Our Stay in Bucerias, Nayarit

February 10, 2022 - February 13, 2022

On Thursday morning we went out to breakfast at a tiny cafe a block from our apartment called “Shu-La-La”.  It was typical of the small cafes we have been to in Mexico in that it was run by two people who were cook, wait staff, dish washer, and delivery person.  You can’t be in a hurry in these cafes as each meal is prepared individually and in the order the orders are placed.  

I had the chilaquiles with egg.

After breakfast I decided to take the walk suggested by one of Bob’s YouTube travelers.  The walk is along the main street of the tourist area which is one block from the beach. I walked as far south as the street would take me and turned around and walked as far north as the street went.  It took me about an hour as I had to walk from our apartment to the main street, too, which involved about six blocks one of which is very steep (about a 45 degree angle). Since I was following the main street of Bucerias tourist area I passed a multitude of restaurants, shops, houses, condos, vender stalls around the plaza and the requisite Catholic Church. Very interesting indeed.

The small Catholic Church is in the town plaza.

 Our next big event was on Saturday morning.  When I got back to the apartment after my walk Bob alerted me to the fact that we had a problem.  The problem being that our drinking water dispenser had leaked over 10 liters of water onto our kitchen floor.  It appeared that the leaking had stopped so I got busy soaking up the water with towels and a bucket.  We took the 20 liter bottle off the dispenser and inspected it and the ceramic dispenser.  There were no cracks in either and the best we could figure is that somehow the vacuum seal had broken allowing the water to leak onto the floor. 

These purified water dispensers
are necessary to any Mexican
kitchen.  Unfortunately, this
one went whacko.

 I cooked eggplant Parmesan (one of Bob’s favorites) for lunch. Afterwards I headed down to the beach with my beach chair, beach towel and Kindle.  The beach was sparsely populated and I had my pick of spots.  I relaxed in the sun with the cool ocean breeze keeping me comfortable for about two hours.  When I arrived back home Bob was napping and the floor again was covered in water.  Again I cleaned it up and we headed to the “tienda” on the next block to get more purified water.  We were not able to communicate the problem with the water container to the clerk and finally just exchanged both of our empty bottles for full ones.  Bottles containing 20 liters of water are quite heavy and by the time we got them up the stairs and into the kitchen we were exhausted. My Zen like relaxation on the beach was totally negated by this incident.

Our plan for Sunday was to return to La Cruz for their “Mercado de Artisans” held every Sunday morning in the town square.  I love markets like this one and Bob had lots of photo opportunities.  I bought silver hoop earrings, a silver chain, a cotton gauze top, and a lacquered wooden plate. 

I was tempted to buy a colorful wooden fish mobile,
but where would we keep it on the boat.

One of the artisans was creating pictures using colored straws.

The market was quite large with a huge variety of items for sale.

A display of cotton gauze tops with matching
beaded necklaces

That evening we enjoyed watching the Super Bowl.  We weren’t really rooting for any team but enjoyed the great game that  the LA Rams won (23-20) in the final minute of the game.

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Our Stay in Bucerias, Nayarit

 February 5, 2022 - February 9, 2022

On the weekends, Bob and I usually don’t go out much.  I walked in the mornings and on Saturday I cooked pasta and sauce for a late lunch.  It was the first meal I had prepared in our new kitchen and I was pleased with pots, pans, and utensils available in the kitchen.  On Sunday we wanted to have pizza and I walked to the pizza place nearby to pick one up.  However, even though the shop was supposed to open at three they were just getting the oven ready and I wouldn’t be able to get a pizza for about an hour.  I opted to order and pay for the pizza and have it delivered.  It arrived about 4:30 and was quite good.  I wonder why they include ketchup in the box along with the pizza in Mexico????

An interesting building I passed one morning on my walk.

