LA CRUZ DE HUANACAXTLE – MUSIC OVERLOAD

February 11, 2018

Band at the Sunday Market in La Cruz

It was so good to sleep in a real bed that I slept late on Sunday morning.  I didn’t have anything to eat, so I decided to go to the Sunday market. The farmers’ market in La Cruz is a wonderful collection of vendors offering every type of food imaginable, but it is so popular that it gets to be a mob scene.  Having seen it all many times, I often avoid it.  I do, however, usually enjoy the many musical acts that play there.  This week, there was a band playing Cuban music and another one playing jazz inside the fish market.  I bought strawberries, sourdough bread, and some porchetta (wonderful Italian roast pork with garlic) and had a Colombian arepa and a glass

My House for the Season

of cucumber lime juice for breakfast.  It was hot and crowded so, although I was enjoying the music, I left and took a stroll through town to see what might have changed.  Music was pouring out of Ana Banana’s and the Green Tomate.  The La Cruz high season was in full swing.

I went back to the cool of my new house and spent the afternoon catching up on internet related activities.  My time in La Cruz might seem dull to outsiders, but it is relaxing and creatively productive.  There are very few things I “have to” do, so it is easy to concentrate on projects that slip to the bottom of the priority list at home.

February 12, 2018

Not a Good Way to Start the Day

I intended to go out for breakfast and then go to Bucerias to buy groceries before meeting up with my friend, Betty, at 1:00.  Just as I was headed out the door, my landlady offered me a ride to Bucerias, so I decided to rearrange my schedule.  We didn’t get three blocks from home before we realized a tire was flat.  We pulled off the highway to assess the damage.

The tire was flat as a pancake.  Cherie had a spare, but the jack was back at the house.  A Mexican fellow offered to change the tire, but we had no jack.  Cherie called a friend, who happened to be walking our way.  Another friend drove up and stopped to help.  The two of them went back to the house to fetch the jack.  Cherie’s friend, Bruce, made short work of changing the tire and then we went to the Pemex station to put air in the spare, which was also fairly flat.  By the time that was accomplished, it was too late for Cherie to make her appointment in Bucerias, so we turned around and went home.

What to Do with a Sunken Boat

I decided to return to Plan A and walked down to Café Shule’t and had a spinach, goat cheese, and bacon omelet for breakfast.  Their omelets are one of my favorite things about La Cruz.  After breakfast, I stopped by Comet to return the coffee cone I had carried off thinking it was mine.  (I left mine in Indio on the way down.)  I chatted with Don for a few minutes and then headed over to Agave Azul to collect the box I had left there the previous summer.  Before I left, I visited my friend, Karen, who lives in the penthouse apartment there.  We chatted for half an hour and made plans to go see Lobo play on Valentine’s Day.

Laden with my box, I trudged home.  It was fun to see what goodies I had left for myself.  That turned out to be quite a lot, since I had been sick for most of my last visit and not eaten or drunk much.  When all that was stowed away, I turned around and headed down to the marina to see Betty.  I was quite late because I kept stopping to greet friends I had not seen for most of a year.

Betty and I had contemplated going sailing that afternoon, but she was feeling overwhelmed by boat projects, so we just hung out and talked.  I offered what advice I could regarding some of her new boat woes.  About 5:00, I headed home and relaxed with my roommates until they convinced me to go to the Octopus’ Garden for Acoustic Night. 

Acoustic Night at the Octopus’ Garden is an open mic and our friend, Bobby, was slated to play.  The music was surprisingly good and I enjoyed myself.  I came away inspired to play there myself within a week or two.

February 13, 2018

Our Street

Tuesday, I actually did make it to Bucerias.  I took a combi to the Mega, went to the bank, and did my shopping.  I took the bus back, laden with the absolute maximum amount of groceries I could physically carry.  Getting on and off a packed bus with that many bags was a challenge, but I managed it without breaking a bottle of wine.  Fortunately, the crowd had thinned by the time I needed to get off in La Cruz.  Our house was only a block or two from the bus stop, so I made it home easily.  I spent the afternoon putting my groceries away and doing laundry.

My favorite artist, Cheko Ruiz, was playing at Oso’s that night and Betty and I had agreed to go.  She brought a new friend from the marina and we had dinner and drinks and enjoyed the show.  My shrimp and spinach enchiladas were mouthwatering and the music was fabulous, as always.  Betty’s new friend was impressed.  Unfortunately, the turnout was light.  I hoped Cheko would build a following there as the season progressed.

