Mexico Mosaic: San Luis Potosi Print
Written by Dick Davis   
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 01:31

Where to Live in Mexico

I've told family and friends, "If I had to choose, right now, where to live in Mexico, I'd make it San Luis Potosi. It's Mexico's geographical center. It's an historic, colonial, cultural, and university center. It's a large city with the feel of a small town. But what I like most is how quickly from San Luis Potosi you can take side trips and show friends the variety of Mexico. Real de Catorce, the desert ghost-mining town is three hours north. Xilitla, Edward James's surrealist garden is east, over the mountains in the Huasteca where you find a paradise of waterfalls, rivers, scuba diving in mineral springs, and lush vegetation. You can make a day trip to Queretaro, or Zacatecas, or San Miguel de Allende, or Guanajuato or Dolores Hidalgo. Jarral de Berrios is a neglected hacienda that looks like a scene from a fairy tale with conical stone structures, columns and towers. If you feel you must find a beach, join the bathers in the hot springs resort at Gogorrón. There is no beach, there is no sand, but you'll have large pools, thermal baths, green grass, and shade trees."

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 23 September 2008 01:51 )
Read more...
 

Our other stories

Mexico Mosaic: Villa Santiago
Dick Davis - Friday, 05 September 2008. Viewed 4052 times.
Small-Town American Lady Loves Mexico's Friendly Neighbors: The Nicole Baltimore Interview     Villa Santiago, located 30 minutes from Monterrey, Mexico in the Sierra Madre Mountains, attracts visitors for outdoor adventures: ...
Mezcal in Oaxaca
Alvin Starkman - Thursday, 04 September 2008. Viewed 3884 times.
Mezcalero alongside a pine vat with fermenting baked agave Think of mezcal as you would single malt scotch, or better yet as you would red wine with different vintages from different regions of ...
Rhythms of Zapotec Weaving
Norma Hawthorne - Sunday, 24 August 2008. Viewed 3729 times.
August 2008, Teotitlan del Valle -- The thump, thump, rhythmic cadence of the loom awakens me on the mornings that Federico Chavez Sosa is at his loom.  It is a ...
La Boca Canyon
Dick Davis - Sunday, 10 August 2008. Viewed 3816 times.
Mexico Mosaic: Bat Cave and Robin Hood I felt the Grand Marquis downshift as I drove up La Boca Canyon. I followed the river, looking for the Bat Cave, ...
Sight Seeing in the Sierras
Dick Davis - Monday, 21 July 2008. Viewed 4684 times.
Mexico Mosaic: The Journey Continues The Sierras and Parque Nacional Cumbres (National Summits Park) have been described as "the best scenery in the world.” I had a list of ...
A Rich Wood Carving Tradition in Oaxaca
Alvin Starkman - Saturday, 12 July 2008. Viewed 5399 times.
Spotlight on Jacobo Ángeles ... Try searching the Americas to find creators of folk art with more form, symbolism and importance to the development and sustenance of their culture, than those of indigenous ...
Dance of the Feathers: Danzantes de las Plumas
Norma Hawthorne - Tuesday, 01 July 2008. Viewed 4957 times.
Leaping Dancers Nine young Zapotec men in their 20's and 30’s bedecked in bold primary colors – red, green, yellow, black -- and crowned with feathered headdresses the size of a large moon, ...
Mexico Mosaic: Nuevo Laredo to Villa Santiago
Dick Davis - Tuesday, 01 July 2008. Viewed 5133 times.
Border Crossing The Grand Marquis needed a lube, an oil change, and the tires rotated. I stopped before the border in Laredo, Texas. There was a long wait so ...
A Drive into Oaxaca's Sierra Mixe
Alvin Starkman - Tuesday, 10 June 2008. Viewed 3518 times.
Hierve el Agua The Sierra Norte in Oaxaca is a heavily-wooded area east of the city of Oaxaca, divided into three districts: Ixtlán, Villa Alta, and Mixe. Ixtlán is well known ...
Mineral de Pozos: Magical Tranquility
Bill Conklin - Sunday, 01 June 2008. Viewed 4171 times.
Pozos in the clouds We have just finished building a casita in Mineral de Pozos on part of about 6 acres of almost total tranquility and beauty. Our land is about ...
Bird Hunting in Mexico
Dick Davis - Saturday, 24 May 2008. Viewed 3076 times.
It's Mexico and you never know when you're at the edge of an adventure.In the morning, I bought a newspaper to read at breakfast. The lead story seemed ironic. ...
