ANOTHER WEEK OF MUSIC IN AND AROUND LA CRUZ

February 25-26, 2019

I did as little as possible on Monday beside going to the gym.  I spent the afternoon writing and practicing the guitar on Scout.  I was so tired that I even skipped a Cheko Ruiz show at Octopus’ Garden and spent the evening at home watching Netflix.

I ran on Tuesday and then headed to Nuevo Vallarta to pick up my resident’s card which was supposed to have been ready on Monday.  Fortunately, the line at immigration was not long because my card was still not ready.  I had forgotten to bring my paperwork with my case number on it and had to call Cherie to get her to send me a picture of it.  Of course, there was no signal in the building, so I had to go downstairs to call her and finally had to buy a cup of coffee to use the WiFi in the café so that I could download the photo.  After going through all of that, the card was still not ready. 

The Nuevo Vallarta Market

I consoled myself by going to the market in Nuevo Vallarta and buying myself a pair of palazzo pants.  The vendor tried to overcharge me and when I called him on it (in Spanish) we chatted a bit.  Once he discovered that I lived in the area and wasn’t a hotel guest, the price went down 25%.  I browsed through the very large market but it was too early for lunch, so I escaped the temptation of the food stalls.

I was in a bit of a rush to get back to La Cruz because I wanted to give Scout a good scrub before Greg returned the following day.  The sprayer on the end of the hose was broken so I couldn’t shut off the water from that end.  Washing the boat by myself, I had to constantly run back to shut the water off at the faucet.  I got plenty of exercise but the boat looked nice for Greg’s return.

February 27, 2019

Wednesday was my last opportunity to play music with Rick and Marilyn from Tortuga.  We met at the Poolside Deli and were joined, once again, by Jerry and Nick who really spiced up our performance.  It had been fun playing with them and I was sorry to see them sail away.

Greg’s flight got in at 15:30 and our ride to the Duende/Luna Rumba concert at Los Arroyos Verdes left at 17:30.   We were all concerned that Greg wouldn’t make it in time and might have to go straight to the concert, but he made it with twenty minutes to spare.  We arrived early and Fernanda had saved us seats in the VIP section, so we had a great location for watching the show.  Greg, who had missed lunch, picked up a sandwich at the bar.

Duende at Los Arroyos Verdes

Luis and His Students Joined Luna Rumba

I had always found that all the electronics involved in a Duende show distracted from the music.  That night, there were numerous equipment failures/errors.  It was still a great show but could have been better.  They cut the Duende set short and played more Luna Rumba numbers, blending members of both bands which was fun, even if it did result in a shortage of equipment when both the bass and the cello competed for the same set-up.  They really needed a technician on the stage instead of Geo digging through plastic bins, looking for a cable, when his wireless transmitter battery died.  Fortunately, they were all musicians enough to take the challenges in stride.  There was a wonderful moment when some of Luis' student drummers joined Luna Rumba for a song.

After the show, we stopped at Tacos Linda in Bucerias for dinner.  Tacos Linda has an impressive variety of tacos including squash blossom and corn truffle tacos.  I had a tasty, lightly breaded fish taco and a corn truffle one. The corn truffle consisted of strips of sautéed poblano chile with corn kernals and was delicious.

February 28 – March 2, 2019

La Cruz Anchorage at Dawn

The remainder of the week was largely uneventful.   At home, Cherie was preparing for her mother’s approaching visit by touching up the interior paint in our house.  In Mexico, the dampness often causes paint to flake off the masonry walls, especially near the bottom.  We scraped off the bubbled paint and our friend, John, covered the bare spots with three coats of new paint.  A plumber came to repair the hose bib in the front yard.  We had tried to replace the worn-out faucet but the soldered joint came apart before the threads moved.  The plumber re-soldered the joint but the new faucet had somehow disappeared, so the hose bib still leaked.  We went to see The Greatest Showman at the marina movie night on Thursday evening. 

