Matamoros, Mexico Road Trip
December 7, 2001 & December 30, 2001
Thursday night, December 6th 2001, Dave & Karla Dyer and myself left Stafford, Texas at 9:30pm for a day of Christmas shopping in Matamoros, Mexico. I was after some good buys and specifically two leather coats, black and brown, while Dave was after Ostrich and Crocodile dress shoes and belts. This was my first trip back into Mexico in some 20 years while Dave and Karla had been going down quite often.
Along the trip down we drove exactly the speed limit, being aware we were on the drug corridor highway, State Police were everywhere and cars were being stopped what seemed like every few miles. While I was driving, I got stopped for failure to use a signal during a lane change. After getting a written warning (no ticket/fine), we ended up befriending one of the officers, exchanging business cards and talking on the side of the road for 45 minutes at 1:30am. Dave is writing a Warrants Database for Fort Bend County and the officers were very interested in getting a copy when it was complete.
We got in Brownsville, Texas around 3:30am and got a couple of rooms in a Holiday Inn where we slept until 9:30am. We then walked across the border and spent the day having a lot of fun shopping and eating at some great places. We found everything we wanted at a 1/5 of the cost of the same items in the USA. We found the people there extremely nice and friendly with many who spoke English. At the end of the day of shopping, around 8:30pm, we then made the drive back home, arriving around 2:00am Saturday morning.
Trip 1, December 7th, 2001
| Shot 1 and 2 outside of Holiday Inn off of International Blvd. USA |
| Inside Garcia's in Matamoros. The first stop you should make so you will know what prices to expect later when you go to the open market place. |
| Inside the public transportation bus going to the market in town. |
| Dave and me standing in the city square next to a statue of Gallaga. |
| Eating lunch as Los Nortenos |
| Dave and me standing on one of the market streets. |
| All of us having a refreshing beverage at a bar in the market. |
| End of the day, eating at Garcia overlooking bridge going back into USA |
| Walking back into USA across the bridge. |
Trip 2, December 30th, 2001
We went because Hourero at La Canasta called Dave to let us know that they got
in Alligator dress shoes and cowboy boots, which we were unable to get on the
previous visit, were now available.
| On border during morning |
| At our favorite shop, La Canasta, with salespeople Arturo and Hourero |
| In the middle of the Market |
| Outside a fun shop called "Destroyer". I loved the name! |