Starr County adds art walk

Hidalgo County residents looking for an alternative to McAllen’s popular Art Walk should look farther west.

Art enthusiasts packed Rio Grande City’s downtown streets since it started the Paseo de Arte en el Pueblo in September.

Anchored by the historic La Borde House, the monthly art walk lets attendees stroll past art exhibits in downtown businesses while enjoying music, drinks and food.

Take a trip on the city’s new trolley, Bessie III, as it runs up the streets that Saturday evening or relax on the open benches that line Britton Avenue.

The event highlights the resurgent nightlife in the city’s downtown featuring a historic graveyard, the Civil War-era La Borde House and the county courthouse.

The art walk is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.

For more information on the art walk, call the Rio Grande City Economic Development Corporation at (956) 487-3476.

The city will also follow up a popular chili cook-off it started this year with the second annual event slated for Feb. 6, 2010.

Two dozen entrants from all over the Valley cooked up pan de campo, beans and, of course, chili this spring.
For a day trip, plan to take a narrated tour of the city on the new, custom-made —and air-conditioned! — trolley that was put into place this spring.

Those seeking a thrill can spend a night in the La Borde House, a house for soldiers during the Civil War that was converted into a hotel and is rumored to be haunted.

Roma’s World Birding Center (http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/roma/; (956) 849-4930) that overlooks the bluffs of the Rio Grande and was built on an old plaza of a once-thriving steamboat port attracts both bird-lovers and history buffs.

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.