March 5-7, 2018
I got up early to run on Monday and then spent most of the
day working on my blog. It felt like I hadn’t done much the week before, but it added up to quite a bit when I was
writing about it.
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| Running on the Breakwater at Dawn |
Tuesday, I had intended to go to Walmart to purchases
ingredients to make a cake for Cherie’s birthday. It turned out that Bobby, Cherie and Eddie
were headed that way in Eddie’s minivan, so I caught a ride with them. We stopped at the cellular hospital in
Bucerias to pick up Eddie’s wife’s computer and then drive to Mezcales to
deliver some of Bobby’s artwork to his sister who has a house there.
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| Ben and Carol's Pool in Mezcales |
Bobby’s sister, Carol, and her husband, Ben, own a fourplex
in Mezcales. They rent three of the units
to other Canadians during the season.
They had a nice, saltwater pool and a great outdoor kitchen. The whole place was decorated with lots of
local artwork. Cherie, Bobby, and I took
a swim. It was fun to see their
place. I didn’t usually have a reason to
visit a residential neighborhood in Mezcales, so that was interesting.
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| The Walmart in Nuevo Vallarta |
From Ben and Carol’s, we took the back way to Walmart and
did a little shopping. I ran around and
tried to disguise the fact that I was buying cake ingredients from Cherie. I wanted the cake to be a surprise. Between the side trips and the visiting, my
trip to Walmart took all day and I didn’t even get to go to the music
store. It was past 5:00 by the time we
got back. I fried up some potatoes with
leftover arrachera and stayed in for the evening.
I was awake half the night, so didn’t get up in time to run
on Wednesday morning. I puttered around
the house and then left about noon to go to the stationery store and print out
some song sheets on my way to the marina for my music circle. I also stopped at the Octopus’s Garden to buy
tickets for a couple of upcoming concerts.
Part of our music group had sailed away, but Jane from Chantey joined us with her
accordion. It was almost too windy to
play, but we had a good time, anyway.
Rick and Marilyn were due to head north on Friday, but Jane and I agreed
to carry on the following week.
I had a hot walk back up to the house and then spent the
rest of the afternoon writing and lounging.
March 8, 2018
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| Improvised Birthday Cake |
Cherie went sailing on Thursday, so I stayed home and baked
her a birthday cake. I couldn’t find
real cake pans anywhere, so used a glass baking dish. The dish was too small and the batter
overflowed and made a mess in the oven.
The oven had temperature measured in Celsius and probably wasn’t accurate
anyway. It took forever to get done and
then was gooey on top and burned on the bottom.
At least it didn’t stick to the pan.
I turned it out, trimmed off the burned bits, cut it in half, and made a
square layer cake. It wasn’t the most
beautiful cake I ever produced, but it tasted good and I somehow managed to
keep it a secret from Cherie.
Don and I went out for dinner at the Ballena Blanca and then
went to see Paris Can Wait at the
free movie night in the marina.
March 9, 2018
Friday was Cherie’s birthday and she went to spend the day
with friends at a local beach club. I
stayed home to practice the guitar, since she and our friend, Bobby, were
urging me to play at the open mic at Rhythm and Blues, a bar in Bucerias.
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| Mexican Train Dominoes |
I went to my Friday evening domino game at the marina. We had a large and boisterous crowd and it
was much wilder than usual. The marina
was full and everyone was there. I
avoided the margaritas they were serving, as they were made with scary blue
tequila and I had drinking to do later.
I left at 7:00 and walked home to meet my housemates as the sun was
setting.
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| Me Playing at Rhythm & Blues |
We got to Bucerias just as the music was starting and I
signed up to play. Bobby was already
there and was slated to play second. I
went third. I was nervous, as I wasn’t
used to playing and singing into microphones, but I relaxed after the first
song. The noisy crowd got very quiet
when I launched into Bob Dylan’s 2018 version of The Times They Are A’ Changing. I had them after that. The owner and the sound guy were very
helpful, complimentary, and encouraging.
They even comped my (non-alcoholic) drink. I felt guilty about singing and running, but
it was getting late and Cherie wanted to go out for a crepe dinner. I made my apologies and promised to stay
longer the next time.
Cherie and I went to Casa Triskell in Bucerias for
dinner. The restaurant was very French
and we sat outside at a little bistro table on a terrace overlooking the
street. I had a fabulous crepe with two
kinds of cheese, bacon, honey, and walnuts.
It came with a nice green salad served in a bowl made from a baked
crepe. It was a very enjoyable meal.
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| Cherie Making a Wish |
There were two bands battling for supremacy across the
street and a third one started up towards the end of the meal. It was cacophonous. In the middle of that crazy noise, a Mexican
band started up down the street and blew all three of them away with their
tuba. It was hilarious. I was just glad they had waited until after I
had played. I made a mental note not to
try to play in Bucerias after 9:00 pm. I
had never been in that part of Bucerias at night before and it was pretty
wild. The Canadians were partying.
We had planned to go to Ana Bananas to dance after dinner,
but people had been buying Cherie drinks all day and night and she was ready to
go home. Having consumed a single glass
of wine, I drove home. It was the first
time I had driven in Bucerias, but I managed to negotiate the narrow, one way,
often blocked streets and get us home in one piece. I was proud of myself. It had been a very full day.
Once we got home, we lit the birthday candle and enjoyed sour cream chocolate cake.
March 10, 2018
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| The New Outside Seating at Las Palapas |
I was sitting at the kitchen table on Saturday morning, when
a strange woman walked in. She turned
out to be Cherie’s friend, Kundra, who had stopped by for a visit on her way
back to Yelapa from San Miguel. I had
already eaten, but we decided to go to Las Palapas for breakfast. I went along for coffee and the view, as Las
Palapas is at La Manzanilla Beach and it was a beautiful morning. The restaurant had made improvements to their
outside seating area. Cherie and Kundra
enjoyed the buffet and I had a cup of rather miserable coffee. After breakfast, we took a nice walk on the
beach.
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| Geo and Lobo at the Octopus' Garden |
I did little other than pick up a few items from the grocery
store for the rest of the afternoon. Don
and I joined some other friends at the Octopus’ Garden, that evening, to see
Geo and Lobo play. I had a fabulous bowl
of etouffee for dinner. The music was
great and the surroundings magical but, unfortunately, the next door neighbors
started playing banda music about half way through the show and it was a battle
after that. One flamenco guitar and one
violin had a hard time competing against the horns and drums next door. It was a shame. Still, we managed to enjoy the music and Geo
and Lobo got two standing ovations. It
was the first time I had seen Geo play that season and I was glad to see him
without the electronic gadgetry that he favored. Lobo brought
him back to basics and we could
enjoy his skill and passion without distraction.
March 11, 2018
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| Break Dancer at the Market |
I got up late on Sunday morning because there were people in
the kitchen and I wasn’t feeling social.
Eventually, I got up and visited with Cherie and Bobby while I did a
load of laundry. By the time I hung it
out to dry, it was time to walk down to the market. Cherie and I got juice and something to eat and sat and listened to the band for a bit. Three break dancers were spinning around on a mat spread over the
sand. One of them even had a break
dancing dog. I bought some porchetta and
a loaf of sourdough bread and then we walked over to the Green Tomate to listen
to the Crazy Boys for a bit. We stayed
for one drink and then went home. The
Green Tomate is a great location, but the music is just too loud.
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| Colorful Wares at the Sunday Market |
I spent the afternoon practicing the guitar and then made
Spanish rice and chicken with guajillo sauce for dinner. I was home alone for most of the evening and
it was very peaceful. I got a chance to
catch up on my blog and watch a little Netflix.
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