Traveling with Children to Oaxaca
Alvin Starkman - Thursday, 15 May 2008. Viewed 3300 times.
Painted clay figures of the Aguilar sisters. Oaxaca is known as an adult travel destination, steeped in ruins, colonial churches, museums and traditions of fine art and handicrafts. But having visited ...
Parras: Mexico's Magic Carpet
Dick Davis - Monday, 05 May 2008. Viewed 3771 times.
Mexico’s tourist office created a list of "Pueblos Magicos," special towns, often ignored, bypassed or unknown to the tourist but favored by some special factor. Parras de la Fuente is ...
Cinco de Mayo
Al Stevens - Saturday, 26 April 2008. Viewed 3144 times.
Last year at about this time, the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture published a paper that concluded, according to its lead author David E. Hayes-Bautista, ...
From California to Guatemala: A Journey by Bus Across Mexico
Dick Davis - Thursday, 24 April 2008. Viewed 1581 times.
There is a phrase in Mexico, "From Tijuana to Chetumal." It means from "one extreme to the other." Tijuana touches San Diego. It's north and west and ...
Shh, Don't Tell -- Romance and 'Stealing the Girlfriend' in Teotitlan del Valle
Norma Hawthorne - Friday, 04 April 2008. Viewed 3345 times.
Under the shadowy street lamps, far down the block, behind the outdoor corner altars, under hidden doorway arches, you can see the teenagers huddled deep in conversation, keeping their safe ...
Traveling to Mexico with Children - Educational and Fun
Molly McHugh - Monday, 24 March 2008. Viewed 3726 times.
Travel to Mexico with your children? Give yourself some kudos just for considering it! If the cost is daunting - Mexico may be inexpensive but airflight is not - think ...
Weaving Takes Center Stage: How I Sewed a Huipil From Indigenous Cloth
Norma Hawthorne - Thursday, 20 March 2008. Viewed 3187 times.
"Q" Gallery CourtyardOaxaca is a fixation of color, texture, visual excitement, and a feast for the senses. Fiber is my passion, so in my wanderings in search of great ...
Dancing on the Loom: Oaxaca Weaving Workshops
Norma Hawthorne - Thursday, 13 March 2008. Viewed 3299 times.
Oaxaca is the center of an ancient Mesoamerican weaving tradition. Zapotecs have been weaving in the Oaxaca Valley for at least 4,000 years and likely much longer according to archaeologists ...
Teaching Opportunities in Mexico
Dick Davis - Tuesday, 04 July 2006. Viewed 5445 times.
Ourmexico readers often inquire about teaching English in Mexico. So on a recent trip, Dick Davis, our Features Writer made some inquiries. Reprinted below is Dick's response ...
Mexican Pride: Cinco de Mayo
Dick Davis - Monday, 17 April 2006. Viewed 3225 times.
When I went to San Luis Potosi, Mexico to teach English I was surprised to find that May 5th was not a National ...
Susticacan: Photo Homage
Dick Davis - Monday, 17 April 2006. Viewed 3158 times.
Dick Davis, Ourmexico's wandering traveler and writer, after reading the favorable comments posted on the Forum about Susticacán, became intrigued and couldn't resist a ...
Las Posadas
Dick Davis - Sunday, 19 February 2006. Viewed 5521 times.
Late that first afternoon I joined the Posadas at Hospital San José where children, warmly dressed in well-worn jackets and jeans, had gathered in the chapel. ...
Zacatlan de las Manzanas, Mexico
Dick Davis - Sunday, 22 January 2006. Viewed 5988 times.
The area around Zacatlán is an eco-tourist's delight: a combination of Lake Tahoe Forest, Yosemite Tuolumne Meadows and Bryce Canyon erosion sculptured stone monuments. ...
Day of the Dead: An Inside View of San Miguel de Allende
Dick Davis - Saturday, 26 November 2005. Viewed 3717 times.
Once a year St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Miguel de Allende offers an inside view of San Miguel de Allende. It's the major fundraiser ...
Ixmiquilpan: Murals and Music
Dick Davis - Wednesday, 27 July 2005. Viewed 4457 times.
The wall looked like the inside of a Mayan Temple, and reminded me of the reliefs at Palenque. They were hardly the Stations of the Cross, ...
Hacienda Trail, Mining and Marvels
Dick Davis - Tuesday, 26 July 2005. Viewed 2980 times.
Real del Monte has a history of mining and the first mining strike ever in the Americas took place here. It's a beautiful mountain setting and ...
Oaxaca: Cultural Exchange, Reciprocal Visits?
