Ladies Lunch at the Quijote Inn

I wasn’t going to go for lunch today as I’d signed up for another Angelina’s restaurant cooking course.  Turns out the class is very full and there is another one I can attend on Saturday so I’ll do that instead.  So…off to the Golden Zone for another lunch in an old hotel restaurant. 

Everyone’s waiting for the bus. 

All aboard….that’s Ruth.

This is an old bus but any one will do since we aren’t going far.

Today is International Womens Day.  This sign says respect women and old people.  How about old woman people….that’s us!

Here we are at the Quijote Inn.

Another beautiful venue at the beach.  It’s cloudy and cool so we’ll eat inside where they are already set up for us.

More sea fog.

This building is obviously quite new and it is lovely. 

We are all seated and the drink orders are being taken.  We were the only people having lunch so they were happy to see our big group. 

Val got a laugh out of the menu as the Club Sandwich says Sandwish! 

Sharen’s pretty green drink matches her scarf and my new pants!

The fellow to the right is the maitre’d and was very informative.  He told us all about their specials and how they were prepared.  The tuna has some sort of seaweed coating with sesame seeds and he didn’t know what the english name was for “sesame seed.”  That of course lead to comments like “open sesame” and “ Sesame Street.”  Never a dull moment! 

A lovely sandwish!

Not sure what’s inside.

Shrimp fettucine and boy did it smell delicious.  Apparently tasted good and the portion was huge. 

A number of ladies ordered it including Bets.

Yum!

This is my tuna coated in seaweed and sesame seeds served on a bed of grilled peppers, onions and mushrooms with Mexican rice on the side.  It was tender and delicious and the salty coating was just perfect.  Everyone in the lunch group knows I will always order tuna if it is on the menu.  Cooked properly it is just delicious.  Jeri and Sharen ordered it too.

That’s happy me eating my lunch.  I ate all of the tuna and veggies first and then a bit of the rice.  I didn’t want to miss a bite of the tuna!

Marion had stuffed swordfish.   She said it was very tasty.

Chicken perhaps.  I run around snapping pictures of everyone’s lunch and don’t always get the names right. 

Everyone is eating except for Connie who came late.

The waiter kindly took a picture of the group.

Connie has her lunch which appears to be enchiladas.  I don’t think I have evey taken a picture of her when she didn’t close her eyes!

Looks good.

This is the outdoor part of the restaurant which would be nice if it wasn’t cold.  The sun has peeked out a bit but it is still chilly.

I think the red flag is always up on the beach. 

Potato vine at the bottom of a large tropical plant.

Lunch is done and we are leaving. 

So…what did we think.  Lovely venue, excellent service and decent prices for very tasty, well prepared and presented food.  My tuna was 150 pesos (about $10.50 Canadian) so very good value.  It did take about an hour for the food to come but we were a large group and the meals were quite involved.  The maitre’d even put on an apron and went into the kitchen to help.  No complaints as we we had cocktails and good company. 

A thoroughly enjoyable lunch and it got a thumbs up.  A lovely place for lunch any day of the week.  Good choice.

Strange days indeed!

The weather has been odd lately. 

Over Friday night we had some showers and again on Saturday morning when I went for my 7am walk.  By 9am it had cleared off a bit but the wind was icy cold and we closed the door.  About an hour later the temperature had risen to over 80F and the wind had changed direction.  By the afternoon it was stifling hot and over 90F with low humidity…what the heck.  By 7pm we actually had to run the A/C for the first time since December.  Eric was way too hot doing the dishes and said he just couldn’t work under these conditions so…on with the air! 

The last couple of days have been warmer but the ocean is chilly and rough and Eric hasn’t been able to swim except for one day and even that wasn’t very good.   The swell has been large and there has been a strong current with really rough water.  Eric loves to swim so these conditions aren’t making him a happy camper. 

We are starting to get road reports about travel from Mazatlan to the American border.  Frank and Sandi crossed at Nogales yesterday and Frank said next year he’s going out through Lukeville like he usually does.  They had to wait over and hour at the border and he also said that the road from Military check point north of Hermosillo to the border wasn’t very good.  There has been a lot of concern about going out through the Lukeville crossing as it was bad coming south in the fall.  Some rigs coming south had to go down into the ditch around bridges that were being rebuilt and said they weren’t going home that way.  We have just heard from Cathy and Doug who went out through Lukeville that the road heading north from Santa Ana to Lukeville is actually pretty good.  There was a  little paving being done just north of Caborca that may be finished by the time we leave.  We will get another report from Carole and Richard as they will leave Mazatlan about ten days ahead of us.  We had considered leaving through Nogales but at this point we have decided to go out through Lukeville as usual.   Road reports are always helpful at this time of the year.  Of course everyone’s idea of road conditions vary  depending on what type of rig they are driving.  The motorhomes seem to have a much easier time enduring the road conditions than those of us in pick up trucks hauling 5th wheels. 

