent trip pics on the Carpe Diem Facebook page by clicking on the South Padre Island 2024 - 02 album and scrolling to the bottom of the photos.
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