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Sunday, December 31, 2017

New Year’s Eve Day

The weather was just perfect today.  It’s been cool, cloudy and just not very “Mazatlandish” lately.  I spent the morning cleaning up the rig, rinsing the bird crap off the patio and hosing off the truck.  It’s really dusty around here with all the construction and even though I’d washed the truck it was now filthy.  Tomorrow Ian (Eric’s brother) and his wife Linda are coming to Mazatlan for a month and they’ve rented a house in the Cerritos Resort which is about a 1/2 hour walk from us.  We’ll go to the airport tomorrow afternoon to pick them up, get their luggage to their house and then bring them back to our place for happy hour and dinner.   They’ve just finished a five day marathon drive fromKelowna to Phoenix where they’ll leave their car while they fly to Mazatlan.   I’m betting they’ll both be fried when they get here. 

This afternoon Eric and I headed over to the beach.  It really hasn’t been beach weather lately but today it was a perfect day and the beach was crowded with Nationals from many different states who here on holiday.  Mazatlan is a popular destination for Christmas because of the beaches and they bring their families and set up small palapa tents to eat, drink, swim and just have fun.  Really nice to see.  Today the tide was out, the surf was calm and the water was  warm so everyone was enjoying themselves.  It was shallow enough that even the smallest children could get in and play in the water.  Eric and I both got in for a swim (Eric twice) and it was just the nicest day.  Sorry for no pictures but I rarely take the camera to the beach and I was too tired to walk back to the park and get it. 

The Torres resort which is right on the beach was setting up for a huge New Year’s Eve bash.  Huge tents, about 14 stainless steel barbecues, heated chafing dishes, boxes of wineglasses, huge speakers and they are ready for a ton of people.  I guess we’ll need our earplugs tonight!

When we got back to the park I showered and popped up front for a quick happy hour visit.  I found that the majority of people will spend a quiet New Year’s eve at home….us included. 

P.S…..it was a long day and I was asleep before 9pm.  

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

El Presidio for Ladies Lunch

Today’s lunch group was a small one.  There was supposed to be at least 15 of us and there were only 5.  Poor Ruth, she had made a reservation for 16 and most people didn’t come for one reason or another.  She called the restaurant before we left to give them a warning.

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El Presidio doesn’t open for lunch until 1pm so since we were in no hurry we took the green bus.  It usually goes through the Golden Zone and right down the malecon to old town but today it wandered around inland a bit and we passed the Aquarium at one point.  There is so much construction on the malecon the buses seem to be going every which way.

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Here we are heading down Constitution towards the restaurant. 

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We pass by the church which is a good landmark if you get turned around downtown.  You can always get your bearings again when you see it.

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Gorgeous old building. 

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Another old building that is being brought back to it’s former glory.  All the workers up above started waving and yelling when they saw me taking a picture!

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Up ahead is El Presidio.

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                 Heading into the restaurant.

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They had a beautiful Christmas display and Pam looked lovely posed right next to it.

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The very extensive bar.

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We are all seated and the waiter offered to take a picture on Pam’s cell phone.  It’s kind of nice just with the five us instead of the usual big group.  More up my alley!

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Drinks are ready to be served and yest the pina colada is mine!

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You can see the waiter emptying the bottle into Jeannette’s glass and Pam’s mango margarita on the right.    A nice basket of fresh bread and a spicy spread kept us from starving while we waited for lunch! 

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These pretty wreaths were decorating the stairs.  Upon closer inspection we saw that….

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they were made from dyed corn husks.  How inventive!

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While we waited for lunch Ruth had Pam pull the choice for next weeks lunch….Lucky B’s in the Zona Dorada. 

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The waiters are all very classily dressed.  This young man is balancing the food delivery box on his leg.  There are shelves inside the box where the plates are placed and there is a little curtain in front.  Easy to pack food for a whole table all at once.

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     He looked like he was posing for a picture. 

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This is my lunch.  Filet of beef (almost rare as ordered) covered in a black pepper sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus with a spicy poblano cream sauce.  It was absolutely delicious and one of the best meals I have ever eaten.

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Jeannette’s chicken on asparagus.  Not fancy but very good.  Chicken is always a safe choice in Mexico and since Jeannette is not a fan of spicy food this was perfect for her.  The odd thing was that the asparagus had there tips cut off!

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Pam ordered shrimp and this is most elegant…don’t you think.  Again delicious.