Dick Davis - Monday, 25 July 2005. Viewed 2753 times.
They invited me to be their English-speaking guest speaker at their formal classes Tuesday. So in a classroom setting, the next day, from nine to ...
Grand Marquis Arrested in Oaxaca!
Dick Davis - Sunday, 24 July 2005. Viewed 2704 times.
The fellow looks at my ticket. He reads out the long hand violation. Then I get another surprise. The traffic cop took my front license ...
Teaching English in Mexico
Dick Davis - Saturday, 23 July 2005. Viewed 3405 times.
Then I asked Lis about her best experience teaching English. She said, "Cara de what. (Face of what)." I was confused. She explained that "Cara ...
Some interesting Mexicans are Canadian
Dick Davis - Friday, 22 July 2005. Viewed 2488 times.
I crossed the street, cattycorner, and stood looking at a fantasy, a pink and red brick castle with a tall, slender, hexagon turret that architecturally was ...
Cinco de Mayo in Puebla
Dick Davis - Thursday, 21 July 2005. Viewed 7033 times.
It was a great parade, but the best was the beginning. As the military vanguard with the Mexican Flag marched forward, the vendors were trapped ...
Puebla
Dick Davis - Wednesday, 20 July 2005. Viewed 2296 times.
Brick and Talavera, façades of Alfenique, rich baroque designs, moorish and Andalusian -- even the neglected stops the traveler for reflection.
Mescal Highway
Dick Davis - Tuesday, 19 July 2005. Viewed 2471 times.
Agave plants, heated, sweated for three days, in a near vacuum, in plastic bags. He opened a bag. It looked like the center of ...
A Surprise Behind the Curtain
Dick Davis - Monday, 18 July 2005. Viewed 2225 times.
Tables were lined with liters of beer in brown, stubby-fat bottles and there were gals. The gals encouraged conversation, drink and dance, and they were ...
The Coastal Road to La Manzanilla
Dick Davis - Sunday, 17 July 2005. Viewed 3087 times.
The road took me to the seaside village of La Manzanilla and I thought I had arrived on the movie set for MGM's South Pacific.  All it lacked were ...
Huichol Indian Cultural Center Santiago Ixcuintla
Dick Davis - Saturday, 16 July 2005. Viewed 3404 times.
I drove south intent on reaching Santiago Ixcuintla. I wondered where I might lodge for the night. My guidebook listed neither hotel nor restaurant ...
Mexcaltitan: Home of the Aztec people
Dick Davis - Friday, 15 July 2005. Viewed 4434 times.
There is some linguistic evidence and Old Spanish chronicles to support the proposition that the small island, Mexcaltitán, in Pacific coastal marshes in the State of ...
Culiacan
Dick Davis - Thursday, 14 July 2005. Viewed 3360 times.
Malverde, a Robin Hood Bandido, was executed near the railroad station here. His shrine is a visit to a half-church, half-cult. He is the ...
Topolobampo
Dick Davis - Wednesday, 13 July 2005. Viewed 7342 times.
Topolobampo is a beautiful-ugly port town, or an ugly-beautiful town. It is a Cinderella without a Fairy Godmother. With its hills, port, offshore islands and ...
Rancho Las Tinajas
Dick Davis - Tuesday, 12 July 2005. Viewed 2518 times.
The chain and lock are brand new, so is my key. I drive forward, hop out and lock the gate behind me. I repeat the process ...
An Encounter
Dick Davis - Monday, 11 July 2005. Viewed 2172 times.
Sr. Jesus Felix introduces himself. He's the owner of Rancho Las Tinajas. It's a ranch with its own mountains, river with fresh water bass, a ...
Hermosillo and Quinta Napoles
Dick Davis - Sunday, 10 July 2005. Viewed 2988 times.
Rooms in Quinta Nápoles are for hunters and hunting is a decorative theme of the hacienda. Quail and dove season attract American hunters. The ...
Kino Missions Tour
Dick Davis - Saturday, 09 July 2005. Viewed 2859 times.
It was in the San Diego church at Pitiquito where I felt the strength of faith. Pitiquito is a quiet agricultural town. ...
Forty Days: On the Road in Mexico: Travel, Adventures and Discovery
Dick Davis - Friday, 08 July 2005. Viewed 2834 times.
Recently, Ourmexico's Features Writer, Dick Davis, drove 6047 miles inside Mexico, from Nogales to Oaxaca. Like the Biblical Noah, he took 40 days. His ark was ...
Monument to Miguel Hidalgo
Dick Davis - Thursday, 16 June 2005. Viewed 2339 times.
I follow the sign and drive down a dirt washboard. Ten kilometers later I happen on a village of sorts. There are adobe ...
