The day did not start out well. Our flight arrived late, the baggage was nearly lost, and when we finally made it to the Budget office to pick up our rental car, we were told that they had released our reservation and had no vehicles at all. Rebecca, John’s niece, managed to get somebody at Avis to give us a car, although it was more four times our previous rate. At least we were not taking a bus.
Things improved after that. We went off to a not-particularly-attractive part of Guadalajara to pick up Ellen and Mike. My sister and brother-in-law arrived a day before us and they had found an inexpensive hotel to spend the night. I was happy to hear that they had slept well because I was pretty sure that I was not going to be able to drive the whole way on three hours of sleep.
We were out of Mexico’s second largest city without too much difficulty, and pretty soon the car was on the tollroad climbing up into the Sierra Madre Occidental. I should mention at this time that this vehicle, a Nissan SUV, was packed with six people and way too much luggage. Rochelle, Rebecca’s traveling companion from Berkeley, was stuck in the very back on a tiny little pop-up seat with all the suitcases piled around her. What a trooper! After about an hour, we all decided that we needed a bit too eat and poor Rochelle should get the chance to move her legs again. So we decided it was time for some Tequila!
I am not speaking of the alcoholic beverage right now, but the town which gave its name to that drink. Santiago de Tequila is a small city just to the west of Guadalajara on the arid leeward slopes of the mountain range. It is a charming little city, and has been designated as a World Heritage Site. We stopped at the Casona Antigua for lunch. It was great!
Afterwards, we walked around the Casona. It is not only a restaurant, but also one of the larger hotels in the area and I suspect the most expensive. Just off the lobby we walked though this small bar. I was a little surprised in this conservative part of Mexico to see that they had incorporated an old altarpiece into the bar decor.
La Casona Antigua has a delightful rooftop bar area with great views of the town.
After this, we broke into groups and went shopping. I found the shop for the Rubio distillery and joked to my brother-in-law that he should get something there with the “Marca de Rubio.” He is such a die-hard Democrat that he did not find that at all amusing. But we all did find posing with the phony campesino in the square more humorous. Rochelle, the young lady on the left, seemed to particularly grasp the silliness of the whole thing.
After lunch, I let Mike drive the remaining three hours to the coast. We are staying at El Encanto, a small hotel just off the beach in Santa Cruz de Miramar, a small town about a half hour south of San Blas. John stayed here last January when he came down to Mexico to visit our friend Bob. He was so taken with the place that he decided to get many of our favorite friends and relatives to come join us here for a few days who could take a week off work and were up to a hotel with no room service and a few spiders. Surprisingly, we had all fourteen beds filled within three days of issuing the invitation. All had purchased airplane tickets and wait list was formed. There was no turning back.
We made it here a in the late afternoon. We greeted everybody—most people arrived before us—and unpacked our stuff. John walked down to the beach just before sunset.
Jim, the owner of El Encanto, often hosts large groups like Yoga retreats, and he has a eating area across the road from the hotel right next to his own house. It is festooned with lots of colorful lights. You can see it in the background behind Ellen.
Once we arrive, we were not surprised to find Sherry in the kitchen helping out with the dinner.
Meanwhile, the rest of us, like Mike, just sat around and chatted with each other.
