Mazatlan 2007

Sunday, January 28 (Pat)

I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep so went and sat out on the balcony. I could see the rising sun create color changes on the very tall condo building under construction next to Playa Maria. It blocks the ocean view but I can hear the waves come in which is relaxing.

Ron got up later and we discover there isn’t a coffee maker in the room. We have our timeshare breakfast today at 9am so we pass the time reading until then. Off to the Sea Garden resort where we stayed four years ago. They’ve had a new paint job – tan instead of white. The new Mayan Palace tower next door is still under construction so we aren’t going to see the finished product. The breakfast buffet is nice and Ana is our hostess. Sea Garden is a nice resort and has very nice lush grounds and pool area so it is nice to revisit and remember our stay there. We get thru the sales pitch and wheeling and dealing and continue to say no so they finally let us go and they give us 2100 pesos plus our refund of the taxi fare and a ride back to the Playa Maria.

We decide to head into the GZ to walk around and go to catch the bus at the corner by Marina del Rey. A Mexican man is waiting as well and we start chatting with him. His name is Fernando. We get on the bus together and he and Ron continue talking. He speaks pretty good English. He is heading to the big Plaza where the locals go so we decide to check it out. It is the big mall where we have been before and found a bunch of specialty chocolate. So we mall walked. Fernando explained some of the Mexican ways. We stopped at a Mazatlan Venados (the local baseball team) store and Ron bought a t-shirt with the VM logo. Since the big grocery store – Vega – is there we decided to get our grocery shopping done as well and Fernando entertained Ron with Mexican info. At the bus stop Fernando said goodbye.

Back on the bus – it was crowded with gringos and Mexicans – we made it back to Playa Maria with our food. Time to sit out by the pool. The temperature is not bad – 70’s with partial sun. Ron reads and I go for a vigorous walk north on the beach to continue de-stressing. There are four horse-back riders on the beach and I come across their tracks and the riders. It looks like they are having a good time. The horses aren’t fat but they look healthy anyway.

I love watching the pelicans cruise the shallows just above the water, sometimes in groups of 5-6 in a line. There aren’t too many people out this far and just a few vendors so it is peaceful. Feeling better I head back to the resort and join Ron. Soon it is time to head down to the hotel Las Flores and join the MazInfo gringos for happy hour! We weren’t sure where the hotel was so Ron asked the bus driver to drop us off there. Clear down at the south end of the GZ he signaled ‘Hotel Flores’ over there. We headed towards the beach area, asked a security guard and got headed in the right direction. The MazInfo group meets out on the hotel bar patio. There were 2 couples there when we arrived and other couples/people arrived after us so we were more or less in the middle. Ron chatted with the group on one end and I chatted mostly with the group on my end. It was interesting hearing people’s stories of how, how long, where they live/stay in Mazatlan. Most are retired, some live here full time, others come for several months to six or more months. Some from Canada, several from Washington, Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon. Enjoyed our conversations and Pacificos, after the sun set and it got cooler out on the patio we headed off for some dinner. Up the street we got enticed into the Guadalajara Grill. We’ve eaten there before. Nice place, we sat outside. Ron had the chicken molejete and I had the Mahi-Mahi – both were very good. A few Margaritas and we were full. No left-overs this time. We walked for a ways alone the “zone” and caught the bus back to Playa Maria. The neighbors in the ‘lock-off’ part of the unit are playing the TV very loud. Ron may have to have a ‘conversation’ with them if that keeps up. I read and Ron writes in the journal, then it’s time for bed.