My husband, son and I decided to go swimming - but instead of our annual pilgrimage to Galveston, we decided to check out South Padre Island, which runs along the southern most tip of the United States! We were a stone's throw away from Mexico, a country which I intend to explore to the hilt. Here are a few photos I'd like to share from our trip!

The southern half of South Padre Island is full of hotels and tourist traps, as well as the actual town of South Padre Island. The northern half belongs to the South Padre Island National Sea Shore, with ever shifting sand dunes and turquoise water. Here is a look at the pristine wilderness that the National  Park Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife are helping to preserve.

At the northern end of town is the only sea turtle rescue and breeding facility in the United States. Here, Kemp Ridley turtles are nursed back to health after sometimes losing in the battle to have a clean territory - sea turtles will eat plastic bags floating in the water, for example, because they look like jelly fish. South Padre Island is home to many species of sea turtle, and here is a cute little bugger just starting to get his sea fins.

A great view of an undisturbed dune. The constantly shifting sands make driving treacherous on the only paved road through the National Sea Shore - in fact, a few cars and trucks have been buried by moving sand, and every once in a while an old vehicle, years ago abandoned,  will stick its hood up from out of the dunes.

The exciting entrance to Matamoros, Mexico, as seen from the Brownsville side. Going through the Mexican border was quite pleasant, but going through the United States border to get back in to America was nerve wracking. I've been through Check Point Charlie in Berlin back in the Cold War hey-day and I didn't feel as intimidated there as I did under the mistrustful eyes of the United States Border Patrol. I felt sorry for the Americans of Mexican descent, having to deal with such a hostile 'welcome home.'

Here's the actual boundary between the United States and Mexico, as seen from the Rio Grande River bridge, crossing from Brownsville to Matamoros. The border region is quite disconcerting, as it is a haven for lawlessness, such as drug trafficking. Ergo, the border patrol is not far away, as you can see from the SUV in the background. The funny thing to me was the large fence that America erected on its side - kind of gives symbolism to the unfounded paranoia the Anglo American has of people from different cultural backgrounds...

Brownsville is a very nice town, but not very clean. This statue at the campus at Texas' Southmost College was full of soot.

South Padre
Island - Texas'
Tropical Paradise