Mazatlan 2007

Sunday, February 4 (Ron)

Super Bowl Sunday! Who cares?!?! In Mazatlan there are a hundred better things to do than sit on your ass, inside, and watch TV!! One of the best things to do is go out to Stone Island. It’s not really an island, it is an isthmus with the end wider that the rest, and the best way to get there is by boat. So it is somewhat isolated and very relaxing, not a lot to do there but relax and enjoy the place.

We left the resort around noon. Seemed like it took us forever to get ready, I was so impatient to get out there. It can be a lot of work, preparing for a day of doing nothing. We’ve taken the Stone Island guided tour, and that’s a lot of fun, but somewhat structured. Now we just go on our own. It is so easy to do things in Mazatlan, just get out there and do it. If you get lost or get confused about anything, just stop and ask someone. Everyone here is willing to help out. No worries.

So we are finally all good to go. We walk out front and catch a bus that goes to El Centro (downtown), then walked a few blocks to the street along the shore where the docks are. The street we walked on from El Centro to the shore had a lot of neat old houses (like just about all the streets in that area). Pat and I got to thinking and dreaming about living there and owning one of the houses.

We came to the street along the shore. It’s kind of an industrial area, light industry with a small naval base, shrimp boats, docks for the cruise ships. So we come to the T where the street we were walking on ends and we have to make a choice, left or right. We have a small map with only the major streets shown, no detail. We have written instructions on how to get there. Very general instructions, again no detail. So we have to decide, left or right. We choose right. Wrong. After walking about a mile we start to think maybe we should have gone the other way. An industrial area on a Sunday is not that busy, even in Mexico, but we soon come to a guard shack for the cruise ship docks and the guard speaks fairly good English. He verifies that we should have gone the other direction. We give him our thanks and head back the way we came.

We eventually make our way to where the small boats are that will take us to Stone Island – Isla de la Piedra. We purchase our tickets for the round trip – fifteen pesos per person – and get on the boat. They are small pangas and hold about twelve people. The ride over takes less than five minutes and once on the island we get a taxi over to the beach – twenty pesos. A five minute taxi ride and we are on the beach. This section of the beach is lined with small restaurants, side by side, right on the beach, small plastic tables and chairs in the sand. Just pick a spot and sit down, doesn’t matter where. Whichever restaurant it ends up being doesn’t matter – it’s all good. The beach along here is about twelve and a half miles long, fifty to a hundred yards wide, very flat, and absolutely gorgeous. On the ocean side is the beautiful Pacific Ocean, waves breaking gently in the distance. A few small islands offshore. On the land side are palm trees, miles and miles of coconut palms. The area near the restaurants is usually busy, not too bad, but it is a popular spot with the locals as well as the gringos. But with twelve and a half miles of beach, it’s easy to find a spot where one can imagine being alone on a tropical island, lush palm trees behind you, the beautiful clear blue sky above you, and the mighty Pacific Ocean at your feet, stretching out to the horizon. (The ocean, not your feet.) It just doesn’t get any better than that.

We sat down at a table in the shade; I kicked off my sandals and dug my toes in the sand. We ordered a couple of Pacificos and settled in. Our biggest problem for the afternoon would be what to order for lunch. After weighing our options carefully we decided on Shrimp Ajo (Garlic Shrimp – for Pat) and Quesadilla con Pollo (Chicken Quesadilla – for me). Both were excellent. There are a lot of beach vendors in that area to help separate the beach-goers from their pesos and we did our share of helping out the local economy. We got some jewelry, pastries, and assorted souvenirs. It’s just like the other day in El Centro with the pigeons. Throw out a little bit of bird seed and they come flocking to you. Open up your wallet and every beach vendor is trying to sell you his goods. “Cheap, almost free, special price today only.” Some people hate it, but I enjoy it. If nothing else it’s free entertainment and it gives you a chance to interact with the locals. Their food is always good, there are some nice trinkets, and the vendors are always friendly, even when you say no.

After lunch we just sat and relaxed a while, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the warm sun. I decided to go for a walk up the beach. Before long the restaurants and their customers were behind me, ahead of me were miles of wide, sand beach. On my left were lush palm trees, on my right waves were gently rolling into the sand. Above was nothing but clear blue sky and the bright tropical sun. I wonder if this is what Heaven is like.

I was trying to reach the point where the palm trees, the sand, and the ocean all meet, so I walked quite a ways but it was always just at the edge of the horizon. I finally decided that my quest would have to continue another day, and I turned around and headed back with the sun shining on my face.

Walking into the sun warmed me up so I walked back in the water. Words and pictures cannot begin to describe how I felt. William Shakespeare at his best could not put quill to paper and allow someone to know how wonderful it felt. Ansel Adams on a good day would not be able to create the perfect photograph to show the beauty of the area. Walking on that beach, with the sun on my face, my toes in the water, my heart in Mazatlan – you have to experience it for yourself to understand.

When I got back to the table Pat was kinda pissed ‘cause I was gone so long, but time had no meaning while I was out there. Besides, my mind was still in heaven. No problemo. No worries, mate. So Pat went for a short walk while I had another Pacifico. I talked with Rudy who works there or owns the restaurant or something. Pat returned and it was time to go. The ferries run until 6pm and it was after 5. We rode back on a wagon with a bunch of bench seats. The wagon was pulled by a tractor and I was one of three guys on the wagon and about twenty girls. Yeah, life is rough here in Paradise. Ferry ride over to the mainland and we got a pulmonia over to the malecon.

We arrived at the malecon just after sunset. The Pacific Ocean was a calm navy blue. The sky above the horizon was orange and blended into a deep blue above. Palm trees along the sidewalk near the beach completed the scene. We enjoyed the evening sky for twenty or thirty minutes, then boarded a bus back to our resort.

Back at the suite we got cleaned up and dressed for supper. After discussing our options we decided on Mary’s, down in the Gold Zone near the bookstore. Mary’s does not serve Mexican food – they have hamburgers in several varieties as well as about ten different kinds of salads. Good salads are even harder to find that good hamburgers down here. I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a Pacifico; Pat had a Cobb salad, side order of garlic bread, and water. One more Pacifico for me while we sat outside and enjoyed the evening. There is an ice cream shop next door so we found just enough room for a scoop of ice cream. We walked as we ate our desert. With the ice cream only a memory, we caught a bus back to Playa Maria, relaxed a little, and then went to bed, the end of another wonderful day in the heaven-on-earth called Mazatlan.