Rocky Point, Mexico: Is it safe?

About security, drug violence, kidnapping and other things that make your mom pray when you leave the country:

Obviously anyone with a map can show the average American that Rocky Point is not neighbors with Ciudad Juarez or Tijuana. But right now, the word "Mexico" has become synonymous with the escalating violence and murders between the Mexican government, rival drug cartels and city police forces.

And before I left for this trip, I did a ton of research to make sure I wasn't taking unnecessary risks as a reporter. (As the Nightlife Editor, I never thought I'd be writing those words.) I checked the State Department's Web site. I read just about every news story out of Mexico that I could get my hands on. I called people who'd been to Rocky Point recently. As sort of a last effort, if an ironic one, I even posted some Tweets asking for people's advice, experiences, stories.

And then I decided to go ahead with the plans we'd made, curious to see how many others would follow through with theirs.

I don't feel nervous, and I'm not scared. In fact, I wasn't really too preoccupied with concerns on the whole drive down to this 26,000-person fishing and tourism destination. Crossing the border was quick, with no big lines, no long searches, no hassles. There was almost no traffic between Phoenix and Rocky Point, and the only person who talked to me, other than my photographer, was a little boy who washed our windshield when we stopped at a convenience store. (Turns out, I am an easy mark for scrappy window-washers with freckles and the gap-tooth grins unique to young grade-schoolers.)

One of the women I spoke to today commented that Rocky Point is really a very small town in spirit, a place she feels like people can walk around the streets at night as safely as they can during the day. She also mentioned that this place isn't really known for drugs. Unless, you know, students just want to buy a little something during vacation, she added with a laugh.

Ah, recreational drug humor ... I must be on spring break.