San Luis Potosi

We headed out from San Meguel de Allende at about ten this morning, heading North with the ultimate goal of Zacatecas. The road was a little narrow for most of the way and did not lend itself to fast driving. At about three we arrived in the State Capital of San Luis Potosi, with it's close to one million people. It is one of the old Colonial silver mining centers but has now joined the ranks of the many industrial cities of Mexico.

We found a Woolworths store in a mall with a Soriana Grocery store where we thought it would be safe to park for the night. There was a young security guard patrolling the parking lot so we asked him if it would be OK to park and were told "No problema", but just for the one night. Reading about the city in the Lonely Planet Guide, we found that it has a very interesting Historic Centro and several Plazas. We quickly changed and found our security guard again whom we tipped $20 Pesos ($1.90) to watch the motorhome while we cabbed it downtown for dinner. The cab ride was $50 Pesos each way and made me happy I had not attempted it in the car. There are dozens of unmarked, intersecting streets with traffic moving as it only does in Mexico; fast with no regard to rules, lanes or lights. Like all other Mexican cities we have visited there is never any available curb parking downtown. Mexicans are all expert parallel parkers. They can get right up to the curb in a space only a few inches longer than their car!

San Luis Potosi prides itself in having the most pedestrian only streets in all of Mexico so when we were dropped off at the Plaza de Armas there was no traffic, only dozens of happy Mexicans strolling with their families. It was too early to eat so we scouted out the restaurants and found one in a converted mansion that we decided to come back to later. Norma had been trying to get a haircut for several days and I needed one for longer than that. As we were wandering the streets we came across a Beauty Shop. It is usually impossible to just walk in and get service without an appointment but this time we lucked out. They were able to cut both our heads right away for the princely sum of $80 Pesos ($7.75) for both. We tipped the young woman well and gave her one of our small Canadian Flag pins which she was thrilled with.


We found our restaurant and picked a table beside patio doors opening onto the Plaza. As we were eating an older gentleman named Salvador sat down across from us and spoke to us in excellent English. He was born and raised in San Luis Potosi, got his Mechanical Engineering Degree and then got a job with a large firm in Lansing, Michigan where he worked for 37 years until he got "downsized" with a package and moved back to his old home town in Mexico where he now amuses himself by playing saxophone in a small band. He was soon joined by two old friends from his youth, both named Juan, for ice cream and coffee. That is them in the photo. Salvador has the white beard. He reminded us very much of our old friend and colleague, Jim Fulton with his sparkling eyes.

We then took another cab ride back to the motorhome, fired up the generator to make coffee and settled down for the night. The stores closed at ten and by eleven we had the parking lot to ourselves. In San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Life Is Good!