Yes, you can have too much of a good thing….
Last night, Tanya treated us (Romola, Stacy, Dallas and myself) to a Food Tasting at Stephan Pyle’s famous restaurant. This was better (and more!) than I ever would have expected! There were 10 courses, each accompanied by a different wine selection. The food — and company — was fantastic.
Our first course was four different ceviches. Each was superb, the ahi tune was truly special. The second course was a delicious tomatillo soup with wonderful accompaniments. By now, I realized how special this was. After all, Steven Pyle is one of the world’s most respective chefs. So I took out my cell phone and tried to take some pictures.
Poor light, and I didn’t want to use a flash, but I think this may serve to illustrate the extent of the menu. So here are pictures of the last eight courses, along with what they were, at least those I can still remember. So excuse the poor picture quality, and I just can’t remember all the names of the dishes! And congratulations on your promotion, Tanya!
Creamy lobster dish with crushed nuts and spices
Tamale Tart with Roast Garlic Custard, Peekytoe Crab and grilled red snapper on corn chowder
Pan roasted cod with lobster branded with deep fried quail egg, asparagus, and sweet pea emulsion
Deconstructed Sea Scallop Chowder
Roasted pork belly with potatoe foam
Grass-Fed Texas Beef Tenderloin with popcorn rock shrimp, Smoked Potatoes, Crispy Trumpet Mushrooms
and Red Wine Demi Glace
Grilled Rack of Lamb with Preserved Lemon, Artichoke-Marguez Sausage Sauté and Crispy Pickled Fennel
Panna Cotta with coconut lime cannel and chocolate with seranno pepper sorbet
Middle of Nowhere, Texas
In the Middle of Nowhere (Oldenburg, TX pop. 150) you’ll find a typical Texas saloon so you can “wet your whistle”.
A Texas saloon
We’re parked in the Middle of Nowhere (Columbus, TX pop. 3800). It’s right on the Colorado River, has lots of open spaces and very large native pecan trees.
Parked in Nowhere, Texas.
In Round Top, TX (pop. 90!) you’ll find a beautiful concert hall, built by James Dick, a internationally famous concert pianist. He was born in Texas, and lives on the property. It’s a beautiful facility; not just the concert hall but the other building, gardens, and surrounding areas. Today he gave a concert, and even though Round top is in the middle of Nowhere, some 1,000 people came for a fabulous concert.
Outside view of Festival Hall
A view inside the concert hall
A view to the rear balconies
Waiting for the patrons...
In the middle of Nowhere (Ellinger, TX pop. 471) you’ll find Peters BBQ. All you can eat beef brisket, sausage, ribs, fried catfish, frog legs, shrimp, salmon patties, and all the trimmings for $9 a person. Can’t touch that price anywhere!
A new site for birding
We moved from Mission, TX to Harlingen, TX and were pleased to find a very active birding park nearby. This park has a lot of wetlands, so there are more shorebirds. Some of these — such as the Pink Spoonbill — are large and graceful in flight. Here are some pictures.
A female redwing blackbird
Green Heron
A turtle basking in the sun
Baby alligator, catching some rays
Northern Shoveler duck
Roseate Spoonbill
A trip to Padre Island
We had our first day of sun in a week, so this seemed like a good time to visit Padre Island. It’s kind of quiet, before Spring Break, and that suits us just fine.
A view down the beach
A beached jellyfish, still colorful
Shorebirds, looking for a meal
Need a beach towel? Bathing suit? No problem!
Shrimp Haus: all you can eat shrimp and $3 margaritas!
A tourist boat, no real pirates here
The lighthouse at Port Isabel
A pelican and a cormorant, resting
The veggie man comes
Once a week, the veggie man comes with fresh produce from Mexico. Prices are reasonable and the produce is very fresh. It is very popular with the locals; people line up waiting for him to show up. The trailer may be old, but it is loaded with fresh goodies!
Tossing some cauliflower during set up
The selection is actually pretty good
Fresh pineapple, one of the most popular items, being cored
The lines to pay (and for getting a pineapple) are fairly long
Romola scores a huge cauliflower
To the (Mexican) dentist
While much of the USA/Mexican border is a dangerous place, the crossing at Nuevo Progresso is still safe and secure. It caters to us old folks with medical issues. Cross the border, you’ll find dentists, doctors, pharmacies, and of course liquor stores. Hawkers on the street try to lure you in for a quick cleaning or whatever.
