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Saving the best for last
After three days of sightseeing tours, I was ready to simply relax. Thursday morning, we slept well into the morning, and after breakfast, we went for a long walk on the beach. We wandered past the from Princess and Celebrity Cruises, which had come to port while we were still asleep. It seemed that every taxi driver and street vendor in Acapulco knew the cruise ship schedules, and relocated to the pier when the ships were in, hoping to grab a share of the money pouring off the ships with the passengers. Dodging various offers to sell us silver jewelry or to drive us to the market, we crossed the street and wandered through the Spanish Fort, which dates to the colonial period.
Back at the hotel, we ate a light lunch, and headed back to the beach to take a two person kayak out onto the bay. I didn't take my camera, as I didn't want to risk getting it wet, but when we reached the middle of the bay, I wished I had a waterproof camera. The panoramic views of the city and the mountains beyond it was stunning. This was clearly the best vantage point to appreciate the layout of the bay and the city. For a while we just drifted on the bay, enjoying the views. Eventually, though, we had to make our way back to our hotel.
The rest of the afternoon was spent by the pool. As we relaxed in the shade by the bathwater warm pool, we struck up a conversation with a family from Mexico City. The parents' English skills were about on par with my Spanish, so their daughter and her boyfriend did a lot of translating. The conversation, with its efforts to bridge the language barrier, was quite entertaining. Frequent trips to the poolside bar kept our margaritas filled, which decreased our ability to communicate clearly, but made the efforts seem more entertaining. I quite lost track of how much I'd had to drink until I tried to stand up to go to dinner, and almost fell into the pool! Getting food into my stomach helped, as did a long walk before heading to to bed.
I awoke Friday morning with a bit of a hangover, but breakfast and a couple of Excedrin soon had me feeling almost human again. As we had arranged the evening before, we met our new friends from Mexico City about 11:00am, and the six of us piled into their five passenger car for a trip to Barre Viejo, about thirty miles down the coast. We had been promised that this was the best place to go in the area for seafood, and they were taking out there for lunch.
We drove past the airport, and along the area known as Princess Beach, where a number of new hotels are under construction. As we continued, the development fell behind us, and the two lane road was surrounded by isolated cabanas and homes, but little in the way of tourist attractions or businesses. Soon in was clear that we were driving on a sandbar separating a lagoon from the ocean, as we could see water on both sides of the road. Eventually, the road became lined with signs for dozens of restaurants, and children stood along the roadside, thrusting advertisements for various establishments through the open windows as we drove past. Finally, our host pulled off the road onto a long dirt driveway and parked.
To call it a restaurant would be a stretch by US standards. The dining area was essentially a picnic shelter with a palm thatched roof and picnic tables arranged in the sand. Hammocks were strung between the poles holding up the roof. There were no walls, and a pleasant breeze drifted off the ocean and through the dining area. The kitchen was surrounded by low walls, and was dimly lit. Had we not been with someone who had eaten here before, I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to actually eat here.
Our hosts began discussing our meal options with one of the owners of the restaurant. She opened an electric cooler and pulled out one enormous fish and two slightly smaller ones. There was some discussion about whether we wanted to share the big one among all six of us or if my wife and I wanted to have one of the smaller ones for ourselves. After deciding that the big one would be enough for everyone, and deciding on our side items, we were asked when we would like to eat. We decided to relax for a bit, and suggested that the food be ready in about an hour. We took our drinks and moved to the hammocks to relax and talk.
An hour later, our food was brought out to us. The fish had been butterflied open, heavily seasoned and grilled. It was brought out to the table on a tray that was easily two feet square. We also had fresh, hot tortillas, black beans, salad and salsa. The food smelled delicious and tasted wonderful. It was spicy, but not so hot that it was impossible to eat. Sitting on the beach, eating authentic Mexican seafood with a Mexican family...what a perfect way to spend our last day in Acapulco! By the time the food was gone, we were all well and truly stuffed. We went for a walk along the beach, again marveling at the powerful surf and watching the local fisherman struggling to make a living from the bounty of the sea.
Eventually, it was time to make our way back to the city and our hotel. We relaxed with our new friends at the pool for a while (no margaritas this time, though), and eventually had to bid them good night. We exchanged e-mails and invitations to visit each others' home cities, and separated to our rooms for the night.
