The seemingly small hill with the lighthouse on top.
We chose a nice clear day to hike to the top of the hill that housed the second highest manned lighthouse in the world. It is 477 feet above sea level and had a steep trail that turned into steeper stairs. Imagine walking up the stairwell of a 47 story building in 88 degree temps, and you can get an idea of our "little hike". From the top the view was great. We could see all of Mazatlan and the distant mountains.
The trail up.
View to the north. The marina is at the top left.
We decided to walk back to town along the coast. Our destination is just over Cathy's shoulder. It looked closer from up here!
When we got back to the bottom of the hill, we decided to take the scenic route back to the beach in the old part of town and have lunch at a place we saw called the Shrimp Bucket. Of course the first order of business after our 5 mile hike was to have a beer. We then ordered up some great fried calamari and a big molcajete, which is a stone bowl filled with boiling red sauce, cactus, shrimp, grilled onions, and other good stuff. It was really good and tasted even better sitting beachside with the crashing surf and sea breeze.
Molcajete madness.
Lunch on the Plaza
Nice old buildings in the historic district.
The next day we took the bus back to town to see the archeology museum and the art museum. Both were very nice and contained some great displays and history of Mexico and the area that we are in. Afterwards, we stoped at the english library to ask if anyone knew where we could get a music stand for Cathy to practice here ukulele. I already had earplugs, so the music stand was all we needed (just kidding honey). Since it was another 2 mile walk, we decided to have lunch and a beer to sustain us. We had a great shrimp crepe at a restaurant in Plaza Machado near the theatre. After a bit of a hike, we actually found the music store and picked up a nice collapsable music stand for a good price. Cathy had to pry Rich away from the guitars because we really do not have room for anything else on the boat.
A word on the bus system. We have been traveling all over town on the public busses. There are hundreds of them around town. They write the destinations on them in shoe polish. The air conditioned busses with padded seats are 10 pesos, and the older beat up busses are usually 7.50 pesos. So it is pretty cheap to get anywhere in town. You just to to one of the major streets that the busses run along, wait for one to come with your destination on it, wave your arms like crazy, and hop on. Also, you need to hang on tight, always. They start fast and stop fast. If you fall down, your problem.
Your limo has arrived!
Today, Saturday, was organic market day. We again took the bus to Plaza Zargosa, another plaza that we had not yet been to. There was a small, but very nice market set up. We had some gourmet coffee and tarts for breakfast. Cathy finally found dried basil, for which we have searched all over Mexico for the past year. Needless to say, we bought a lot of it. We also picked up some chicken, and some fresh eggs that were many different colors. It was a nice way to spend the morning listening to jazz, sipping coffee and mingling with the local gringos.
The plaza and the pie lady.
Some vendors at the small but nice market.
Well, that is all for now. We have plans tonight to go into town for a big party on the plaza in the art district. And tomorrow, we are going on a breakfast bike ride to a nearby beach with some other folks here at the marina.
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