On Monday we decided to take a day trip to a beach further north along the ocean, Sayulita.  The trip should have taken 45 minutes, but  a bus had broken down in the right lane about a mile ahead of us and the traffic was at a dead stop. Apparently no one was directing traffic and the left lane continued to flow by, but the right lane remained stopped.  Finally, cars started to pass the bus holding up the oncoming traffic and we were able to continue on our way.  We arrived in Sayulita just in time for lunch.  It is a bustling town with beach goers and shoppers everywhere. The town has a much younger vibe than Bucerias. We parked in a small parking lot and walked down to the beach where we had lunch at El Break.  As we were waiting for our beverages and meal vender after vender approached our table displaying their wares -jewelry, blankets, beautifully painted wooden bowls (we bought one of these), trinkets, hair braiding service, carved wooden animals, etc.  Bob was brave and bought some oysters on the half shell from a passing vender.  I wouldn’t eat any, but Bob really enjoyed the oysters. There was a pleasant ocean breeze keeping us cool as we watched the surfers, swimmers and sunbathers while we wiggled our toes in the sand during lunch. After lunch we walked around the town, relaxed at the town plaza and people watched.

Our view from El Breaker Restaurant

Surfing is big in Sayulita.

After lunch we walked down to the beach.

A small chapel off the town plaza

The town buildings displayed beautiful colors.

Fiesta flags are dancing in the ocean breeze.

The colorful Sayulita sign was located in the town plaza.

Bob has been anxious to photograph the local fishing fleet and on Wednesday we planned a trip to  La Cruz  for that purpose.  Of course we included a nice lunch at La Bellena Blanco, a nearby restaurant. 

La Bellena Blanco was decorated with wood slab
tables and a fishing boat converted to the bar.

These were the best shrimp tacos ever!!!!!

The public marina was filled with these traditional
fishing boats called pangas.

Conveniently, the fishermen could bring their catch to this
market at the marina to clean and sell their fish. 

Thank you for reading my blog.

First days in Bucerias, Nayarit, MX

 January 27, 2022 - February 4, 2022

We continued our visits to favorite and new restaurants for the remainder of our time in San Miguel de Allende. On Thursday we lunched at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Hierba Santo.  I had delicious chicken tacos with consommé and fresh vegetables and Bob had fish tacos.  This restaurant has had the most authentic Mexican food we have tasted here in SMA.

We tried out a new place on Friday which was highly recommended by “The Backpacking Brunette” (a traveling in Mexico V-blog that Bob follows).  The restaurant, The Inside Cafe, was touted to have the best grilled cheese sandwiches in the world.  I had the chicken grilled cheese and Bob had the pulled pork grilled cheese.  We both agree they were the best grilled cheese we ever tasted.

Definitely the best grilled cheese I ever had!

Bob is waiting for his sandwich and
trying out a craft beer.

Our first day on the road was Monday, March 31.  We left our apartment before we expected to at 9:15 am.  The trip to Tonala was mostly uneventful driving up and down the mountains.  Our hotel was easy to find and delightfully open, clean, and comfortable.  We ordered pizza from a nearby restaurant for dinner and ate in the lovely courtyard.

The artwork in the courtyard was unique.

The courtyard was lush with plants.

We started out on Tuesday morning at 10:30 am. We left a little later than we usually do to avoid rush hour traffic through Guadalajara.  The last hour of the trip was slow going once we got off the toll road, but we still arrived at our new apartment by 4:00pm. We were delighted with the openness of the apartment with windows on all sides an outdoor eating space and a wraparound balcony.  The kitchen was well stocked with everything we need to cook meals, etc.  We even have a washing machine on one of our porches. The cats are loving our new place with all of the window sills to sit on to watch the world around them.

Our kitchen is well stocked.

Our living/dining room combination has a large
screen TV on which I can stream NETFLIX.

Our bedroom has a large closet and
plenty of storage.

We even have a second well appointed bedroom.

