Sooth Seekers

QUEEN ISABELLA CAUSEWAY

We left beautiful Port Aransas, TX and headed in the general direction of Progresso, Nuevo, Mexico. The plan was to find a dentist in Mexico and have all our dental work done at once. Bill had done some research and located several parks in close proximity to Progresso. Not being committed to one of those inland parks, we decided to check out South Padre Island first. We couldn't believe our luck. Right on the main street of South Padre Island we discovered an affordable, ocean front state park with lots of spaces for rent and miles and miles of beach! it was a bit of a schlep to Progresso but we weren't planning on making very many visits to Mexico and the dentist.

We located a dentist just by sheer luck. We had ordered new credit cards and were to pick them up at a Bank of America located in Harligen, TX. (That is a story all by itself and too much to go into now). We told the banking official who greeted us in Harligen about our plans to locate a dentist in Mexico. She highly recommended we call her family dentist, Dr. Maria Tuttle. Bill wasted no time in calling and on Friday he made appointments for the both of us for the following Monday. We were astonished! We would have waited weeks for appointments in the states.

We arrived at the Mexican border on Monday about noon, an hour before our appointments. Entering Mexico was so easy. We simply parked our car on the American Side and walked across the border into Mexico. Dr. Tuttle's office was only a few blocks up from the Mexican border. We were delighted to find that the office was clean and the employees spoke English. They took us both almost immediately even though we were one half hour early. After a thorough examination we were presented with an estimate of $2500 for both of us. The estimate we had been given in the states was $25.000. Our dentist began work that same day. A little over a month later all our dental work was finished; including a complete new bottom bridge for Bill.

Speaking of luck, we located several gambling houses with slot machines that actually let us play with our money for hours before taking most of it back. We had a great time checking out the Kentucky Grilled chicken, the sundaes at Dairy Queen, several Mexican restaurants, and a wonderful oceanfront restaurant that served a reasonably priced breakfast. All this "fine dining" added to our already large waistlines. We did spend some time walking and geiger counting that great beach in the hopes of counteracting our overeating. That, of course, was just wishful thinking!

The charming community of Port Isabella was just a short drive over the Queen Isabella Causeway. We spent several hours touring the museums and even climbed the steps in the lighthouse, all 72 of them, right to the very top. The view was spectacular and the exercise well.....Our reward was an afternoon at Marty's place a wonderful little backroom gaming facility with lots of penny slot machines! The employees at Marty's could teach hospitality courses. We didn't want for a thing. Food and soda on the house always with a smile!