Hey lady, you need some drugs?

Last week we took a day trip across the boarder into Progresso, Mexico. We parked the car on the US side and simply walked over the bridge. The town doesn't seem to cater to the '30-something' (much like the whole Rio Grande Valley for that matter), but it was still on our list of things to check out. 

The main street is lined with pharmacies, dentists, liquor stores and nail salons. Craft vendors with their carts cluttered the narrow sidewalks, selling everything from straw hats and souvenirs to baby goats and bicycles. Every couple of steps, men and women would pop out of doors holding up signs and shouting "Hey lady, you need any prescription drugs?", "Lady, you need to see dentist?", "Pedicure, Manicure, five dolla!". The key to Progresso's thriving economic stability is to offer cheap (generic) prescription drugs and affordable dentistry to Americans, and it seems to work. Each dentist office that we passed had a full waiting room, and generic Viagara was cheap and plentiful (if you're willing to take a gamble).

As we walked further down the main drag, we saw a small sign that advertised 'one dolla beers'. So down the ivy-lined alley we went and plopped ourselves on a rickety set of patio chairs, and a portly Mexican fellow hustled over with a few bottles of chilled Dos Equis. I was in heaven. The first beers went down easy, so we stayed for another round. Another man was making the rounds with a basket of fresh churros, which we hastily bought up. Fresh, warm churros and $1 beers, this was seriously my utopia.

After cocktail hour, we ducked into a fancy restaurant to grab some authentic Mexican-fare for lunch, and then headed back outside to try and track down the churro man again. Coming up empty-handed, we walked back over the bridge, and made our way home. And that, in a nutshell, was our trip to Mexico. Thrilling to say the least.

* The first 2 photos are evidence of what happens when a Winter Texan, who clearly has never used an iPhone, offers to take your photo - Brad and I crack up every time we look at it. Plus, the fellow in the back shares an uncanny resemblance to grandpa Munster, no?