Culture

Just eight miles north of the border, you can’t swing a sombrero in McAllen without hitting some of the most authentic Mexican restaurants Texas has to offer. But venturing outside that culinary comfort zone is easier than you think. You won’t need a passport to do some gourmet globetrotting within the tip of Texas.

Multitalented artist and musician Kim Snyder Johnson rattles off a list of benefits she’s gained from being a part of the McA2 Creative Incubator in McAllen, not the least of which is her husband’s happiness about clearing the auto parts that make up much of Johnson’s artwork out of their garage.

McAllen native Mike Fossum has made his hometown proud. The 1976 McAllen High School graduate was one of the seven NASA astronauts on board the STS-121 Discovery space mission in July 2006.

With a terrific venue and a lot of regional talent, the only question about McAllen’s “South of the City Limits: The Best of the Austin Sound” concert series is “What took so long?”

Sipping a scotch on his patio and watching his Boston Bull Terrier, Selena, romp in the yard, Jim Cox vividly remem­bers when he decided to make the Rio Grande Valley home. The Ohio native and his family had come down to visit his Winter Texan in-laws over Christmas break in 1977.

Yes, the Renaissance Casa de Palmas Hotel is a nonagenarian, but it also features many 21st-century amenities.