South Padre Island and Freddie Fender

We got a call from Carol yesterday saying, "Come to the island, it is a beautiful day here". We didn't need to be persuaded. Within less than an hour, we were packed up and on the way. 

We had a good visit at Bob and Carols. Bob and I had a few games of crib which both of us love. Then we all went to Coconut Grill for $1.00 hamburgers and  plates of free bacon on the side. The sun started setting while we were there so I ran out to the pier and got some pictures. This picture was taken looking over the water to Port Isabel.

South Padre Sunset

From there we went to hear Leslie sing at a little place down the street. She was better than ever and as usual sang a wide variety of songs.

She sang the theme song from Titanic and brought the house down. I plan to get one of her CD's before I return to Canada so that I can show you all what an amazing singer she is.  What I love about these places is that everybody dances so we all get lots of exercise.

Most of  the hotels in South Padre are decorated with Christmas lights  and are very pretty.

This hotel, the Isla Grand, sits right on the ocean. It was beautifully decorated inside as well. I checked out the prices for rooms and they were far less than what a similar hotel in Canada would cost.

Anna and I got a room at the Super 8 hotel for $35.00 plus tax. It was a big room and very nice. We never did get the lights by our beds working, and I had to go to the front desk to get some soap, but those were small details.  We were happy to find a reasonably priced place and to have lots of room.  I had a very long, long bath and it was sheer heaven.

Today I got up early and went for the  free breakfast that the hotel offered, then returned to the room and  went back to bed. It felt really good to have all the space so I took full advantage. Anna went out to visit while I stayed behind and languished in the room, just enjoying the solitude and space, watching a little TV, and doing a bit of reading.

We decided to stop at San Benito on the way home and tour the Freddie Fender museum. We had a bit of trouble finding the place but perserverance paid off. It is actually a three part museum, a Historical Museum, a Conjunto Music Museum, and the Freddie Fender Museum.  Bob and Carol met us there and we all toured the place together.We picked a good day to go as we met Freddie Fenders brother  who actually only works one day a month there.  He showed us some personal videos that he had of Freddie and other musicians and talked to us for some time. Another fellow who works there, Ron Rogers, was a good friend of Freddies and he told us many stories also.

This picture of Freddie Fender hangs in the entrance of the museum.

 

 I did not realize that Freddie Fender was also a movie actor. He was in the movie The Milagro Beanfield War and another movie in which he played the role of Poncho Villa.
Freddie grew up very poor and after the death of his father when he was very young, his family lived for a year in a tin shack. He started singing at the local radio station when he was  only 10 years old. It was a very interesting museum and I highly recommend it to anyone travelling near San Benito. 

Here I am with Freddie's brother, Jose Luiz and good friend Ron Rogers in front of the Museum who were nice enough to have their picture taken with me. Carol got her picture taken with them also.




We finished the afternoon off by going to a Mexican restaurant in San Benito and having the best Mexican food I have eaten since coming down here and then headed home.

 Another great day in the Rio Grande Valley.

Keep warm.