Colleen
Senior Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
When hubby retired in 2001 we were living in Southern CA. We bought a 5th-wheel and truck; sold everything, and went to Livingston, TX to register the truck and trailer and get drivers licenses, etc. because it was so much cheaper then CA. We had heard about retirees going to Brownsville, TX for the winter, so we went down there and stayed at a lovely retirement park. Most of the people in the park were from MN to spend the winter. We made lots of friends and went down to Progreso, MX to shop and eat. Most of our friends would buy cigarettes and alcohol because duty was so cheap. They were limited on how many cartons of cigarettes and booze they could buy so they'd split up and they'd each get the limit.
That was back when it wasn't quite as scary to go to MX. We just walked across the bridge from the US side or you could drive across, show your drivers license, and park in Progreso. It was always packed with retirees. They'd go to the dentists there because it was so much cheaper to get work done.
Since Brownsville, TX is just across the border from Matamoros, MX, we'd sometimes go for dinner and shopping but it was a city of more than one million people back then and you had to be vigilant. We would be in groups because it was safer and sometimes we'd take the "bus" to the center of town for shopping. Their busses were old rattletraps with planks of wood for seats and often times, there would be goats on there with their owners. They never stopped for any stop sign (it was only a suggestion) and you had to hang on.
It was an adventure and I'm glad we did all that back then. I wouldn't go now for anything.
Gaer is correct about leasing a home there. You cannot buy a house. It belongs to the government and you actually lease it forever.
That was back when it wasn't quite as scary to go to MX. We just walked across the bridge from the US side or you could drive across, show your drivers license, and park in Progreso. It was always packed with retirees. They'd go to the dentists there because it was so much cheaper to get work done.
Since Brownsville, TX is just across the border from Matamoros, MX, we'd sometimes go for dinner and shopping but it was a city of more than one million people back then and you had to be vigilant. We would be in groups because it was safer and sometimes we'd take the "bus" to the center of town for shopping. Their busses were old rattletraps with planks of wood for seats and often times, there would be goats on there with their owners. They never stopped for any stop sign (it was only a suggestion) and you had to hang on.
It was an adventure and I'm glad we did all that back then. I wouldn't go now for anything.
Gaer is correct about leasing a home there. You cannot buy a house. It belongs to the government and you actually lease it forever.