There’s something special about the annual Winter Texas softball Can-Am (Canada-America) games.
Whether it’s listening to long-ago remembered stories of the “Blizzard of 66” to talking about ice fishing in Minnesota to Ed Martens retelling of how he snuck out of a military hospital to go play a baseball game for his team, there’s always something enjoyable.
Read more: Can-Am Softball game is a time for memories and fun
According to a recent survey, Mission, TX is on the top ten snowbird destinations in the United States. The City of Mission is the number one Winter Texan (we don’t use the word snowbirds) destination in the State of Texas.
The survey, done by StorageCafe looked at several different metrics including weather, storage use, average temperature, vacant housing units for the season vs. non-season, number of RV parks in each city, and more to determine the most popular places for winter migration.
One of the things that we hear around here is that Winter Texans come to the Valley during the winter months so they can still live an active lifestyle. If they were still up north, they would be stuck inside during snowstorms, and wouldn’t have much to do but a few indoor activities when it is too cold outside. The only activity they would really get is shoveling snow, and that is something they don’t want to be doing.
So, they come to south Texas so that can have a wide variety of activities to choose from. Because of the warmer climate, and predominantly dry season, Winter Texans have a full range of outdoor activities they can participate in while in south Texas from October through March.
Winter Texans have places throughout the Valley they can visit. There are sites to see, things to do, parks to visit, and more. There is a wide range of places to go and things to do from Rio Grande City all the way down to South Padre Island.
The Valley is full of history. There are forts in Rio Grande City and Brownsville, a battlefield from the Mexican American war in Brownsville, and more. Fort Brown in Brownsville features an old morgue, captain’s quarters, and the old hospital. Mission has the La Lomita Church, where the city got its name.
McAllen has once again landed in the top five of another state list. The ranking, compiled by TheTravel website, looked at 10 cities and compared travel costs, including flights, hotel, and affordable entertainment options. McAllen earned the number four spot, while other border cities, Laredo and El Paso were named three and two respectively. Other cities on the list included south central communities and Dallas’ neighbors, Arlington and Fort Worth.
While the cities listed are more affordable than Dallas, they are still bustling cities in their own right. In fact, according to the author of the article, many of them are hidden gems in Texas that offer wide open spaces, cultural richness, and cost-conscious opportunities.
Read more: McAllen lands in top affordable cities to visit in Texas
The Rio Grande Valley's Winter Texan scene isn't the quiet, gem in the rough secret that it once was.
For the winter visitors, that's a good thing – especially when it comes to entertainment. Winter Texans are known for having fun. The Valley provides tons of it too.
More and more Wintertainers™ are coming to the Valley to entertain Winter Texans. The growth can be attributed to entertainers like Gordy and Debbie who came to the Valley nearly 15 years ago and were an immediate hit. When they returned home, they spread the word and brought some friends down.
Read more: Rio Grande Valley parks feature top Wintertainers™
Submitted by Carolyn Pullen
On February 27, the Margarita Cloggers at Greengate Grove RV Park hosted the RGV Clogging Fun Dance. There were four clogging groups from the Valley in attendance. Angelika Eleni, a professional Irish dancer, demonstrated different Irish dances/steps and then taught us a step from Seon nos (pronounced “shan-nos”) which means “old style” in Irish, that we could use in our clog dances.
Read more: Forget the glass slipper – give me clogging shoes!
