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Preamble –
A fervent Spring storm kept us entertained the night before we left for Mexico. The following morning presented us with a steady rain, a downed oak limb heavier than the two of us could handle and a snapped gate latch that I had just welded the previous day. Think about that friends the next time you want me to weld something for you. I pulled the truck on to the front lawn and tied the limb to the hitch and dragged it to the back yard. We were chain sawing at 7 in the morning. Sorry neighbors. The events left our rain soaked yard with a number of tire ruts. We had the attitude that garden gnomes will come fix our lawn while we’re gone. Let’s get out-o-town.
May 29
We crossed the border at the Colombia Bridge at 10:57am. We were shooting for 8. The morning delay had a ripple effect. It took 2 hours to get our Visas and Permiso for taking the car across. As we drove towards Matehuala, the rains appeared to follow us.
We slogged into Matehuala at 7:15. The side roads became raging rivers. That is not hyperbole. Matehuala is at the base of a mountain and guess where all that water came from? We dog-paddled to the Matehuala Wal-Mart while the water level held steady and we could get some basic supplies – tequila.
Matehuala Wal-Mart. You gotta say it out loud. Mah-Tah-Wah-La Wall Mart. Matehuala Wal-Mart. It has a nice, bouncy meter to it. I bet you’ll be saying it later on for no good reason.
Well, the Matehuala Wal-Mart was in full flood control mode. Most of the blue-vested Matehuala Wal-Marters were armed with squeegees and mops. There was water and mud half way to the back of the building. You could say the Matehuala Wal Mart water mark made it to men’s wear.
The tequila aisle was spared.
We checked in to our favorite, funky road-side motel; The Las Palmas Midway. If you start traveling down Mexico way, you really aught to spend a day or two there. It’s like a classic motel you’d find on route 66 in the 50’s, complete with a cement putt-putt course and restaurant that isn’t fancy but don’t tell them that. All the waiters wear matching blue dinner jackets and the maître d’ stands out in red.
We passed on dinner at the Midway in favor of El Mesquite across the highway. We’ve visited there enough that the owner recognizes us and jovially announces our arrival. Unfortunately he wasn’t there. I was kinda looking forward to the pomp and circumstance. Regrettably, the food wasn’t the same either… bummer.
May 30
The drive from Matehuala to the city of San Luis Potosi was calm, scenic and short. We got into town fairly easily but navigating the downtown historic district proved to be a challenge. (Click here for more on SLP). San Luis has a long, rich history and the cobble stone streets of the district have not changed in probably 500 years. The roads are built for heavy donkey traffic, not the occasional small car.
We had decided to stay at the Hotel San Francisco, in the middle of the heavy donkey traffic zone. It is a beautiful old hotel, fairly cheap and zero amenities.
The Story of Javier – He helped with our bags then parked the truck for us. That was cool. Next morning we needed something from the truck but we were told that there was no one working there to go get the truck for us. Actually I misunderstood the front desk lady, thinking she said “We have no truck”. After a failed attempt at finding the truck based on instructions from the front desk lady, we returned and asked if she could possibly draw us a map. According to her map we were pretty close. The truck was a good 8 – 9 blocks away in a 2-story office parking garage. And who was working the entrance gate? Javier.
We spent the afternoon walking the pedestrian streets lined with shops and what not. Being in the historic district meant that this was just outside our door.
May 31
One Cathedral’s Ceiling 
The Hotel Lobby 
The Zocalo
Each morning we have started out with a walk. We’re intent on not sitting around. There are so many cathedrals and cool buildings. Unfortunately, during our walking around we just haven’t been able to find the spectacular food that we normally find. Sharon looked up a funky pizza place. IPhone GPS took us directly to where it was supposed to be. Supposed to be… Some of the locals even told us how to find it. “It’s just around the corner, amigo”. Evidently it must have been in some parallel universe because it did – not – exist. Later that afternoon we started some strategic planning to rectify that situation. Mexico seems to prepare some really tasty Italian food so we found a highly rated fancy-shmancy Italian restaurant on web (via the hotels abysmal Wifi). It was a bit farther than we wanted to walk so the front desk got us a taxi. Address in hand we boarded the taxi and the kind old driver got us right in front of the restaurant, dumped us out and sped away to his next fare.
It was shuddered and it appeared to have been for quite some time. Note to self: Check the dates on restaurant reviews.
Further down the block we found a pretty restaurant and proceeded to have some of what I can only describe as creamy, flaccid Satan noodles. Pasta. How can you screw up pasta?
June 1
Okay… for a change of pace, we ate a pretty lousy breakfast. We’ve come to expect mediocrity from the culinary arts in SLP. Then we absconded our truck and headed to the smaller towns. The first was Villa de Reyes, a grubby town 40 miles south and home to a National park that we proceeded to NOT find. (Are you sensing a trend here?)
Next we found Santa Maria del Rio. Immediately we realized that we had been here before. Its a surprisingly large town with a dry river. Del Rio? Maybe del runoff? However, this is a magical little city known for their rebozos (hand woven scarfs). We even took a cool multi-media tour in the Rebozo Museum and watched some students doing their own weaving. The museum’s rebozos were indeed for sale. Super fancy. Super expensive. We walked the colorful town square and found a few rebozos that fit our rebozo budget.
The museum plaza 
The view out back of the museum 
The Rebozo Museum
Leave a friendly comment if you wish. If it’s not nice, write your own damn blog.
Happy trails! We will begin living vicariously through y’all.
“Maintenance combined with live entertainment!” A business in Mexico allowed to keep the word “Wall” as part of its name. Too funny!
Thanks for sharing. Have fun and stay safe.