We have a lot of different trees in the RV park.  Park owner Felipe has planted many trees that have all sorts of types of fruits and even nuts on them.  This big lumpy orangy looking fruit is some sort of a cross between an orange and a lemon.  I looked it up on line and it appeared to be something called an Ugli that is supposed to be edible and eaten like an orange.  Nope!  It is really, really tart and will have to be juiced and used as you would lemon juice.  Felipe said that the Mexicans like it with lobster. 

When I went over to visit Val the other day she pointed out the very tiny baby iguana over by the fence.  Can you spot it in the leaf litter?

You have to be careful when you are this small as something just might eat you!  He is nibbling on the small leaves growing along the fence.

Pretty little thing.

Val was unpotting some of her very damaged plants when I arrived.  The Chachalacas had smashed her Poinsetta and it was toast.  Her hibiscus were missing their lower leaves as the Iguanas had eaten them but they will survive.  Hard to keep a potted plant looking nice here.  As I’ve said before I do lots of gardening at home and don’t have any interest in it when I’m in Mazatlan. 

The park is over run by Chachalacas.  The description of these birds says that they are “ secret denizens of dense thickets” ….well, not so much.  They fly poorly and are always launching themselves at the trees with a huge crash.  Once in the tree they walk around eating whatever they can find.  This tree is across from us and I took this silhouette picture through the window while sitting in my chair in the rig.

Sort of looks like a peacock and it is just as noisy with all sorts of interesting chatter.   There are quite a few flocks in the park and they all squawk at each other.  They travel around the park like quail and are really interesting to watch. 

The last three pictures show them in the evening light and you can see how pretty they are.  The Chacha with his mouth open is squawking very loudly.  Fun birds!

Ladies Lunch at Hotel Playa Mazatlan

Today’s lunch was once again in the Golden Zone.  Ruth was not well today so we were on our own and as usual confusion reigned!  Were we going to the Inn at Mazatlan or Playa Mazatlan?  A quick call to Ruth and we were off to….Hotel Playa Mazatlan.  Some ladies were to meet us there so we hoped that everyone was clear about today’s destination.

Another beautiful old hotel right on the water.  When we entered the lobby it was full of people with their luggage getting ready to go home.  Carnival is over and the Mexicans who were here for the festivities along with the gringos are all partied out and ready to leave. 

When we arrived at the entrance to the restaurant there was a sign saying that it was set up for a cruise ship buffet.  We were asked if we were with the cruise ship and we said no….maybe we should have said yes and got a free lunch!   Ruth had made a reservation so at least they let us come in.  The rest of the ladies were already seated…except for Sandi. 

As I’m shooting towards the water the pictures are really washed out and have light shines.

Today I’m sitting with Marilyn, Jeannette, Jeri and Sharen.  Sandi is supposed to join us but she hasn’t arrived yet.  I hope she isn’t waiting at the Inn at Mazatlan.

Today I had a Pina Colada.

It took about an hour before the food arrived and that was probably due to the buffet preparation.  We could have had the buffet but that is way too much food for lunch.  You can see the Chef’s salads waiting.

                     

Jeri and Sharen have a Chef’s salad served in a large tortilla bowl.

I had the Mexican plate which is nicely presented.

Jeannette had shrimp and fries.  She said the shrimp was overcooked.

Marilyn’s Hobo sandwich with fries.  Good.

A close-up of Sharen’s Chef’s salad.  Looks yummy.

That’s my attempt at a selfie.  I think I need longer arms to do this.  Kind of horrifying if I do say so myself.

                       

                The other table of ladies enjoying their lunch.

Looking south down the beach at Valentino’s which is situated at the end of the Golden Zone right where the malecon starts. 

A lovely huge restaurant.

The buffet is set up but not very many people showed up.  When the cruise ships are in port the Golden Zone is alive with tourists and most of them are carrying bags of souvenir’s and other purchases.   In the years when the cruise ships didn’t come it was quiet on the streets and the merchants were starving for business.  The drug wars quieted down and so the cruise ships returned.  Simple equation.

Service was good, prices were good, venue was lovely and for the most part the food was good.  My lunch was okay but not great but everyone else thought the food was good.   A nice place to have a peaceful lunch in a pretty setting.

Sadly Sandi was waiting for us at the Inn at Mazatlan and like me she wasn’t carrying her phone.   This meant she couldn’t check with anyone about where we were and ended up just going home.  So sorry Sandi.

The group broke up and went their separate ways to shop or go home.  I did find a nice red top and some green capri’s at a little shop that I like so it was a good day for me.  For Sharen….not so much.  She was shopping with Jeri and some other ladies and while walking she caught her toe on a raised manhole cover and tripped and fell.  She cracked a bone in her hand and bruised herself up.  You can’t hurry on a Mexican sidewalk or street and you always have to be looking down for hazards.   Something is always waiting to trip you up.

Next week…..?