Laredo River Park

Parks in this city are horrible. There are hardly any trees or shade, grass is non-existant and la raza can't keep them clean. But one of my favorite public parks is the one down below the old Int'l bridge on the river infront of the old Riverdrive Mall. The park is great, well, if you factor out the foul stench that spews out of the Rio Bravo, and the daily influx of undocumented immigrants, as well as the zooming border patrol trucks, the heavy noise of traffic above on the international bridge, and the fact that its a hotspot for car theives and crime. Other than that, its one fantastic park and one of the better local ones. But seriously, the park seems to be packed every Sunday night with families doing carne asada. It would be nice if there would be some shady trees and if the restrooms weren't always locked (wtf). But, hey, in Laredo, that might be asking for too much.

Amistad Nortena and Schlitz Beer

So I was invited to a carne asada the other day (ok, I'll be honest I crashed it since I'm such a freeloader) and I spotted a local conjunto doing their thing. Naturally, I busted out my digi-cam to document them on film. They told me their name was "Amistad Nortena" (jaja, love it) and they had the whole panchanga dancing and causing a storm of polvo. It was great: rancheras, carne asada, baile, compadres and Schlitz beer. To me, this in a nutshell is Laredo, apoco no?