Allie's Time in Mazatlan

I dropped our daughter Allie off at the Mazatlan Airport after a two week stay here with us.  I hadn't driven the truck in six weeks so it was good to start it up and let it run for the hour round trip.  I do not like driving on the back streets here though.  

The neighborhoods are very poor once you get a mile east of the ocean, and the roads are poorly maintained.  Some potholes are big enough to swallow up a small pickup truck.  And traffic is busy with motorcycles and bicycles darting in and out of traffic, pedestrians walking across the road, without looking, and cars occasionally passing on the right shoulder where there simply doesn't seem like there's enough room to get by.  As a result, I saw a lot of vehicles with bent mirrors, dents and scratches.

Anyway, I think Allie had a good time hanging out with her elderly parents.

Mescal and Tequila Festival

All-Star Baseball game

The baseball game was very different from ones that I've attended in the United States.  A musical band playing traditional banda music was set up on first base line and played loudly throughout the entire game, never taking a break.  Then there were the fireworks between innings.  Spectators drank hard with the equivalent of four dollar beers flowing like water. And people spent freely on unfamiliar snacks, such as potato chips mixed with a bunch of sauces, shaken up in a bag, and served soggy.

We did a lot of walking, taking Allie to places that we had discovered before her arrival.

Allie and Julia both went para-sailing.  I did not, preferring both feet on solid ground.

We took the ferry to Stone Island and did lots of relaxing.

 

 

Allie is already planning to visit us on next year's trip.  Unfortunately, we don't have that trip planned yet, but our time here in Mazatlan is winding down.  Allie is back home safely in California. We'll be starting back home at the end of the week.

While Machu Picchu was on Julia's bucket list, this Mexico trip was on mine.  It's been everything that I hoped for.  However, while the experience is still fresh in my mind, the next post will be about things to watch out for here--and they aren't the same things that our State Department talks about.

Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra)

One of the things about Mazatlan that we've needed to get used to is the constant noise.  We live in a very quiet area in Wisconsin, where the loudest sounds are the mourning doves.  Here, there is the constant drone of traffic and other city sounds.  One of the busiest streets in Mazatlan is the one that is next to the Malecon and sea wall.  That means spending time at the beach means constant background traffic noise, until one learns to filter it out.

One of the ways that people around here escape the noise is a short ferry ride to Stone Island.  All sizes and shapes of boats are used as ferries.  We paid our 35 pesos each (a little less than $2) for a round-trip ticket.  Our boat was a small one.  But the water was calm, and the ride was only about ten minutes.

Upon getting off the boat, the beach is less than a five minute walk.  There are no roads along the beach--just a long stretch of restaurants and bars serving the folks relaxing.  Each place has lawn chairs and tables set out to attract customers.  It's free to sit here, as long as one orders something.  Once seated with a beer or something to eat, you can stay as long as you want.

It’s a tough life.

Julia soaked in the rays, while I read a book on my Kindle.  Then we had lunch.

That was a massive “catch of the day” fried fish sandwich with fries. This was not to be confused with what McDonald’s passes off for a Filet of Fish sandwich, but it cost about the same.  Around 3 p.m., everyone headed back to the boats.  The last ferry back to Mazatlan leaves around 6 p.m. (dark), but it starts to cool off in the late afternoon.

I was back at pickleball this morning, burning off the extra calories.

Walking the Streets

Yesterday, Julia and I took a long circular route from our rented place.  It took us to some of the non-tourist areas of Mazatlan where people are just living their lives.

Eventually, we made it to the Historical Centro where there are more tourists.  I needed some freshly roasted coffee, and the local Facebook Expats group recommended La Mulata.  I was pleased to see a Diedrich roaster, a smaller model than the one I operated in my shop.

Drinking with Duey

Before coming to Mazatlan, I watched a number of youtube videos to prepare for the trip.  Most of the videos were fluff productions, detailing tourist highlights.  One minimalist channel was by a retired Canadian named Dwight Burditt (Duey) who makes videos while taking long walks on the streets of Mazatlan.  

I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Duey over beers at Edgar's Bar twice over the last week.  He's a retired air traffic controller, met and married a Mexican dessert chef, Lupita, and loves his beer.  He's about as down-to-earth as they come.

Carnaval is Over

Last night was the final celebration for Mazatlan's Carnaval, and I am relieved!  What started off as a novelty for us ended up getting very old.  It wasn't the crowds; it was the noise.  Mexican bands played loudly until 2 or 3 a.m. every night, except for last  night when the band played until 4 a.m. at our street corner.  

Every morning, the Malecon (seawall sidewalk) was trashed with food, paper, and liquids of dubious origin.   The city street cleaners managed to clean it up every day--only to have it trashed the next night again. 

We paid for a ticket to see the Saturday night parade from the Hacienda Hotel and joined some pickleball friends there. 

The food, drink, and company was great, but the parade (and the bands) went on and on and on.  Julia stayed until the bitter end.

 

 

I had to get up and move my cramped body from the small plastic chair into the open space at the rear of the hotel, where I could breathe.

Now that the Mardi Gras celebration is over, I'm hoping to get back to normal life in Mazatlan.  We played pickleball today.  I found my sweet spot today and won five out of six games.  We will try to go out to eat to tonight at a place that serves regional specialties, hoping that no reservations will be needed.