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Now it gets a bit tricky.  Ruth and Eddy ordered a couple of appetizers.  The one that Ruth is looking at suspiciously was supposed to be sliced beef and cheese lightly breaded.  Upon inspection there was no beef!  She and Eddy tried eating it and then called the waiter.  Turns out it had meat, which was white, which was pork!  They should have been told and in the end it wasn’t very good anyway.  The waiter offered to replace it with something else and they carried on eating.

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These are supposed to be quesadillas but turned out to be empanadas.  Again not what they ordered.  Ruth kind of picked the insides out and ate what she could. 

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That is the supposed beef appetizer that went back.

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The rest of us are happily eating while Ruth and Eddy struggle with their lunch.  Disappointing.

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This was an adorable little boy (except for the soother) who was happily playing in the fish pond.  Not too clean I would think.  There are very large fish in there that look like catfish….maybe some sort of koi.

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We are all done lunch when Ruth and Eddy’s tosdadas arrive.  One had octopus and one had a shrimp ceviche and it was apparently good. 

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We walked to the upper deck after lunch and they had some lovely mosaic tables.  Everything is so colorful in Mexico. 

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Here we are on the stairs. 

So….some really good lunches and some really disappointing ones.  In the end they charged Ruth for the lunch she sent back and didn’t charge her for the replacement one.  The one she sent back was more expensive than the first one and in my mind they probably shouldn’t have charged her at all.  This is a very upscale restaurant and those kind of mistakes really shouldn’t happen.  Would it stop us from going back…of course not.  Still a very lovely place to eat. 

At this point we wandered back to the market to catch the bus….shopping along the way.

Next week Lucky B’s and we are all going to have to let Ruth know if we are coming so she doesn’t make a large reservation and then have no one show up. 

Monday, December 25, 2017

Christmas Dinner at Connie and Manny’s

At 2:30 today Ruth and Jimmy picked Eric and I up to go for dinner.  We need time to have happy hour before dinner at 5:30.  If we eat too early we’ll all be in bed by 6pm!

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Here is our old friend and favorite dog….Ramona. When Connie and Manny were in the park Ramona used to sneak over to our rig for cheese.  She is quite the cartoon character.  Even though we hardly ever see her now she never forgets us.

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Connie and Manny rent the upstairs apartment in their friend Bev’s house.  Nice big kitchen.

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Eric’s favorite part….the big open deck with a view.  There is Ramona sitting by him while he chats with Manny.  That’s their other dog Mitzi….she is a tiny chihuahua and has bones like a bird.

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Anita, Ruth and Connie with Bev in back.  Connie had all sorts of appetizers prepared to snack on.  I think we are eating stuffed jalepenos at this point. 

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Just so we wouldn’t be bored Connie had a couple of games prepared.  This one involved answering questions about your spouse and yourself and when we were finished Connie read out our answers.  Eric even knew a few things about me and….I didn’t know everything about him!

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Teeny, tiny Mitzi.

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Connie’s checking the bird while the rest of us stand by.

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Anita, Ruth and I all brought food with us so there was a nice choice for dinner. 

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No one is going to go hungry tonight…..and there’s pie too!

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Dinner’s over and time for another game  This one was a hoot. 

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Put your plate on your head, now draw a floor line, now draw a Christmas tree, now draw a fireplace with a mantle, now put a stocking on the mantle, now put a present under the tree and then put an ornament on the tree…..yeah right!  

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We were all laughing at this point and Connie is so talented she balanced the plate on her head while she took a picture. 

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Ruth did the best.  How the heck did she manage to draw that tree and put the present under it?

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The winner!    Eric’s two stockings on the mantle looked like boobs!  My present was under the line and the fireplace was in the middle of my tiny tree!

Anita brought us each a gift bag with some goodies and Connie gave us each a little package of toffees….how nice was that.   By 7:30ish we were finished dinner and it was decided we’d get into two cars (men in one) and (ladies in the other) and take a tour around El Cid looking at Christmas lights. 

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There must be professional companies who do these displays.

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Some are a little blurry but it was night and we were moving.  Look at this extravaganza!

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Who the heck lives in a house this big?

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Huge houses, new vehicles and they would need an army of maids to keep everything clean.

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Children must live here.

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This is behind a window and it is an intricately done Santa’s workshop.  Amazing!

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Some displays were very tasteful….like this one.

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The opulence of some of these houses was just decadent and makes you realize how many “haves” there are in Mexico and how many “have nots.”

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Wow!

We toured for about an hour and then it was time to head home.  When we arrived back at the park the palapa up front looked like there had never even been a Christmas dinner.   I bet they all had a good time…..I know we did. 

Thanks a bunch Connie and Manny.  Good food, lots of fun and great friends, what more can you ask for.  A really good Christmas day.