Don's Amazing "Anyone Can Speak Spanish" Method
Dick Davis - Sunday, 20 February 2005. Viewed 2171 times.
Don just couldn't put a Spanish sentence together. Conjugation, masculine and feminine nouns requiring adjectives to agree with ...
New Year's in San Felipe, Baja California
Dick Davis - Saturday, 12 February 2005. Viewed 2586 times.
We followed the road to San Felipe. It led us directly into town, straight to the beach and to a small plaza with two monuments honoring ...
Sayulita Revisited
Theodor Grossman - Tuesday, 08 February 2005. Viewed 2495 times.
The early risers have begun to filter down to the line of green chairs facing the beach behind the row of wood posts ...
El Tajín
Dick Davis - Saturday, 15 January 2005. Viewed 2300 times.
UNESCO Heritage Site: El Tajín, The Mother Culture of Mexico is an archaeological treasure located north of Veracruz. Covered in jungle throughout the Spanish colonial period, El ...
Visiting the Virgin of Guadalupe on Her Day
Al Stevens - Saturday, 15 January 2005. Viewed 2746 times.
"Día de la Virgin" is December 12th and is also my birthday. We booked a hotel in Mexico City to coincide ...
In and Around Queretaro
Dick Davis - Saturday, 15 January 2005. Viewed 2508 times.
In response to an inquiry about what to do in and around Queretaro, Dick Davis put his fingers on his keyboard and dashed off this reply. It's filled with good ...
Tlacotalpan: World Heritage Site
Dick Davis - Saturday, 04 December 2004. Viewed 3368 times.
Multicolored Tlacotalpan town reminded me of a Mexican "Umbrellas of Cherbourg." It was a dazzle of brilliance just washed by the ...
Banking in Mexico: Exchange Rates
Dick Davis - Sunday, 14 November 2004. Viewed 2772 times.
Banamex Bank My bank irked me when on my last trip they started charging additional fees for using the ATM abroad. Now they ...
Yanga: Cradle of Liberty
Dick Davis - Monday, 01 November 2004. Viewed 3835 times.
Yanga was a Dinka from West Africa. He was captured, enslaved and brought to Veracruz in 1570. Yanga led a revolt and escaped with a band ...
Shopping in Mexico
Dick Davis - Friday, 29 October 2004. Viewed 2560 times.
In Tonala, it's now part of Guadalajara, I once asked the local tourist office if I could see how papier-maché was ...
Mexico: A Pleasure to Drive
Dick Davis - Saturday, 23 October 2004. Viewed 2286 times.
I've retraced historic routes in search of Cortez, Zapata and Pancho Villa. My Grand Marquis has rumbled where Humvees fear to go (OK, a little hyperbole). ...
He Left His Head in San Francisco
Dick Davis - Sunday, 17 October 2004. Viewed 2473 times.
Placing Olmec replicas in major cities of the world has been a personal endeavor of Governor Miguel Aleman of the State of Veracruz, ...
Bus Travel in Mexico
Bonnie Gregory - Thursday, 01 July 2004. Viewed 3977 times.
Leon, Guanajuato Bus Terminal The buses arrived and departed within a few minutes of their scheduled time. They also ran frequently, usually ...
Real de Catorce
Victor Walsh and Dick Davis - Tuesday, 01 June 2004. Viewed 3299 times.
At last we emerged from the dark hole. In the morning light, Real de Catorce clung to the rock-rimmed precipices like an apparition from a forgotten past. It's so incredibly ...
Mexican Churches
Doreen Stevens - Saturday, 01 May 2004. Viewed 3754 times.
For some visitors, Mexican churches are merely stage settings for classy "my summer vacation" photos or lovely backdrops while downing Coronas ...
Pleasure and Treasure: Alamos, Mexico
Dick Davis - Thursday, 01 April 2004. Viewed 3442 times.
Once immensely wealthy, Alamos today survives without the riches of its historic silver mines. Instead, this "National Monument" is ...
Following Zapata
Dick Davis - Sunday, 04 January 2004. Viewed 3740 times.
I made headquarters in the resort village of Cocoyoc, southeast of Cuernavaca, located only a few miles from Zapata's ...
The Churches of Querétaro
Doreen Stevens - Thursday, 01 January 2004. Viewed 3064 times.
Max and Carlota thought they would be stars of a fairy tale world with masked balls and liveried ...
The Grecas of Mitla
Al Stevens - Saturday, 01 November 2003. Viewed 6997 times.
While nearby Monte Albán impresses by its size and commanding location, Mitla impresses by its form and geometric detail. ...
The City of Guanajuato
