A Somewhat Sunny Sunday!

Hola!

We actually slept in a bit this morning – which for R and I meant somewhere about 6 am, although Debby may have been up earlier. (May I say now how nice it is to travel with someone on the same schedule?? We “early to bed/early to rise” types do need to stick together!)

As we had had SO much to eat yesterday – two HUGE buffets at Roy’s, none of us was particularly hungry, so no one was particularly interested in going out for breakfast. Instead, Debby and I figured we would walk down to the corner OXXO store and see if they had anything interesting and make do. Well, we walked over about 8, and turns out, this particular OXXO wasn’t open until 9 … but again, as we weren’t in any particular rush, we just ambled back and waited for a bit in the apartment. About quarter after 9 we tried again, and this time, it was open. And, between the OXXO and the Kiosko across the street, we were able to get large trash bags (which we needed for the flat), chocolate milk (for me), more water (for all of us), croissants (for R), a roll (for me), and cookies (basically for me or whoever wanted any!) Munched on the above for a bit, and then got ready to go out around 11 am.

Took an Uber back into town – the Old Colonial part, which is really the most attractive part of the city; much more so, Debby and I think, than all the new high-rise hotels and condos. My plan was to first go through the Museo de Arte and then cross the street to the Museo de Archaeologico. But, you know how good plans are! Turns out, that while the Museo de Arte was listed as open on Sunday’s, it wasn’t! They’re renovating it, and it has actually been closed completely for a while! Oh well! Sounds like the Basilica!

Lovely square across from the Art Museum

Children's play area?!

So, crossed the street to the Archaeological Museum, which actually was open! To be honest, it’s not very large or well organized, but it did have a few interesting pieces. (Debby and I were later stopped by some folks who asked if it was worth the price of entry (about $5.00) and we both had to admit that it was more of a donation than anything else … but if one is interested in archaeology, and R and I really are, we enjoyed the pieces they did have very much!)

It was just a short block or so from the museum to the Malecon, the street that runs along the ocean through that section of town. In most Mexico beach-front cities, they have a Malecon – fun to walk along, usually contains public art, etc. In the newer areas, the big resorts are actually built on the waterfront, and block the public access to the beach, so this is infinitely preferable!

It was truly a glorious day! Breezy, and sunny and probably in the mid to high 70’s. There were people in the water, in spite of the fact that there were yellow flag warnings out, warning people against stingrays! We took a nice walk down the beach, and then back, seeing all sorts of statues and public art. I have always loved the old-fashioned public baths that were built in the early 1900’s, which were basically cement salt-water basins that were refreshed each time the tides came back in (Sutro Baths in San Francisco being a prime example), and there was also an example of that here. We saw a statue of Jacques Costeau, as well as Mazatlan’s very own “Abbey Road” complete with Beatle sculptures, minicooper and red British call box! Great fun!

Along the Malecon

Yellow flag warning about stingrays in the water!

Old salt-water swimming pool

LOVED this staircase!

Abbey Road in Mazatlan??

I had thought that maybe we would have lunch at Hotel Freeman, where we had eaten with my Mom and brother some years ago when our cruise ship stopped at Mazatlan, but as we still weren’t hungry, we decided to give it a miss and head back to the apartment. Ubered back, again through some lovely areas of town, and while I’m not sure what R and Debby did after that, I had a lovely and long nap, which I greatly needed!

Up about 3 and shortly after received a call from Hilary Hamlin, our friend from Green Valley (AZ). Hil had been gracious enough to include our tripod to Mazatlan on the car trip she was making with her sister, Katy and brother-in-law, Bob. They had spent a few days in Alamos on the drive down, and had just gotten in to Mazatlan for the eclipse tomorrow. We decided to Uber to their hotel, the Playa Mazatlan, to collect it for tomorrow. Interestingly, we had real difficulty getting an Uber! The first driver, I think, actually drove right by us (if the Uber map was accurate) and then just literally disappeared off the radar! No idea at all what happened, so I had to try again! It probably took 15 minutes for Uber to come up with another driver for us – and he was something like 20 minutes away! So, we came back upstairs to relax a bit rather than waiting outside. But, in about 20 minutes, Jesus showed up, and was a fabulous driver! He seemed to know lots of side streets, and before we knew it, we had arrived at the hotel. Hil came to find us in the lobby and took us out to the beach where they were having drinks overlooking the beach and ocean.

Me with Bob and Katy!

Interesting trying to get us some drinks, though, as we weren’t staying at the hotel … finally, Katy managed somehow and we all got settled. Hil’s friend Janet was also there, coming in through LAX for the eclipse. Spent an hour or so catching up, collected the tripod, and then Ubered back to the apartment. Did go past a big traffic jam on the other side of the main street, which our Uber driver explained was because the President of Mexico was there for the eclipse too! Everybody wants to see!

Once we got back to the apartment, we decided to see if we could get into Roy’s for dinner tonight. Drove there – it’s only about 5 minutes away – but the wait was over 50 minutes, so we decided to pass. As I say, none of us were that hungry. Decided then to look for pizza, and R set the GPS … which took us just a couple of blocks away from Roy’s to a huge, very glitzy shopping mall, with lots of food options everywhere! In fact, right in front was a pizza place, which looked fine. And, more importantly, they had a table! We ordered a pepperoni pizza, with water for Deb, lemonade for me, and red wine for R. Pizza came quickly, it was delicious, and exactly the right size for three not terribly hungry people! Precisely what we needed! Finished every bite (except for Debby’s crust…) and headed back to the apartment.