El Paso - 1938 vs 2023
I believe it is Bertie on the far left, then Flo, Frank and Josie. Fred must have taken the picture.
The 1938 Experience
The Larsons spent an overnight and full day of fun in El Paso before driving on to Arizona. In 1938 it was possible to go freely back and forth across the Rio Grande River, and the Larsons took advantage of that opportunity to take a bus tour to Old Mexico, where they saw an old jail, an ancient mission, a bullfighting ring, and other sights.
This is our group in front of the old mission in Old Mexico. I have no idea who the interloper lady is on the far left. I think their bus driver probably took the picture. Frank looks quite the patriarch in his cap standing proudly apart from his kids.
I did not cross the border on my visit, so cannot tell you whether this old mission is still there. I certainly hope so, but so much has changed in the intervening years.
They had great fun that day and Fred noted several impressions of El Paso and also “Old Mexico” across the river in his small notepad:
about 60% Mexican
warm and grand
Raviols, Tuccos, Hot Tomalas and other
Mexico - Land of beggars and bullfights
Old Mission 388 yrs old, Jail, Bull Ring
City layout in North Border - no sewers, no water, no gas
Rio Grande river separates US - river where fish swim backwards to keep sand out (what ????)
Everyone is a seller - no set price on anything
Cabarets
Shops
They really —— (can’t read this word darn it!) this bull in Mexico
Someone named U.S. Heatherly gave Fred an introduction to get into The New Tivoli Cafe for their floor show. Apparently it was quite an experience to go there.
Based on Fred’s description and the photos, I was expecting a trip down memory lane and went in search of the old part of El Paso, hoping for a stroll along the Rio Grande. Alas, it was not to be…
The 2023 Experience
I love that the picture notes it is 86 degrees in El Paso and yet they are all wearing coats. Bertie must have taken the picture because she is the only one missing.
This is one of several pictures of the place they stayed in El Paso and I had the address so I went looking for it. I knew it was near the downtown area from an old 1938 map I had looked at.
I knew my day was in trouble when I found this instead:
Ok, I didn’t really expect the motor court to still be there, but I couldn’t help hoping as I approached the address.
So then I went looking for the Rio Grande, where I hoped to walk Sadie along the peaceful riverwalk (I was sure there must be one).
This was the river view from 1938 from the Mexican side. There was another river shot from the U.S. side that had some construction going on but you could still clearly see the river from both the U.S. and Mexico.
Here’s what I saw, and all I saw all along the river border:
That's thick barbed wire all across the top of this unfriendly lookimg border fence. I took this shot at an intersection of a road that runs alongside this fence for a bit, then merges onto a spaghetti bowl highway system that seems to carry everyone over and around the city of El Paso rather than anywhere inside it. I spent a large part of the afternoon high above the city, with big, wide, highways crisscrossing every which way to make sure that no one ever drives inside the downtown part of the city.
I was unable to find a single glimpse of the water anywhere within the city limits of El Paso. So I decided I couldn’t leave the area without seeing the river and made it my personal mission to find a spot where I could see it.
Google told me that there was a riverwalk some 7 or so miles away, a 20 minute drive. I decided I had the time and that it was worth it, so off we went. A half-hour later I was in New Mexico crossing a bridge that promised a river walking trail on the other side, only to discover that there was no such trail but only a condominium community that was near the river but with no obvious access to it. Certainly no place inviting us to park and go for a walk. Discouraged, I went back the way I came and snapped this shot as I crossed the bridge:
You’ll have to take my word for it that this is indeed the famous Rio Grande, but it does not separate Mexico from the U.S. at this point. It merely separates a condo community from numerous shopping plazas and big box stores.
By this point I was no longer in El Paso and just wanted to get back to the campsite. But since I was near this big shopping district I decided I needed some dog supplies and asked Google to find me a pet shop. There seemed to be one nearby so I followed Google on a meandering, twisty, turny route in the opposite direction from the campground to an obscure little pet shop back in the corner of a small shopping strip behind all the big stores. The only good thing about the experience was that it was a locally owned shop, so I felt I was supporting the local economy. Always a good thing, right?
With all my twists and turns trying to get to the pet store, I had passed a TexMex food truck a couple of times but since I was on a mission I did not stop. The second time past, though, I told myself that if I passed it one more time that I would stop and get some food. Sure enough, when I was finally on my way back to the campsite, there it was right on the corner. I parked the van and asked the young ladies running the truck what I should get. They made their recommendations which I happily accepted and then watched them make it nice and fresh just for me. Four birrias (which I had no idea what it was) and 4 tacos (they suggested that I get some of each so that I could compare). I took my feast back to the campsite where I enjoyed it and all my frustrations of the afternoon melted away.
If you look closely you can see Nayeli and …. (darn it - I knew I should have written her name down - so sorry!!) who operate this food truck. They tell me you can find them on Instagram (one of these days I need to beef up my instagram account).
Of course I had to give them each one of my bookmarks and when I showed them an array and told them they could choose, they asked me how much they were. It was such fun telling them they were free! They told me I should charge for them. Food for thought another day, but not on this trip.
And that’s all there is to tell about El Paso. I think the 1938 experience wins.