February 14, 2018

Wednesday morning, I got up in time to go running before it got hot.  I didn’t want to miss the net, so I took my radio with me.  I hadn’t run for a couple of months, so took it easy and only ran a mile or so.  Then I walked another mile and a half while listening to the net.  I had forgotten to bring my usual handheld radio and had obtained one from a friend along the way.  I wasn’t sure how well it would work, but it seemed to work fine.

I spent the rest of the morning working on a long blog post and then headed up to the Poolside Deli for a musicians’ circle at 1:00.  It was time for me to come out of the closet as musician, but I was a bit apprehensive, not knowing what to expect.  I need not have worried.  There were three of us playing guitar and one woman with a violin.  Towards the end, we were joined by someone with a ukulele.  We took turns choosing songs to play and we all managed to follow pretty well.  We played for two hours until my fingers were quite sore.

Lobo at the Octopus' Garden

We dispersed at 3:00 because there was a slideshow going on in the VIP Lounge about S/V SuAn’s voyage around the circumference of the Pacific.  Their talk was very interesting because it is not often that cruisers visit places such as Japan and Alaska.  The pictures of Alaska were gorgeous, but I remained firm in my belief that I would prefer to visit the area on a cruise ship.  It looked very cold.

Some friends of mine and I had tickets to go see Lobo play flamenco guitar at the Octopus’ Garden that evening.  The proprietor, Alfredo, had decorated everything very nicely for Valentine’s Day and prepared a special menu.  We, however, stuck to the always delectable ribs.  The music was fantastic and Alfredo presented each of the ladies with a red rose.  The tickets featured a photo of Lobo, wearing a fedora and looking very Leonard Cohen-esque, with a rose between his teeth.  It was a truly delightful evening.

February 15 - 17, 2018

Sunset in La Cruz

My days in La Cruz, while quite pleasant for me, are not terribly exciting to relate to others.  The highlight of Thursday was a concert on the breakwater by Cantus Eterna.  There was a beautiful sunset as the concert began.  It was exceptionally clear and even the band commented on it.  Cantus Eterna plays classic rock with a heavy emphasis on the progressive rock from the seventies.  They are quite good if you like that sort of music.  There was a large crowd and it was fun to greet old friends.

The band was very loud, but apparently frigate birds like rock and roll, too, because there were two of them perched right above the band during the entire concert.

Frigate Birds Listening to Cantus Eterna

Fishing Pangas at Sunrise

Friday, I went for a longer run, this time before the net.  I was able to catch the wonderful sunrise, one of my favorite things about La Cruz.  I visited friends in the afternoon and then went to see Latcho and Andrea play modern flamenco at the Black Forest Inn.  Don joined us and we had a tasty German dinner.  The Black Forest makes a tasty Tom Collins which, in Mexico, is just a gin margarita.  I was pleased to see that the Black Forest served their drinks with reusable straws.

Latcho and Andrea always put on a good show.  They played a different set of songs than I had heard before, which was fun and interesting.  Flamenco reaches right into my soul and grabs me.  I always find it thrilling.  I have recordings to listen to at home but, as Lobo had said on Wednesday, “Live music is just better.”

Gabriela's Salon

Saturday, Don and I had plans to get our hair cut.  I had been going to Gabriela Saavedra’s salon on Calle Huachinango for years and was going to introduce Don to the place, since he needed a haircut.  We arrived there about 11:30, but it was very busy.  We made appointments to come back later.  Don had to go back to the boat because he had a load of water being delivered, but I went to a café around the corner and nursed a frappe for a couple of hours.  A little boy came by and sold me some homemade corn cookies.  Then I chatted with a couple from Canada who were also sailors.  The time passed quickly.

Party on Huachinango Street

At 1:30, I went back to the salon to get a much-needed haircut.  There was a young lady ahead of me getting her hair done for her quinceanera.  Outside, in the street, children were cavorting on a bouncy slide with a pool of water at the bottom while the adults prepared food for a party under tents set up in the street.  It was a festive scene.

Gabriela cut my hair and also did my nails. She did a meticulous job.  Haircut and nails cost me a total of 250 pesos (about $13.50.)  Don arrived at 2:30 and I stuck around to translate while he got his hair cut.  Then I headed home to catch up on my blog and spend a quiet evening at home for a change.