Doreen Stevens - Wednesday, 01 October 2003. Viewed 5080 times.
Guanajuato is a city revered by Mexicans for its role in their long battle for political independence from Spain. Guanajuato is also important as the ...
Everything Comes to Those Who Wait in the Zócalo
Stan Gotlieb and Diana Ricci - Monday, 01 September 2003. Viewed 2809 times.
Wherever you go, the local folks know it as El Zócalo. Whether it is a huge open concrete parade ...
Traveling to Mexico by RV
Dot and Bill Bell - Monday, 01 September 2003. Viewed 3424 times.
RV travel in North America is one of the fastest growing leisure activities as baby boomers and families discover the joys ...
Sierra Gorda Missions
Doreen Stevens - Monday, 01 September 2003. Viewed 3160 times.
It is not an easy trip to the Sierra Gorda missions -- even today. The roads in the remote, severely beautiful mountains of northern Querétero state ...
Zacatecas, the City of Silver
Doreen Stevens - Friday, 01 August 2003. Viewed 10844 times.
After having spent weeks in the warmer,wetter South, Zacatecas felt more like home. The streets were wider, the people were taller, and the pace was faster.
Huatulco -- a Gem on the Pacific Coast
Brooke Gazer - Sunday, 01 June 2003. Viewed 4013 times.
Even the "commercial" beaches with palapa (palm thatch) restaurants, such as la Entrega, are rarely crowded. It was here, after seeing a ...
Sand in My Dominoes
Theodor Grossman - Sunday, 01 June 2003. Viewed 2144 times.
The "Sayulita Bungalows and Trailer Park" may weather development pressures for the next few years. It will certainly ...
The Tourist Yú'ù of Oaxaca
Al Stevens - Thursday, 01 August 2002. Viewed 3618 times.
The Tourist Yú'ù are each small inns, closely connected to the environment and situated to bring ...
Tzintzuntzan, Hummingbirds in the Stones
Al Stevens - Monday, 01 July 2002. Viewed 2674 times.
Unlike other ceremonial centers, which have a strong inward looking quality, this site looks outward, a place from which to appreciate the ...
Oaxaca's Wonderful Ecodiversity
Alexandra Nunez - Saturday, 01 June 2002. Viewed 2519 times.
The state of Oaxaca has much to offer to ecotourists who dare venturing to this little-known region in Southern Mexico, ...
The Monarchs of Morelia
Doreen Stevens - Wednesday, 01 May 2002. Viewed 2201 times.
Each fall after a summer fattening themselves on prairie pollen, millions and millions of Monarch butterflies flit down south to the wild mountains of Michoacán.
Walking in San Miguel de Allende
Al Stevens - Monday, 01 April 2002. Viewed 2956 times.
San Miguel is a collection of churches, houses, shops and restaurants separated from the cobblestone streets by sidewalks barely wide ...
The Peña of Bernal
Al Stevens - Friday, 01 February 2002. Viewed 4810 times.
It's an awe inspiring rock, rising straight out of the ground for almost 2,000 feet. Geologists claim that in mass, it is second to Ayer's rock in Australia, and in ...
A Piñata Tradition
Wendy Devlin - Tuesday, 01 January 2002. Viewed 3058 times.
One piñata tradition says : you go around life with your eyes covered, trying to find the good things and working ...
Our Summer in Morelia
Fernando Inzunza - Saturday, 01 September 2001. Viewed 2194 times.
We first visited Michoacán for five days in August, 1998. Observing its colonial architecture, arts and crafts, and educational opportunities for children, our family decided we would spend the next ...

Featured Links

Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast -- Enjoy an entire spacious level of our hillside home, with 2 bedrooms and your own kitchen, patio and washroom.
Dancing on the Loom: Oaxaca Weaving Workshops -- Weaving and dying instructions for all skill levels. 4-day workshops scheduled on four different dates from May through December.
Viva La Baja! -- Relocation Guide to the Baja California Peninsula.
Casas Elegantes -- Why settle for the ordinary when many of San Miguel de Allende's finest homes open their doors for vacation rentals?
Casa de Los Pirules -- Rent a Luxury Vacation Home In San Miguel de Allende.

Contact Us

Have a question? Want to share an opinion? Try our forum: Our Mexico Forums

Submit a link to our Mexico Travel Directory.

Questions? Suggestions? A story to submit? Contact us.

Contact an author: Story Authors.

Who's Online

We have 181 guests online