Our Trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
We arrived in SMA on Jan. 1, after six days on the road.
We were lucky weather-wise. We saw a lot of snow on the ground from CT all
the way through VA. Our travel window was fortuitous. Another blizzard was
expected three days after we departed VA.
We had purchased a Garmin GPS some weeks before. Our GPS has a female
personality named Samantha. During our trip we developed a strained
relationship. When we didn’t take Sam’s recommended route: “Recalculating!
Take highlighted route!” We thought we could detect a hint of exasperation in
Sam’s voice as we continued to disregard her directions.
We spent our first night in Winchester, VA at a motel that sported an indoor
swimming pool. Great way to get the body loosened up after 10 hours on the
road.
The next night we spent in Chattanooga, TN – a neat town, that has gone
through a tasteful redevelopment. It looked like it could be an easy city to live in.
This was a planned stop. We had an absolutely wonderful dinner with cousins
Jim, Dan, and Susan Kennedy at Jim and Barbara’s house. I hadn’t seen these
cousins since 1992! I had never met Barbara or their handsome boys. These
are the siblings of Mimi Kennedy, who is still making waves as an actress. Jim,
Dan and Susan are having interesting careers in their own right.
Third day we raced across Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana – stopping only
for waffles and gas. That night we stayed in Lake Charles, LA – casinos and
chemical plants ring the lake. Ate good Cajun. ‘Nough said.
Spent night 4 in Laredo, TX at the Best Western – San Ysidro. Ate excellent
Barbeque at Rudy’s. They serve an amazing array of slow-cooked meats, iced-
down buckets of beer and gas. Yep, you can get your tank filled there too.
Crossed the border at Bridge No. 2 at about 7:30 AM, then followed a
labyrinthine route to the customs building. We entered a huge Kafkaesque
space that challenged all who entered to find the appropriate window and clerk
for each of the 5-step process to get us and our car into the country legally.
Fortunately we beat the crowd, and Anzie had prepped us correctly. We had
duplicate copies of our passports, drivers licenses, car title, and proof of Mexican
auto insurance (which we had purchased in advance). We also had to purchase
tourist visas for $21 apiece. And as we had already bought on line our Vehicle
Import Permit, we were through the process in about 20 minutes. We are proud
that this is probably an all-time speed record. The line of vehicles incoming to the
U.S. stretched for two miles, probably Mexicans coming to work to the U.S. No
dullards we, our return trip plans will include a re-entry at a later hour.
So, how are the roads in Mexico? Narrow two-lane gravel pot-holed ways where
one must frequently dodge errant burros and drug-crazed banditos? Surprise!
The roads are good to excellent — four-lane most of the way. We took the toll
road option. Speed limit maxes out at 80 mph. It’s a might expensive. Our 700
mile trip cost about $60
.
We spent night 5 – New Years Eve – in Matehaula, Mex. It’s a genuine Mexican
small city. We were probably the only gringos in town. We ate at one of the top
restaurants in Matehaula, Fontenella, at the egregious fare of less than $20. The
food and was worth every peso.
We strolled down to a park two blocks away, and discovered two groups of
“indigenous” dancers, part of a church youth group. These were young men and
women dressed in Indian garb, complete with feathered headdress and metal-
soled sandals, that sounded like castanets. They danced to the beat of drums,
creating their own rhythm with the sandals – very cool. Eventually they gathered
with a coterie of grandfathers with bugles and statues of Jesus and Mary each
borne by six bearers. They paraded throughout the town preceded by fireworks.
We were in bed by 10:00. So much for a wild New Years Eve.
Day 6 – January 1, 2010: We were on the road by 9:00. We had the road pretty
much to ourselves, except for the Montana and North Dakota license plates that
blew by us. The topography was amazing: huge mountain ranges, one after the
other off into the horizon; colors, hues right out of Georgia O’Keeffe. As we
passed over each mountain into another expansive plain the flora changed. One
plain is covered by mesquite-like brush. The next is pocked with cacti in Dr.
Zuess-like anthropomorphic forms.
We arrived in San Miguel de Allende early afternoon, more than 2700 miles from
Newburyport. Sam directed us precisely to the cul-de-sac and our house. While
we waited for our realtor to open the house, we met our landlady, Susie
(originally from Wenham, MA), and her grandchildren. Susie introduced us to our
new digs. They are absolutely exquisite! So is the town.
San Miguel has a European, colonial Spanish atmosphere. The streets and
sidewalks are paved with cobblestones and flagstone. The architecture
bespeaks the city’s designation as a UNESCO heritage site. What’s more, you
don’t have to eat Mexican every meal. There’s Thai, Chinese, Indonesian,
French, Italian, Uruguayan …. And our new local bar is an excellent barbeque
restaurant, The Longhorn.
We spent the last three winters in Costa Rica. It’s a veritable paradise; however,
very few cultural activities existed near us. Here in SMA there’s something
cultural happening just about every day: lectures at the library, classical concerts,
play-reading groups, plays in English. Even a week-long a writer’s workshop
coming soon. Art galleries of all media are ubiquitous. For sports there’s golf,
baseball, tennis and bullfighting, to name a few.
The natives are welcoming. Today our cleaning lady’s husband, Pablo, went
with us 15 miles out of SMA to the village of Conforton, which is known for its
artisans. We purchased a free-standing charcoal grill for $15! Pablo is an
elementary school teacher, and speaks very little English. So it was good
practice for us.
We are in love with our house. Even though it’s only one bedroom, it’s huge! It’s
larger than our three-bedroom house in Costa Rica. It has a courtyard in front
and another in back. Both are magnificently flowered. We have an orchid tree in
the rear garden that attracts hummingbirds. The house is fully equipped with gas
stove and oven, washer and dryer, two gas fireplaces, microwave, etc. The
rooms are beautifully decorated with handwoven rugs and many Mexican
artifacts. We have a garage, but our car is 3 inches too long. So we’re parking
on the street. We think it’s safe; it’s a nice neighborhood. To see pictures of the
house go to:
We attended a UU service last Sunday. Instead of coffee hour, they do lunch.
We’ve met quite a few expats. They’re all welcoming and helpful. We’re
spending our days exploring the town and the outskirts. By next week, we hope
to be in language class. Eventually we’ll venture out further but, for now, it’s just
nice to use the Shoeleather Express in lieu of sitting behind the wheel.
It’s a good time to be here, if you’re interested. Everybody’s complaining about
the fact that tourism is down. Yes, the plight of the world economy extends this
far. We have seen many housing developments that are closed down all over
the area. There are many hotels and B&B’s that are quite reasonable.
So … Come on down!!!
Love,
Chuck & Anne
P.S. – It was 45 degrees both inside and out today. Anne is hunkered down in
front of the fireplace as I write this.