The Observatory and the Lighthouse

After leaving the market, we wound our way through the city streets, first climbing to the Observatorio 1873.  This is a new attraction that opened up in 2021.  There is an original observatory that was built in 1873, furnished from that time period.  A tram takes ticket holders there.  Tickets were $25 each.  I decided to enjoy the view from below.

Now, we needed to go down to come back up.  Hiking along the streets toward the Baja and Stone Island Ferries, we crossed a narrow peninsula to the bottom of the El Farrow Lighthouse hike.  

There is no fee to enter, but there is a ticket to be purchased in order to walk out on to a see-through ledge for "the very best views."  This ticket was only 30 pesos each (less than $2).  In hindsight, I would have paid $5 not to go out on the ledge.

The trail is steep, but people of all ages, mostly locals, were hiking alongside us. One young woman overheated and was receiving first aid from several rangers.   There were multiple switchbacks with spectacular views of Old Historical Mazatlan and nearby islands.

There are a lot of steps. 

Once we made it to the top, we actually had to walk down a few steps to get in line for the “paid view.”

It’s possible that I started grumbling here.

After what seemed like hours (Julia said less than one), we were instructed to remove our shoes and walk out in groups of ten to the see-thru landing strip for the view.  Each group was given three minutes.

On the way down, we saw a few of the famous cats that live near the top. They have the good sense to enjoy the free views.

Los Mercados

We did a lot of exploring today, but I’ll break it down into multiple posts so that I have something to blog about on pickleball days.

The primary downtown Mazatlan market is about thirty minutes walk from our rental place. We could walk about half that distance on the easy-to-walk Malecón, but then had to take to the streets for the rest of the way. Sidewalks in Mazatlan are dangerous and require a high degree of alertness with one’s head on a swivel. They are often uneven, broken, narrow, and sometimes they just disappear. When possible, I prefer to walk in the street against traffic. 

Before reaching the main market, we unexpectedly found the Saturday Organic Market a few blocks away at Plaza  Zaragoza.  

The customers here appeared to be overwhelmingly Americans and Canadians. Prices were high—about what you would expect in the U.S.  We checked it out in ten minutes or so (it’s very small) and continued on our way.

El Mercado Pino Suarez is a huge market with vendors selling just about anything you can imagine. 

Julia picked up some rings at a sewing supply vendor to complete some pot holders that she has been weaving. Here the customers were overwhelmingly Mexican.  English-speaking vendors were the exception rather than the rule.

I was especially interested in buying some produce and meat, but we had several hours of walking and a steep hike (more on that next time) to do, so that would have to wait.

A Friday in Mazatlan

The weekend is when Mazatlan really opens up and blossoms.  Mexicans from the interior of Mexico come here on the weekends to vacation and party.  By Friday afternoon, there were twice as many people on the beaches as earlier in the week.  Bands were playing.  Kids were running in the surf.  Popup bars, taco stands, and street vendors showed up in places that we had not seen before.

 

This morning, I was up early trying to tire Callie out so that we could leave her for most of the day in the condo in her crate.  I did a brisk walk of 4.5 miles on the Malecon (the beachside walkway), while Julia went for a short run. After breakfast, we walked a mile up to a local college for our first day of pickleball club.  The club is called the Mazatlan Pickleball Academy, which maybe should have been my first hint that this was going to be a higher level of play than the recreational style to which we are accustomed.

These players are intense. The day started off with drills, which I found helpful, but it was totally unexpected.   Each day of play (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), a round robin tournament is held during which scores and outcomes are meticulously kept, and players move to higher or lower courts, based upon outcomes.  I did okay so will probably keep my place, neither moving up or down. 

Julia had a rough day and will probably move to a lower level which will be more fun for her (I hope).  I ended up playing for almost four hours before my court's tournament was completed.  

We headed over to the beachfront restaurant for a late lunch.  Julia had grilled dorado (fish).  I had a craving for hamburger and fries, so that's what I had.  

Finally, we freed Callie and later took her along on a Malecon and beach walk as the sun set.  

We made sandwiches at home tonight and have settled in for a night of reading.  The weekend fireworks along the beach have already started.

Settling In

Ate the buffet breakfast at Ibis Hotel Mazatlan. Checked out of the hotel at 11 a.m. and then killed a couple of  hours walking to the pickleball courts on the north side of town. Nice group of Americans and Canadians there, but it’s probably too far from where our condo is in Centro.  There are pickleball courts closer; we will visit soon to get more info.

On the way back, we got our first glimpse of the beach.

Our host messaged us on whatsapp to let us know we could come a little early, so we drove south about thirty minutes through heavy traffic to Centro.  Very nice lady who spoke minimal English.  We were able to communicate with my rudimentary Spanish and an ocasional assist from Google Translate. 

After getting settled in, I crated Callie and we went for supper at a beachfront restaurant. 

Shrimp and Octopus Burrito

I had two firsts in this meal. Octopus in a burrito and fries on the side of a burrito.

On the way home we stopped at the supermarket for drinking water and breakfast supplies. Then we took Callie up to our rooftop for sunset.

The statute commemorates the start of Mardi Gras. The celebration in Mazatlan starts in a couple of weeks and is the third largest in the world.