We have navigated the town pretty well with a few glitches in trying to turn left from the major road that runs through town.  Apparently left hand turns are taken from the service road that runs along the larger road. Who knew? And if you miss your turn off of the larger road there is no place to make a u-turn.  Our neighborhood is nice with a fruit and vegetable bodega two blocks away, a nice restaurant, bank and small shops nearby.  We even have a street taco stand around the corner.

Our first meal out was at Fomar just a couple
of blocks away. The shrimp fajitas were delicious.

Another evening we walked to Culi's for great seafood.
I had the catch of the day - Mahi Mahi
over rosemary potatoes topped with wilted spinach.

A mural on the wall of Culi's

Culi's is definitely a restaurant we will return to.

This morning I got back into my walking routine and walked down the beach to the main (touristy) beach.  It’s just lovely - no crowds, soft sand, and gentle surf.  Horse back riding on the beach is big here also.

The beach is large (five miles long)
and uncrowded.

In this part of the beach there are lovely houses lining the beach.

We walked to the central part of the beach where 
we found an assortment of craft and trinket shops.

We stopped at a small cafe for lunch.

Bob had the fajita special.

And, of course, I have to report on the new experiences of my granddaughter, Claire.

Claire is exploring the phenomenon of snow.

She's eating solid food and learning
to feed herself.

And, she loves to stand up in her crib!

Thank you for reading my blog.

Life in San Miguel de Allende - 11

 December 24, 2021 - January 26, 2022

It’s been more than a month since I last posted.  My excuses:

• I was busy with preparations for Christmas.
• I was preparing for and traveling to visit my children right after Christmas.
• I contracted Covid a few days after entering the US.
• I spent my quarantine in a hotel room in Portales, New Mexico and really was too sick and then too tired to do much of anything.
• I traveled to Chicago for my final weekend in the US and finally traveled back to Mexico.
• Truthfully, I have still been recovering from my bout with Covid and have just recently felt like writing my blog.

I have a back log of photos to share so I’ll let them tell the story of the past month.

Christmas:

The Jardin was crowded on Christmas eve.

I love Christmas lights and the Jardin
 was filled with lights.

For a change, we decided to cook a duck
for Christmas dinner instead of our
usual lobster tails.

We paired the duck with whipped sweet potatoes,
pan sautéed Brussels sprouts, and
 a roasted beet, apple, greens,
 and goat cheese salad.

Houston, TX:

One of my outings with my son, Karl,
and his family was to a local mall
that had this trampoline for kids. 
My grandson, Acen, was
quite good at it as you can see here.

Then he started doing flips.  I think
he's done this before, what a dare devil.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the my son and his wife and son but, I was already starting to feel tired while I was there.  I attributed it to the lengthy amount of travel I went through to get there.

In any case I had a great visit with them all.

Portales, NM:

If I had photos of Portales it would be of me laying in bed either sleeping or watching HGTV. Unfortunately, I only got to spend a couple of hours with my youngest who lives in Portales before I had a positive COVID test.

Oak Park, IL:

I had a great visit with my daughter Rachel and her family even though I was still tired and the visit was shortened because of my quarantine. Unfortunately I had to skip visiting my oldest daughter, Jessica, and her husband, Joe, in Johnstown, PA.

The star of the show when I visited my
daughter, Rachel, and her family in
Oak Park was my granddaughter Claire!

"I just love my toes!"

Last two weeks in San Miguel de Allende:

We are spending time visiting some of our favorite
restaurants and trying out some new ones.
This is my "new normal" look.

This photo was taken from our table at
a very elegant Thai restaurant called
The Spice Market. The food and
service were excellent.

The Spice Market Restaurant was in a
lovely hotel - Live Aqua.

This is a view of La Parroquia from
Adama Street which represents a
typical street in San Miguel.

Bob and I are now preparing for our trip to a beach town north of Puerta Vallarta named Bucerias for our last two months of our winter in Mexico.

My next blog will be all about our trip and my first impressions of Bucerias.

Thank you for reading my blog.