Day Trip to the Rio Grande Valley
- Kimi's Travel Thoughts
- 27 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Looking to take a final round trip flight in an attempt to extend a special rewards promotion with Southwest Airlines, I found myself in need of a day trip sooner than expected. I narrowed down my options to Tulsa, OK and Harlingen, TX as potential destinations using the low fare calendar. Open to either location because the cost would be about the same, I put a vote to social media and the winner was -- a tie. I flipped a coin for the tie breaker and I found myself booking a round trip flight to Harlingen, TX from Austin. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) ended up being a great destination for my day trip because I got to see one of my friends from college and her parents!
Flights
As I mentioned earlier, I was flying round trip on Southwest to Harlingen from Austin. The flight isn't even an hour long which is great because it takes what feels like nearly half a day to drive to the RGV. I flew on a Tuesday evening after work, so I had enough time to go home to grab my bags before heading to the airport for my flight. Apparently I didn't complete the round trip flight in time to earn the extension of the promotion my job had with Southwest, but at least I got to check out the small but cute and easy to navigate Harlingen airport. That's a win for me as someone who loves airports (I even wrote about my love for airports years ago)!
Getting Around
Upon landing at the airport in Harlingen, I went to the the Enterprise rental car desk in the airport to get the keys to a Nissan Sentra as my official form of transportation to get around The Valley for my day trip. My job has a corporate agreement with Enterprise and offers a special discount on rentals for personal trips which I took advantage of that for my day trip. I basically paid corporate rates with all the corresponding perks and that was a good way to save some money on this day trip.
Lodging
If you're wondering why I am calling this a day trip when I had to stay somewhere overnight, I consider my day trips to be traveling round trip in 24 hours or less to and from a destination. In this case, I was going to be back in Austin less than 24 hours after flying to the RGV and needed to get there the evening before to have all of Wednesday morning and afternoon for the day trip. Looking to stay close to the airport so I could quickly get ready for bed after arriving in Harlingen, I stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites to earn some points for my Hilton Honors account. The room was very modern and comfortable. I would actually stay there again if I was looking for a hotel in that part of the The Valley in the future.
Food & Activities
Upon arriving in Harlingen, I was feeling pretty hungry because I didn't have quite enough time to eat a meal before I left Austin. There were several fast food options on my way to the hotel and there was even an IHOP next door. However, I wanted something I could quickly order and eat which led me to McDonald's for some nuggets and fries. I didn't go all the way to the RGV for food that I could get literally anywhere though, and that was what the highlight of my trip was centered around.
Nana's Taqueria
While the Hampton Inn & Suites included a hot breakfast with my stay, I slept in and took my time getting ready for the day. I had plans for brunch with my friend and her parents at Nana's Taqueria in Weslaco. Nana's Taqueria is about 7 miles or so from the Mexican border which I discovered as I read the street signs as I drove to the restaurant after checking out of the hotel. At Nana's, I checked out their boutique to shop for some souvenirs and snacks while waiting for my friend and her parents to arrive. When they made it to the restaurant, they warmly greeted me and, with the best hospitality in Texas as I tend to experience in the RGV, I was gifted a goodie bag filled with delicious snacks, spicy candy, and hot sauce!
Our group went into the restaurant for brunch after I finished paying at the boutique and we were immediately seated. Nana's Taqueria is best known for their lonches which are basically mini bolillos stuffed with ground beef and toppings. They also have a version on their breakfast menu called Q Lonches which my friend explained is a play on the Q Tacos (a reference to the local radio station) from Laredo Taco Company which is a very popular, Anthony Bourdain certified restaurant at Stripes gas stations. I wanted to have enough room to try a couple of items on the menu and ordered the Q Lonches that had bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs, and refried black beans -- and those 3 little lonches were incredible! My friend's mom ordered the regular lonches which comes as a serving of 5 and she offered one to me and that one was also delicious! In fact, everything I consumed was excellent. My jamaica was a giant serving of perfectly sweet liquid and the salsa roja with the chips and salsa was actually spicy which you'd be hard pressed to find in Austin. We ordered churros with lechera and ice cream for dessert and that was much needed for me because I hadn't eaten churros that good in a long time. I learned that Nana's has a mariachi performance on Thursday and Friday nights, so I will need to return on one of those days the next time I go to the RGV because they recently expanded their patio area to fit about 200 people for the live performances!
Remember to follow Kimi's Travel Thoughts on Instagram for more photos from this day trip and other trips I take!
Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets
After taking some photos outside and saying our goodbyes outside of Nana's Taqueria, I decided to go to the Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets up the road that I drove past on my way to Weslaco. I was in search of some animal print shorts or a skirt and couldn't find anything, but I did enjoy getting to spend some time checking out the deals and and seeing what the local vendors offered. The Premium Outlets in the RGV is a pretty large complex, so it took a while to walk around and I got lost a couple of times trying to find my way around. I had a good time though and drove back to the airport to drop off my car on time and wait to board my flight to return to Austin.
Wrap-Up
My favorite thing about this day trip to the Rio Grande Valley truly was getting to spend quality time with my friend and her parents! I told my friend a long time ago that I would eventually make a trip to The Valley to visit since she comes to Austin. I really enjoyed getting to learn more about the RGV geography and, of course, catching up with my friend and her parents. I got to practice my Spanish listening comprehension and did a tiny bit of practice speaking Spanish as my friend helped translate for our table while we shared laughs and great conversation. I have a second family in The Valley and I'm looking forward to my return in the future for a longer stay that will include listening to the mariachi at Nana's Taqueria and some time at South Padre Island with friends!
Feel free to leave comments below or leave a post/message on Facebook and share favorite memories from any of your trips to the Rio Grande Valley! Exclusive video and photo content only on Instagram.
Comments