Venturing south of the border

Lisa Pino/Arizona Summer Wildcat Street vendors in Nogales, Sonora await the start of the business day.

If you just can't wait until Labor Day for your next road trip, well amigos, you can always head to Mexico for the day. The border town of Nogales lies only 64 miles south of Tucson on Interstate 19, offering an opportunity to visit a foreign land in only an hour's drive. Although most Americans come here to shop, you also can explore the local life by simply walking around.

When you get to Nogales, I suggest paying $3 - $5 for a parking space on the U.S. side of the border and then walking across. This will save you from the standard traffic jam that awaits motorists coming back into the States. Bring your identification be cause once you swing through the subway-style turnstile - that's it - you're in Mexico.

Shops and vendors will engulf you - be ready. Great deals await as long as you've sharpened your haggling abilities and packed a few dollars. The list seems endless: ceramic pottery, silver jewelry, wool blankets, cotton dresses, ponchos, leather bags, w ooden animal figures, birdcages, wrought iron furniture, and silver bordered mirrors to name a few of the standard fare.

The stream of merchants also includes liquor stores that provide dirt- cheap bottles of Kahlua and tequila, and farmacias, (pharmacies) that sell everything from Prozac to the Valley Fever antidote. The bakeries, called dulcerias, will tempt you by displaying their baked and candied items in the windows.

As you stroll along the stone and brick paved streets, little girls will approach your waist dangling beaded jewelry for sale while holding up the fingers of their free hand to indicate the price. Their mothers sit on blankets and offer embroidered goods, puppets, barrettes, wallets, and paper flowers.

Vendors will amuse you with one-liners like, "Something for your neighbor's wife?," which kept us giggling all the way home. The mood is playful and frank as if to say: "We're both here to make a deal." After asking the price of a blanket I was told $100. By turning my back and walking away I heard "$65 for you," and w ithin seconds it became "$50 special, special." You'll hear a bubbling of "My friend, special for you, 99 percent sale today" trailing behind you while you walk.

A teen dressed in black despite the heat lured us across the street to check out his name-brand assortment of sunglasses that were only $1. "How many dozen you want my friends?" he asked.

"Oakleys and Ray Bans all for a buck apiece?" we asked.

"Oh, a dollar off, " he replies. "$25 each."

If shopping makes you hungry, you can nibble on sweet bread (pan dulce), ice cream (helados en paletas), fresh fruit cups, mangoes on a stick, or grab a taco. To really chow down, head toward the Calle Obregon, which runs through the town center. Here yo u'll start sniffing the dozens of taco stands and cafes filled with locals. Prices are often in pesos - the exchange rate was about 8 pesos to a dollar on our visit - making lunch a bargain. Three of us ate well on tacos de carne asada (beef) and flautas for only $8.

If you are looking for a place that caters to college students, you can go to The Oasis on Obregon and get ice-filled buckets of mini-Coronas or Pacificos. The Oasis is hard to miss-its tropical decor looks like Disneyworld's Tikki Room- but you can catch a breeze on the balcony and overlook the bustling street. If you'd like da ncing, El Coco Loco offers everything from Manhattans to Fuzzy Navels for about $ 2 and even displays a Wildcat banner.

Nogales makes a satisfying day trip - not just for the shopping - but for the chance to leave that car behind and take it easy. You can have just as much fun from talking to people and strolling around as you can from wheeling and dealing.