Fleeing Matamoros

I said to Clint, "We can't get in this taxi!  We have to wait on another
one!"

Clint replies, "YOU Are Getting In This Taxi!"

I had always considered myself street smart.  In the summer of 2004 we went to South Padre Island, TX, for a vacation.  One day we decided to actually use our passports and we drove down to Brownsville and thought we'd see Matamoros right across the border.  We had an uneventful taxi drive to Matamoros and I had never seen such friendly guys, rushing to open the taxi doors for us.

We walked up and down a vendor lined street at an outdoor market. I had been needing a new black leather purse and found one from a street vendor.  I asked him if they were genuine leather and he said, "Si, leather".  I thought I was getting an excellent deal and paid for the purse. In no time the purse was wrapped in lots of paper and handed to me in a bag.

Meanwhile, Clint was becoming increasingly alarmed, a gang of guys were following us.  I am usually the one who is easily alarmed, it is unusual for Clint to be alarmed so when he expressed his concern, I knew something was up.  He said we needed to get out of there as soon as possible.  He hailed the taxi that was shown above.

As you could read under the above caption, Clint had to make me get in this old taxi and I was also concerned about the age of the driver.  Very nervous, I climbed in and the back seat was almost touching the floor, the stuffing had come out of the seat.  The driver did not use brakes at all, he sped through intersections full speed and honking his horn repeatedly.

Finally we arrived in one piece (respectively:~)) at the bridge in Brownsville, TX.  There again were those friendly men opening doors for us. I am going to confess my naitivity, I had not realized the "friendly men" were only wanting tips.

We made it back to Brownsville, once again there is another
"friendly" man opening the door for us!  Notice the pile
of stuffing coming out of the seat as Clint prepares
to exit the taxi.

About my great deal on the genuine black leather purse?  As soon as I got into the car after we arrived back in Brownsville, I checked out my leather purse.  I noticed a little metal decorative emblem was attached upside down but thought I could live with it.  The little white label I found next:  I can read "Made in China, All man made materials" from any direction.  In other words, 100% vinyl!  To top off the day, we stopped back in South Padre for lunch and had the absolutely worst Mexican lunch we have ever had in our lives.

Just another tale in the Ellison family lore.  Today when I ran across these photos, we both were laughing.  Seriously, I am glad we escaped with our lives.