Mexican Chicken

After about a month in Mazatlan, we're getting a little tired of seafood.  I never thought I would say this. But having fish, shrimp, octopus, and oysters every week makes me yearn for....chicken.

Fortunately, a couple of blocks from us, a family raises chickens and has a small stand on the side of the road.  Here, whole chickens are grilled over charcoal.  One chicken is more than enough for both of us for two meals.  

Simmering Beans

The chicken comes with rice, salad, tortillas and fresh salsa--for less than $10. Upon ordering a chicken, the woman in charge chops it up into easy to handle pieces and bags everything up to go.

All of the Chicken here is free range, which produces both delicious meat and beautiful yolks. Eggs are about $2.50/dozen at either the mercado or grocery store.

One thing that I'll never forget about Mazatlan are the sunsets and sunrises.  This week, shortly after sunset, we saw both Jupiter and Venus easily visible in the dusky sky.

 

 

This morning, the full moon was breathtaking just before dawn at 5:40 a.m. on my morning walk with Callie.

Looking north towards the Golden Zone

Twenty minutes later, and I could see the sun coming up on the other end of the beach.

Looking south towards Centro

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.

Carnaval: Mazatlan

In New Orleans, it may be spelled Carnival, but in Mazatlan all of the signs say Carnaval.  The partying began last night.  I slept on my good ear beautifully throughout the night, oblivious to the noise, but Julia assured me that it went until at least 3:30 a.m. 

I walk Callie for four miles every morning here, starting at 5:30 a.m., along the Malecon.  Some mornings we see people coming home from the bars--just as the sun is coming up at 6 a.m.  What was interesting this morning is all of the people who slept on the Malecon last night in lawn chairs, sleeping bags, and tents.  

For many poorer Mexicans, the hotels are simply out of reach in price, but that doesn't mean others can't participate in Carnival celebration if you are creative about where to spend the night.  These weren't just drunks, although there were a few of those.  Entire families crowded together to keep warm, young and old. 

Also, as the sun was coming up, the Malecon became full of people rolling suitcases down the street.  I can only assume that they arrived on an early morning bus.  

Anyway, Callie and I had quite the obstacle course, and neither of us do well in crowds.

I think I've mentioned before that Mazatlan is the shrimp capital of the world.   On a street called Aquiles Serdan, there is a shrimp market for about two blocks, where you can buy just about any size or type of shrimp or other shellfish.  Here is one stand:

The state of Sinaloa, where Mazatlan is located, is famous for a dish called aquachile, which is made of raw shrimp submerged in liquid seasoned with peppers, lime juice, salt, slides of cucumber and onion. 

The shrimp was delicious, and sunset contributed to a wonderful meal.  

 

 view from our second floor table