Friday night, a big group of us went to the Black Forest to see Geo play with Latcho and Andrea.  It was the 20^th anniversary of the Black Forest.  They played many of the songs from the CD I had purchased the previous Sunday.  I still hadn’t had the opportunity to listen to the CD, as we had no CD player, but it was good to know that the music it contained was fabulous.   As always, I felt blessed to be able to see my favorite artists up close, for a reasonable price, and then hang out with them afterwards.

I spent most of the day at the boat on Saturday and then moved my belongings aboard in the early evening, as the boat was departing for Nuevo Vallarta on Sunday morning.  Blair joined us in the evening after seeing his wife off at the airport.  We went for dinner at La Fonda Cocqui, across the street from Tacos on the Street in La Cruz.  In addition to pork, BBQ beef, chicken, and fish tacos, they had quesadillas, sopes, and tamales.  The food was flavorful and reasonably priced and offered a nice alternative to Tacos on the Street where the meat was excellent but the menu very limited and a little pricey for tacos.

March 3, 2019

I spent a leisurely morning with Greg and Blair on Scout and then left them to deliver the boat to Paradise Village.  I was going to Riverfest in Puerto Vallarta with Karen and Marc that afternoon.

Piel Canela at El Rio

Karen picked me up on the lateral at 11:30 and we drove south through Puerto Vallarta and then took the tunnel road that bypasses downtown up the hill into the canyon of the Rio Cuale.  The Riverfest was a fundraiser for a center for special needs children.  It was held at a barbecue restaurant called El Rio.  They had a large outdoor seating area with quite a bit of shade on the bank of the river.  People could swim if they liked.  In addition to the music, there was a silent auction and some vendors selling clothing and artwork.

Cheko with Piel Canela

The Seating Area at El Rio

The first band of the afternoon was Piel Canela.  It was the first time I had seen them do a show without Amy Armstrong and they played Latin music which I much preferred.  Amy was a great singer, but I didn’t come to Mexico to hear American music.  Karen had never seen them before and was pleasantly surprised to see Mimi playing guitar.  Cheko played a number with Piel Canela, which was the first time I had seen any crossover between the (former) Luna Rumba and Tatewari camps.  The Tatewari boys were maturing.

Cheko Ruiz' Band

Cheko Ruiz’ band played second and the trumpeter captured the hearts of the audience, right away.  Karen pronounced Cheko’s new band the best band of the season.  While I might have accorded him a tie with Luna Rumba, Karen had not seen Luna Rumba at their best and I couldn’t disagree that they were hot.

Los Bambinos

I almost felt sorry for Los Bambinos who followed Cheko’s band. They were a band of brothers who played Latin, Beatles and Beach Boys tribute shows.  They were good and the singer did an admirable job of singing falsetto.  While we much preferred the Latin numbers, we had to admit that he did a great job of singing the other songs.  We hoped we would get a chance to see them at their regular venue before the season was out.

Johanna's Band

The last band was Johanna’s Band.  They were an international mix of Mexican and Caribbean musicians who played Cuban infused beats.  Johanna fronted the band, strutting around in a blue satin jumpsuit and stilettos.  We liked them but had to leave mid-way through their set because we had tickets to see Lobo and Jaguar (Esau) at the Octopus’ Garden later that evening and had a long drive back.  I barely had time to shower and change before rushing off again.  I would have been late had Cherie not given me a ride.

Lobo and Esau at Octopus' Garden

Lobo and Esau’s concert was not as emotional as the set at San Pancho had been, but we got to hear a greater variety of music.  Once again, they played a sort of flamenco blues during one number. I was pleased to see that they had developed quite a repertoire together and had even produced a CD which I was quick to purchase.  They played straight through, without a break.  The audience was quite enthusiastic and gave them a standing ovation.  I was tired and glad to go home, afterward,  and crawl into my own bed.  Splitting my time between the house and Scout grew exhausting and required too much planning.