This was supposed to go up a couple days ago, but… it didn’t. Oh well, hopefully it will still be enjoyed. I’ll try to write about yesterday’s jungle hike today, but… I might not. It depends on how smoothly the water pump pressure switch replacement goes.
I suppose this is a post all of us cruising bloggers write at some point, but today feels like a good day to share my doing quite a bit while not really doing anything at all.
Jenn suggests a birthday present for Minion.
Despite it being Sunday, we actually got up and off the boat by about 9:00 am. Of course, we took some time to sing Happy Birthday to Minion and give him some raw tuna for breakfast as a gift for his first birthday before we left. We then went ashore and walked to the Huancaxtle Cafe to meet Bella Star for breakfast. There we found out they were closed till 10:00 am, and would have a buffet at 11:00 am that cost a little more than our breakfast budget. We radioed Aaron and Nicole to let them know, and after meeting in person we all walked up to The Octopus Garden. We had been there once before, just for a drink, and really like the space the restaurant is in, plus Aaron wanted to try their pancakes. Of course, they aren’t open on Sunday. Another radio call to Anon, who was supposed to be meeting us there, along with the visiting Hello World crew who had a bag of goodies they brought down from stateside. So another hike through town brought us to Eva’s Brickhouse, where we ordered coffee and someone got a bloody mary (hint, it wasn’t me). When Keith from Anon arrived we found out he wanted to go to another place for some music with breakfast but we had already put in the beverage order so we agreed to meet them later. Sometimes VHF conversations don’t quite seem to communicate all the important details.
I can’t say we enjoyed our breakfast at Eva’s – they had no pancakes for Aaron, we had to wait for refills on coffee because our waiter told us someone forgot to start the next pot, and the cook came out and yelled at us for telling our waiter what ingredients we didn’t want in our omelets, not what we did want. Our waiter explained his behavior with the words “Italian Cook.” After all that, the food was decent but priced more for tourists than locals. I doubt any of us will return with so many other choices in town (on any morning but Sunday anyway).
A quick break from doing nothing to help Ben on Jace, who was not having a lazy day.
We then proceeded to wander around the local market. We were told later that the merchants at this Sunday market have to either make their goods, or grow or use locally grown products for the food items. Of course when you live on a small sailboat you usually aren’t shopping for local handicrafts, but we did grab a tasty salsa and some caramel filled pastries. We also chatted with a few cruiser friends we ran into, and caught up with Jason and Christy from Hello World. I glanced at enough jewelry, baskets, organic produce and Mexican blankets to last me for at least a couple months.
Jenn and Nicole practice their shop till you drop skills.
I think I would rather catch a real one than have this on the boat.
Pretty safe to say this artist is producing locally made goods.
Aaron amuses himself without checking out locally produced goods.
Finally marketed out, we took a quick trip back to Bella Star to drop off our purchases and the goodie bag from Hello World. Somewhere along our trip through the market we picked up Zack from Panache, since his plans for the day hadn’t been made yet. Our load lighted up a bit, we set off for a beach hike. We headed east along an almost deserted beach where we spent some time making sure Ventured seemed okay in the anchorage, as there was enough swell coming for some locals to surf just a few hundred yards from where we were anchored. Every thing seemed okay from our vantage point so we continued down the beach, stopping to look at birds, explore some tide pools, attempt to skip some rocks and just kind of take it all in at a relaxed pace.
A little shore break just behind the anchorage.
Some local wildlife.
We eventually arrived in Bucerias, which after some later inspection I determined is apparently Spanish for souvenir stand. But before we explored that portion of town, we quenched the thirst we had worked up with some cervesas, then decided we had worked up enough appetite for some tacos. Of course there was an ice cream shop next door to the taco stand, and we felt obligated to spread our tourist pesos around to support the local economy. However as we wandered through several streets of souvenir stands our generosity dried up, despite being told that items were “almost free.”
I do love the colors in Mexico.
Zach takes a new apporach to sampling salsa. I prefer using tortilla chips.
We braved the guantlet. Sometimes you have to be adventurous when traveling.
The girls were relieved to find out if they join a cult, they can still have stylish clothing.
Finally feeling the pull of home, we walked up to the highway just in time for a dash across to hop on the bus that pulled up moments after our crossing. A short ride later we spilled off back in La Cruz, and walked back down the the Huancaxtle Cafe just in time for happy hour. Which they don’t have on Sunday, plus they were out of draft beer, our favorite happy hour special. We’ve been having a great time at this place the last few days, and Jenn even thought the wings we had there yesterday were the best we’ve had in Mexico but today just wasn’t their day for us. JC, our very friendly waiter, promised to try to get more draft beer ASAP and discuss adding a Sunday happy hour with the management. So instead it was back to Bella Star for a couple drinks and a discussion that mostly centered around movies, ending with a couple list of movies for each couple to watch.
As it was getting on towards Minion’s dinner time we said our goodbye’s and headed back to the boat. More tuna for Minion while Jenn whipped up some beef stew, and I typed this. And now that it is just about ready I’ll wrap this up while so we can eat, then get some pictures together and post it after dinner. One does have to keep their priorities straight, and eating Jenn’s cooking is one of mine.
Nothing completes a day in Mexico like being chased by a Chihuahua in a pink sweater.
Tomorrow probably won’t be so exciting as it will include the search for a pressure switch for our water pump which will now not shut off after we shut off the faucet like it is supposed to. Hopefully the full moon beach bonfire in the evening will be exciting, but not too much so since we are up early for a jungle hike on Tuesday.
Ventured 