When I made plans to stay in Brownsville, I wanted to do a day trip over to Matamoros, in Mexico. But all the travel websites said “don’t go there”, and even the State Department has warnings that it ain’t safe for gringos.

But when I asked about it at the border control station, they told me it was safe for tourists as long as you don’t go wandering around by yourself. So I went to the local tourism visitors center and got the contact info for a group that does day-tours into Matamoros, and signed up. I ended spending the day in Mexico with two tourists from Minneapolis and our tour guide David (who has dual American/Mexican citizenship). Had a great time, did not get kidnapped or robbed, and saw the world from a different perspective. (There were a lot of VERY heavily-armed Mexican Marines patrolling the streets, though photographing them is not a good idea.)

(Now, here’s hoping that this idiotic shutdown ends soon so I can go visit the Mexican War battlefield parks.)

Some photos from a day in Mexico.

​ The border fence

​ Crossing the bridge

​ Bienvenidos a Matamoros

​ One of the old hotels

​ Middle-class homes

​ Catholic cathedral

​ Inside the cathedral

​ Marble statue of Mary with the body of Christ. A gift from the Vatican.

​ Fort Casamata. The Mexicans here fired at the Americans across the Rio Grande during the Mexican-American War.

​ The Fort is now a history museum

​ Mexican cannons from the Mexican-American War

​ Pancho Villa

​ The Execution Wall, where captured Mexican revolutionaries were shot

​ Iron casket of Mexican bandit/revolutionary Servando Canales

​ View from the Fort’s walls

​ Roadside fruit markets

​ Matamoros cemetery

​ The Juarez Marketplace

​ Street vendors in Carranza Plaza

​ US Consulate, under construction

​ The bridge back to the USA