This is our third year to head down there for our cleaning and checkup. There is a dentist, right on the border, that is US trained and has all the latest equipment. The office help speaks English, and the facilities are clean. Water is purified.
So we had our teeth cleaned and checked. In my case, cleaning, full set of X-Rays, and a dentist checkup cost $90. Hey, it’s one way to make that small SS pension work!
On the bridge into Mexico
There are still many poor people in Mexico, looking for a handout
Looking down the main street of Nuevo Progresso
Our dentist office. Yes, you cn get Margaritas in the courtyard and sit under the gazebo to calm those pains
The view from my dentist chair. We're RIGHT on the border, that is the Mexican border crossing you see
Hawks and Butterflies
Just down the road from us, we have the World Birding Center. We also have the National American Butterfly Association, so there are excellent opportunities for both bird and butterfly pictures.
Yesterday, we went for a walk in the Birding center. We were surprised that there were no birds — none at all — in our favorite viewing spot. It soon became obvious why… a Coopers Hawk was sitting high in a tree, looking for a snack. I got some good pictures of the hawk, before he dove into some brush, and with a lot of squawking and screaming, apparently got himself a meal. Too bad I couldn’t get any pictures of that!
And today we made a visit to the Butterfly Center. We didn’t go inside, just took a look around the outside. Even though this is not the season for butterflies, I got a few pictures.
Sitting pretty and looking for dinner.
Looking pretty fierce!
On the Rio Grande River
The RV Park we are staying at is right on the Rio Grande river, border between USA and Mexico. They have a boat tour of the river which is quite interesting. There is surprisingly much to see here, ranging from birds to historical buildings. Here are some highlights:
There is a huge house, which used to be owned by the drug cartel. I guess this fancy building gave pretty direct access to the USA for those so inclined. This is now taken over by the Mexican Government, which now patrols this area heavily.
River view of the Cartel house.
Some heavy Mexican guard duty
And this is our side of the border, keeping a watchful eye
This very fancy building is the home of the Mexican water ski team. This is where they train for international competitions.
Three years ago, a major hurricane caused serious flooding along the Rio Grande. Evidence of the damage is still very obvious.
Clear evidence of how high the water got
This fancy resort was started but never finished after the flood
This used to be the very Pepe's restaurant and night club
And finally, some of the birds we saw
A nasty (and painful) experience
Yesterday, I was doing some work on top of my motorhome. My normal method to get back down is to face forward, grip the top of ladder (which is attached to the motorhome), step down with my left leg, then continue on down. Never been a problem.
Until now. The top step was wet and slick, and my shoe slipped. So my left leg and entire left side slid down until it was wedged between the ladder and the back of the RV. Meanwhile, my right leg was sticking out straight in front of me, on top of the motor home. I had absolutely no leverage to remove myself from this awkward and painful position.
Fortunately, I was able to attract Romola’s attention, and although she tried she did not have the strength to push me up. Fortunately, a few passersby saw my predicament and together they managed to push me up so I could get out of the ladder space and back on solid ground.
This could have been much worse. Had I lost my grip, I may have fallen over backwards, essentially leaving me hanging, upside down, from a possibly broken femur or a displaced hip. I shudder to think of that! I feel fortunate this ended the way I did; only some serious bruising and pulled muscles. It could have been much worse!
Next time I will be more careful. I’ll also added some traction material to the top step!
Flea markets in the RGV
Flea markets are popular in the Rio Grande Valley, and the Don-Wes Flea Market is one of the biggest. I’m pretty sure you can find anything you could possibly want here, as long as it is cheap! There are temporary stalls and permanent ones, indoors and outdoors, hard goods and soft goods. You can get your hair cut, or a massage, or a delicious meal.
Didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without, but it is fun to browse, check out the stalls….. and the people.
Lots of "good" stuff
Lots of people camp and work here
Romola did find some good gold chain at decent prices
More "good stuff"
Nothing but high class stuff!
Laninga's Travel Blog 