Mazatlan Weekend February 22 2019

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Before I start, the weather here at home is traditional in the fact that if follows the Mexican saying, "Febrero loco, Marzo un poco".   Crazy weather in February and a little bit in March. Sunday was 39C and Sunday night was 5C.  It has been cold and rainy this week.  

And for those that are movie buffs, thinking about Little Bit the movie, "Come Back Little Sheba" has been on my mind.  Shirley Booth, as she stands at the screen door looking out, says to Burt Lancaster, "she's not comin' back, is she doc?".    I feel lower than the rent on a burning building.   But that's another story you can ask me about one day, I used to live in one.  

We wanted to go to Las Vegas.  It just didn't work out.  I couldn't justify paying $2200 U.S. for a five-day weekend.   Cirque du Soleil is performing one of their originals, Mystere, at Treasure Island.  It has gotten ridiculous.  The airfares alone are more than flights to Europe and all the hotels have good rates until you add state and hotel taxes and then a resort fee.   You've got to be kidding.  I rather wait and go to Spain in the fall. 

Our flight from Monterrey to Mazatlan on a discount airline was $65 round trip.  

We started out at the same hotel, Coral Maria which is on the island and in between both rv parks.  Convenient because we like staying on the island and the simple fact we can visit lots of friends and acquaintances.   The hotel has gone downhill.  The rooms are clean and good air conditioning.  But the services were stinky to say the least.   The restaurant has closed, there is no more continental breakfast but they do serve instant coffee in the lobby.  Big deal.   The place smells funny too.  We switched the second night to a suite.  It was better but the rooms weren't the issue.  You are paying for services that you don't receive.  

We moved the third-night next door or two doors down to a new hotel that only has about 18 rooms.  Fresh, new, coffee service, refrigerator, comfortable beds, access to the beach, palapas, and very good internet.  I didn't mention that the previous hotel had no internet except spotty signals in the lobby.  No go.

We think that the beach has never been better.  It was cleaner than ever before thanks to people who are spreading the word about taking a bag and filling it with trash.   On our first walk of the weekend, we saw literally no trash, but we did see many sea animals whose lives had come to an end such as starfish and puffer fish and one eel (could have been a sea snake). 

As always, we seek out the local places.   We took the lancha to Mazatlan and then the bus to the market.  Lancha was 10 pesos and the bus 8.50 pesos.   You get a local ride through the city and are dropped off right at the corner of the market.   The best place to eat is Tony's Burger.  They have excellent shrimp burgers and besides the secret seasonings, they grill the shrimp in butter.  Yum!   I didn't have one but I watched :)

Sunday evening the two parks threw a wienie roast.   It was fun meeting up with all the rvers.   Many we haven't seen or heard from since our last visit a couple of years ago.  A special shout out to Jerry and Sue who we did see but didn't get a chance to go back and have a chat and a drink together.  They are great people.

We also went out for dinner that night.  A new to us place called Topolo in the Machado.  It was good but I think we have had better.  The service though was top drawer but I doubt we would go back.  The waiter said it is 90% gringo and you could tell by the prices.

We also spent one afternoon walking along the malecon.  There is a lot to see as well as the fact that they have done a complete remodel.  BTW, Mazatlan has the world's longest malecon, the highest lighthouse, and the largest wall mural.  I didn't know that.