gentlemagician

HI
I am a 50 something female and will be in Donna for December. Two weeks alone and 2 with my teen-age daughter. Love adventure, love history, beach combing, cycling, horses and open to any suggestions. Will have a car. Please give ideas for activities, shopping, eating and your favorite things to do. Many thanks
Gentlemagician

Toucan2

Gentlemagician, are you by chance a birdwatcher? Because the RGV is of course a birdwatcher's mecca. If you are a birdwatcher, let me know and I'll come back with more. Actually, I'll come back with more anyway because I have to go look up a few things to tell you about that I enjoy.

In the meantime, a few things. The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a great visit. In mid-December they are gearing up again with the trolley tours and such. I had some fun retirees who volunteer all over the country in exchange for RV sites and such, and I was their first visitor I understand their canoe tours are also very interesting.

I enjoy the shopping on the main streets of towns like Weslaco, and another one where the name is escaping me right now. I also always like to shop the square in Port Isabel right before you go over the bridge to South Padre Island. I always find nice gifts there. Then I go to the touristy pirate place and have shrimp Anyway,

I'm sure you know about visiting SPI, which really isn't far from Donna, maybe an hour? 1 1/2? I enjoy taking the dolphin tours there, and the one I took also had tours where they would take youto this place to beachcomb. It is MUCH quieter on SPI at this time of year, but frankly, that was okay with me

I also think there is an outlet mall now just south of Weslaco.

We visited a very interesting colonial house and again, I'm going to have to go look this stuff up for you and come back. I'll do that, promise

AnnMarie_C

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Toucan2

Los Ebanos preserve is what I was thinking of. Here's the site:

http://www.losebanospreserve.com/

It's described as being able to see the RGV as it looked before being cleared for farming. I'm not sure Colonial was the right term, but it's well worth a visit. Beautiful grounds, and lots of butterflies.

If you do visit Port Isabel as I mentioned in my earlier post, be sure to go see the outside of the Port Isabel Museum. There is a mural of all the different types of fish in the Laguna Madre (painted by a one-armed man with 4 fingers it said!) Go all the way around the bldg.

In addition to birds, butterflies are pretty cool down there. Los Ebanos was a good place to see them, but also in Weslaco there is the Valley Nature center which is a good place to see them. You go through the center, pay a small fee, and then back behind there is a very lush, compact area where you see both a lot of birds, and a lot of butterflies. Last time I was there I got to see both a Malachite and a Mexican Bluewing which I was very excited about.

http://www.valleynaturecenter.org/

I mentioned shopping on the main street in Weslaco. There was definitely a change in shops from year to year, so I don't know what there will be this years. I've stopped at Bumbagbilia's Marketplace a few times though, and that can pass several hours. Lots of home furnishings, bronzes, accessories, etc. It's on Business 83 (the main street--I think it is called Texas st? ) in Weslaco, I think right by the RR.

Toucan2

For birding, you also won't want to miss Frontera in Weslaco. This site also links to Estero Llano Grande which is another very cool place:

http://www.weslaco.com/Visitors/Nature

Dolphin Watch Eco Tours on South Padre Island is the outfit I did my dolphin tours. There are plenty of outfits of course, I can only tell you that my experience with them was very good. I liked the eco tours because after you looked at dolphins they then did a drag net and you got to see whatever they brought up (then released of course). They were really knowledgable about the critters. It looks like they have some new and different kinds of tours as well:

http://www.theoriginaldolphinwatch.com/index.html

I have a note that on SPI near the Dolphin place I hate at a place called Dirty Al's and had a great blackened fish soft taco and coke for $9. All of a sudden I have a hankering.

If you like to bird, another great spot is Anzulduas. I understand it is extremely crowded on the weekend as it is a popular family park. In the week, it is very very quiet, and there are border patrol people all over the place, one casually peeked in the back of our car.

We also visited the Hidalgo Pumphouse. The grounds are very interesting, but they were closing early for an early lunch so I didn't get to go inside. They were working on a nature trail when we were last there.

http://www.hidalgotexas.com/Pumphouse/

They also were decorated all over town with Christmas lights, so it would have been fun to drive through at night.

You might also want to look up some of the parrot flocks in the area, they are fun to see come in at night.

Toucan2

I think it was the Harlingen Downtown District that I also enjoyed shopping. I like little main street shops.

I was right, there is a Premium Outlets Mall now:
Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets
5001 East Expressway 83
Mercedes, TX 78570
(956) 565-3900

I also have some notes that didn't work out but you may want to check. There was a Heritage Trolley Tour at 8:30 am n Wednesdays 956-428-1392

There was also a trip to Monterrey with Go with Jo Travel at 956-423-1446.

I hope some of this is of interest to you!

dfr4848

Lots of good suggestions. I would also recommend you check in advance about the availability of some of the activities. There was an article in the Houston paper this weekend about how much debris Ike washed upon South Padre Island. Despite the fact that it's about 300 mi from Galveston/Houston, the storm was so large that it created problems as far south as SPI.

AnnMarie_C

I was shocked by the amount of debris I saw in some of the photos, dfr--great advice.

Toucan2

Indeed, very good advice dfr. I'm glad you brought it up.

I hope gentle magician is coming back for the notes!

gentlemagician

Hello all
Thank you so much for the feedback. I was working in the north for the last few days and did not have internet access. I am not a bird watcher YET. This sounds like the opportune time to take up the hobby. I do love wildlife which is one of my greatest joys in working in northern Canada. The bears are all gone but still some wolves, foxes and smaller critters. My daughter will enjoy the shopping.I enjoy shopping in outdoor markets but can have fun with a good cup of coffee and people watching while she shops. 7 weeks to go...Yes, I am counting down. I have never been in Texas and can hardly wait.
Warm regards
Katt

spirobulldog

I quickly read this and I did not see Big Bend mentioned.

dfr4848

spirobulldog - I don't know about others, but I didn't mention Big Bend because it's over 600 mi from Donna (about a 10.5 hr drive). I didn't get the impression she wanted to go that far. But if so, it certainly is a worthwhile visit.

spirobulldog

Darn Texas, Such a Big State. I just saw South Texas for a Month and didn't realize how far apart that was. But still, I can't imagine staying in that area for a Month. Maybe there is more to do there than I realized.

dfr4848

Actually, the Valley has tens of thousands of people who spend the entire winter there. We call them "snowbirds". There's plenty to do and the living costs are very reasonable.

Toucan2

Yes, as dfr says, there is actually quite a lot to do. We are headed down for our fourth visit. We aren't yet snowbirds (have about 20 years to go) but I typically start running out of year at this time, and have to use up vacation days. Both my husband and I find plenty to do.

We thought about Big Bend this time, and darned if it wasn't completely sold out in the park for the nights we wanted to stay. We had enough days to kill that the massive drive was doable, but no place to stay in the park):

gentlemagician

Hello all
I appreciate the info re the 'snowbirds.' I am going down for a month to 'test the water' If I like it I will probably buy something. Once settled I will be able to explorer the state in more detail. Sooo much to see and do.
Thanks
again