Saturday morning, after breakfast, we packed our luggage, and checked out. Our van arrived and we made one last trip through the now familiar chaos of the city streets. The trip home was uneventful, and our flights under booked, giving us room to stretch out and relax. All too soon, we were home and Acapulco had joined the list of other wonderful places that we now fondly remember visting.
Back at the hotel, we ate a light lunch, and headed back to the beach to take a two person kayak out onto the bay. I didn't take my camera, as I didn't want to risk getting it wet, but when we reached the middle of the bay, I wished I had a waterproof camera. The panoramic views of the city and the mountains beyond it was stunning. This was clearly the best vantage point to appreciate the layout of the bay and the city. For a while we just drifted on the bay, enjoying the views. Eventually, though, we had to make our way back to our hotel.
The rest of the afternoon was spent by the pool. As we relaxed in the shade by the bathwater warm pool, we struck up a conversation with a family from Mexico City. The parents' English skills were about on par with my Spanish, so their daughter and her boyfriend did a lot of translating. The conversation, with its efforts to bridge the language barrier, was quite entertaining. Frequent trips to the poolside bar kept our margaritas filled, which decreased our ability to communicate clearly, but made the efforts seem more entertaining. I quite lost track of how much I'd had to drink until I tried to stand up to go to dinner, and almost fell into the pool! Getting food into my stomach helped, as did a long walk before heading to to bed.
I awoke Friday morning with a bit of a hangover, but breakfast and a couple of Excedrin soon had me feeling almost human again. As we had arranged the evening before, we met our new friends from Mexico City about 11:00am, and the six of us piled into their five passenger car for a trip to Barre Viejo, about thirty miles down the coast. We had been promised that this was the best place to go in the area for seafood, and they were taking out there for lunch.
We drove past the airport, and along the area known as Princess Beach, where a number of new hotels are under construction. As we continued, the development fell behind us, and the two lane road was surrounded by isolated cabanas and homes, but little in the way of tourist attractions or businesses. Soon in was clear that we were driving on a sandbar separating a lagoon from the ocean, as we could see water on both sides of the road. Eventually, the road became lined with signs for dozens of restaurants, and children stood along the roadside, thrusting advertisements for various establishments through the open windows as we drove past. Finally, our host pulled off the road onto a long dirt driveway and parked.
To call it a restaurant would be a stretch by US standards. The dining area was essentially a picnic shelter with a palm thatched roof and picnic tables arranged in the sand. Hammocks were strung between the poles holding up the roof. There were no walls, and a pleasant breeze drifted off the ocean and through the dining area. The kitchen was surrounded by low walls, and was dimly lit. Had we not been with someone who had eaten here before, I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to actually eat here.
Our hosts began discussing our meal options with one of the owners of the restaurant. She opened an electric cooler and pulled out one enormous fish and two slightly smaller ones. There was some discussion about whether we wanted to share the big one among all six of us or if my wife and I wanted to have one of the smaller ones for ourselves. After deciding that the big one would be enough for everyone, and deciding on our side items, we were asked when we would like to eat. We decided to relax for a bit, and suggested that the food be ready in about an hour. We took our drinks and moved to the hammocks to relax and talk.
An hour later, our food was brought out to us. The fish had been butterflied open, heavily seasoned and grilled. It was brought out to the table on a tray that was easily two feet square. We also had fresh, hot tortillas, black beans, salad and salsa. The food smelled delicious and tasted wonderful. It was spicy, but not so hot that it was impossible to eat. Sitting on the beach, eating authentic Mexican seafood with a Mexican family...what a perfect way to spend our last day in Acapulco! By the time the food was gone, we were all well and truly stuffed. We went for a walk along the beach, again marveling at the powerful surf and watching the local fisherman struggling to make a living from the bounty of the sea.
Eventually, it was time to make our way back to the city and our hotel. We relaxed with our new friends at the pool for a while (no margaritas this time, though), and eventually had to bid them good night. We exchanged e-mails and invitations to visit each others' home cities, and separated to our rooms for the night.
Saturday morning, after breakfast, we packed our luggage, and checked out. Our van arrived and we made one last trip through the now familiar chaos of the city streets. The trip home was uneventful, and our flights under booked, giving us room to stretch out and relax. All too soon, we were home and Acapulco had joined the list of other wonderful places that we now fondly remember visting.