Travel show brings the world to McAllen

McALLEN - Winter Texans Bill and Jan Barnum spent Friday afternoon scouting the country - all within the confines of a convention center.

The Michigan natives were among the many visitors - mostly Winter Texans - hoping to find their next destination on the first day of the 21st annual McAllen International Travel Show.

And although the couple has visited Mexico plenty of times, they said this time they were looking for something else among the more than 130 exhibitors touting various cities, resorts and cruises for potential getaways.

"Mexico is fine, but it's different strokes for different folks," Bill Barnum said. "You've got to have a variety."

While Mexican and Caribbean resorts dominated the room, less exotic locales such as Beaumont, Lubbock and Oklahoma City were also represented.

Bill Smyrl - owner of the waterfront Sunset Point RV resort on Lake LBJ - was just one of many vendors seeking to sell Winter Texans on closer destinations still off the beaten path.

His picturesque park, located near Marble Falls, is just a few miles off U.S. 281 west of Austin but is easily missed by Winter Texans on their trips, he said.

"If they don't know where we are," Smyrl said, "they'll miss us."

Gayle and Lillian Carlson, Winter Texans from Iowa, said they were excited to see a booth from New Iberia, La. - home of Tabasco sauce and several music festivals.

But others said they weren't interested in vacationing at all. They just wanted to learn more about other places.

"You can combine education with fun activities," said Jonle Sedar, a representative from Centro Panamericano de Idiomas, a Spanish language school that caters to vacationers in Costa Rica.

"You can be as intense as you want."

The show, which also features entertainment from Western bands, ballet folklorico dancers and other cultural performers, wraps up today.

IF YOU GO

The McAllen International Travel Show will continue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the McAllen Convention Center, near the intersection of South Ware Road and Expressway 83. The event is free and open to the public.

Entertainment schedule:

9:30 a.m.: Ballet Folklorico of Nuevo Leon

11 a.m.: Sipe and the Country Playboys

Noon: Rey Duran's Ballet Andaluz Flamenco

1:30 p.m.: Ballet Folklorico of Nuevo Leon

3 p.m.: Ahava (Middle Eastern dance troupe)