Activities in the Rio Grande Valley

The Rio Grande Valley is an area full of its own culture and history, and provides a unique experience to those that plan to visit. So I wanted to create a list of 5 activities that one visiting the Rio Grande Valley, should do to really get the full cultural experience.

1. World Birding Center- Rio Grande Valley is one of the top birding areas in the world, being home to hundreds of different kinds of birds, and the World Birding Center is a great way to experience this. There are nine different parks in the World Birding Center that span all the way though out the Rio Grande Valley and all of which provide a good overall experience in the ecosystem.
2. South Padre Island Water Sports- South Padre Island is definitely one of the more popular tourist attractions, but in addition to the beach, South Padre Island is also popular for being one of the leading places for sports such as parasailing and kitesurfing. 
3. 17th Street in McAllen- 17th Street is a famous street in McAllen that has many popular bars and restaurants. For the visitors, the night life in this area would provide a good time and a great experience.
4. Shop in Nuevo Progresso- One of the benefits of being in a border area is the ability to travel across the border with ease. One of the more popular locations is Nuevo Progresso. This is one of the border cities in Mexico that are tourist friendly and are for Most part cartel free. Because of this, it is a popular location for many people to get an insight on Mexican culture.
5. Sea Turtle Hatching Release- During hatching season, between April and September, you can go the the sea turtle rescue center and witness the hatching and release of new born Kemp Sea Turtles. This is an fun activity for the whole family.

 These are just a few of the activities that the Rio Grande Valley has to offer. There are many more, that make this a truly unique area.

The top 5 Cites to Visit in the Rio Grande Valley

Being one of the larger border areas along the Mexican-American Border the Rio Grande Valley consists of many small towns that all have their own unique charm. However there are a few cities that stand out among the rest:

• McAllen, Texas
• This is one of the largest cities in the Rio Grand Valley, and also acts as one of the main economic areas in the Valley. It has a relatively large shopping scene with one of the top grossing mall per square foot in the country.
• San Juan, Texas
• This city is definitely a little smaller then the other cities on this list but it is one the list because it has one of the staples of the Rio Grande Valley, the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valley. This is the largest Catholic Church in the RGV and is important because a large percentage of the the residents in the Valley are Catholic.
• Harlingen, Texas
• This city is here because, this is most likely the first city you will see when going the Rio Grande Valley. Why is this? Its because Harlingen has the largest airport in the Rio Grande Valley. It not only has flights from American and United airlines as the other airports do, but it also gets flights from Southwest, which adds a new option for the people of the Rio Grande Valley.
• Brownsville, Texas
• Brownsville is the largest city in the Valley and the 16th largest city in Texas. It is the county seat of Cameron County, and is home to the Port of Brownsville. The port is one of the most important ports in the country as it servers as a good port for commerce between Mexico and the U.S.
• South Padre Island, Texas
• South Padre Island is a resort town on Padre Island. It is one of the primary beaches in Texas and a popular destination  for those living in the Rio Grande Valley. It is also one of the most popular spring break destination in the world, attracting thousands of students from all over the world.

These are just a few of the more popular cities in the Rio Grande Valley, but trust me there is a lot more to the RGV then just these cities.

A Place to Eat by the Border

Whenever I bring people to McAllen, Texas there is one place that I know that I have to take them. It is the restaurant Taco Palenque. Taco Palenque is a Mexican restaurant that originated in the city of Laredo, Texas but spread through out the border, and I believe that it truly encompasses border culture better then any other restaurant. It also has really good food.

As a Mexican restaurant Taco Palenque really captures the Mexican culture. When you walk in you can see that the design of the restaurant is heavily influenced by the culture. Taco Palenque is however a Mexican-American restaurant, specifically a fast food restaurant. While it does have a drive through which is a staple for a fast food restaurant, it also has a relatively nice interior. However, the most important part of a restaurant is not the design or whether its a fast food restaurant, but rather the quality of the food.

Taco Palenque specializes on Mexican food, and everything that have is really good. But what they are most famous for is there fajita. In this context fajita represents beef fajita which is skirt steak. Taco Palenque is know as being one of, if not the best at fajita, and fajita is a staple in most Mexican-American cuisine. The restaurant uses there special fajita in many different ways but most specifically their tacos. Outside of basic tacos like just a fajita taco, which is just fajita in a tortilla, Taco Palenque has several original tacos, most famously the Taco Pirata. The Taco Pirata is a taco that consists of two flour tortillas, which contain beans cheese and fajita.

Over all I would say that Taco Palenque is an amazing restaurant that really encompasses the culture of the border in bother the cuisine and the restaurant itself.

My Thoughts on Living by the Border

So I wanted to express my opinion about life by the border. I grew up in the border town of McAllen, TX. in the Rio Grande Valley. For a border town McAllen is actual pretty large and living here there are definitely many pros and cons.

One of pros of living in a border town has to be the culture. Most of the people who live in the Rio Grande Valley are of Mexican decent, and therefore much of the culture in Rio Grande Valley is heavily influenced by Mexican heritage. This is actually really good for people who live in the RGV and for people from Mexico who are trying to immigrate to America. It is defiantly easier to adapt to life in America if you can learn from people who come from a similar culture. However there are also cons to this.

A con to the similar culture that I have experienced is that it becomes hard to a universal experience. As most people are from the same place and share the same culture, for a person living at a border town it becomes hard for them to experience the world and they different cultures that they would experience in a bigger more universal city. I see this as a con because having an understanding of the world outside of a border town is a good way to understand the world.

Living in a border town has it pros and cons but all and all it is a unique experience.

Info About the Border

Hi, everyone I wanted to provide a little information for this first post, specifically about the border itself. First and foremost the border is referencing the border between Mexico and America. This border encompasses the Southern border of America and the Northern Border of Mexico, and it spans 1,989 miles. America has four states that are on the border while Mexico has six on the border. In Texas the border follows the Rio Grande River, after which the border goes through the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts before ending in the San Diego-Tiajuana metropolitan area at the Pacific Ocean.

The border came to completion in 1848 with the treaty of Guadeloupe hidalgo. This happened after the Mexican American war and declared that the border would coincide with the Rio Grande River as well as have Mexico give the western part of the United States to America. This was what determined the border. Since the border was created, many people have tried to cross it which has lead to a large amount of immigration from the two countries.

This immigration is what to border towns and areas such as the Rio Grande Valley. Many people who cross to America were happy to just get into the States and therefore they would settle down at the border where they were close enough to home that they could still have their culture, but were in America  The Rio Grande Valley is one of these. It is right across the Border if full of many little border towns.

I will continue to inform everyone about the border, specifically life in the Bordertown, but felt that having a little bit of knowledge beforehand would be a good place to start. So have a great day, and I'll be back soon.