Well, checking you out as well,. Was a lovely afternoon at the El Nido Mexican Bird Sanctuary at Observatorio 1873 in Mazatlan.
A bit of an adjustment, but I did understand the last word. (not always, but this time we did just follow the crowd)
A little haggard, but we made it to our hotel, the El Cid Granada.
The timing was actually perfect, our first........
....... of 7 sunsets, and our first of ???Margaritas at this all-inclusive resort!
Gorgeous!
The next morning it was time to explore a bit more......
Not a bad walking trail......
......settling into tourist mode.......
.......yup, we cool..........
Our mode of transport from our sister hotel, (and access to the beach) the El Cid Castilla Beach and ours, the El Cid Granada was across this walkway. (So very convenient, that road got extremely busy at times.)
My guess would be at least 30 times over the course of our 7 night stay.
A visit poolside. Hey, stick around! (Unfortunately the first and last we saw this guy.)
Our cheat sheet for the week, many, many times this little chart helped us out.
All inclusive happy hour, and we got a prime spot.
Another perfect end to the day.......
Ritsue always has a knack for bumping into people, so I wasn't surprised to see her hanging with Tinkerbell and Minnie.
On this day we took a bus tour to check out some of the sights. (Here we are at the Mazatlan sign at the beginning of the Malecon.)
Our hotel is back there somewhere......
.....she just has a knack of making friends wherever she goes.......
We have arrived! (Unfortunately, on this day, the Basilica Cathedral of Mazatlan was closed.) Something the tour company neglected to tell us, hmnnn........
Interesting checking out the huge marketplace in Old Mazatlan.....
....it was a busy day, as I'm sure every day is in the marketplace.
Poser!
Took the tram up to the Observatorio Mazatlan.
......look down, look wayyyyyyyy down........
Just happened to be a Quinceanera going on, how festive!
We were the last 2 to get into the bird sanctuary on that day. (Our own private guided tour, lucky!)
Impressive, but sorry, not feeling the love Benjamin........
There's our buddy! (He came out to play shortly after...)
Another new friend!
2 of the many flamingos on site.
Papayas, at least I think........
Sunsets abound in Mazatlan, wow.
Now I'm getting the hang of this all-inclusive thing!
On this day it was try it the locals way. We got our $13 pesos (less than $1 Canadian) and waited outside the hotel.......
It was a pretty full city bus, I was lucky enough to stand in the stairwell, lol.
I think the locals can guess who the tourists are.
....back in old Mazatlan, was very busy, being New Year's Eve and all.
The Cathedral was open , and there was a service that we were welcome to attend.
Absolutely stunning architecture......
...back outside, there were hints of Christmas everywhere, well into the New Year. (A much appreciated festive atmosphere.
.....and now for something local, a jalapeno mango smoothie! (Was quite tasty, I must say.)
The all-inclusive New Year's dinner and party was in one of the ballrooms of the El Cid Castilla Beach hotel.
All-inclusive! Don't need will power, New Year's resolutions don't start until tomorrow!
Didn't quite make it 'til midnight, but did manage to take an evening stroll around our hood.
Nice and quiet, just the way this old dog likes it.....
Happy New Year! (One of my New Year's resolution was to not have the deer in the headlights look when I attempt a selfie, yikes!)
New Year's Day was lounging at our hotel pool.
The, not really grumpy, why would you be when your enjoying a Mexican frosty pop at Gus and Gus Bar and Grill, pic.
Getting close to the end of this adventure. We went for a stroll along the beach.
Now that was a very comfortable bare foot walk, I'll tell you what. (Stolen from Hank Hill, not sorry.)
The photos are not in order, c'est la vie. We only had one night at the Gus and Gus.
They had a band that played all the old rock and roll hits of my day, they were awesome musicians, nice bonus.
The second to last day we took another bus tour, this time out into the country. (This rooster pic is for Unk, that's one proud cock!)
This was a sidebar to the real trip. We went to this farm to watch this horse dance, not kidding. (I think the tour guide was in cahoots with the owners, because tipping was encouraged after the brief show.)
Well, once again, she's managed to be the star of the show!
The irony is not lost, we were at this farm on a country narrow dirt road, and here we are arriving in this fancy shmancy, thank goodness air conditioned, tour bus.
What a contrast........
....still interesting seeing how others live......
The main purpose of this adventure was to see the blue agave plants and visit the La Vinata Tequila Distillery.
Very enjoyable.......
Lots of history here.......
The coconuts abound/abounded?
Well, two tickets each for Tequila tasting, you had us at one!
When in Rome......
Ya, selfie time, kanpai!
We stopped at La Noria for lunch, what a quaint, albeit touristy, village.
At lunch, Ritsue got to mash up our salsa, yum-yum.
Guess what? We got back in time to enjoy our last sunset in Mazatlan.
All incluse means you don't always get what you ask for. This "Bloody Mary" certainly got lost in the translation, wow.
One last look west.......
......and east (I think), before it was time to......
....hey wait a minute! You can hide but sorry, it's time to go......
Try to make this story short. At the airport we only had 40 pesos left. This water was 41 pesos and they were not about to give us a deal, lol. Finally, I went through my suitcase and found a 1 peso coin, hallelujah!
A short walk and it was on the plane......
Very proud of ourselves, the only souvenir bought was this Christmas ornament Ritsue got. It says Mazatlan on there somewhere.
A little late, but it was fun to bring out the toy trucks our transport coordinator Andrew has been giving us over the 7 filming seasons of the Good Doctor.
Not random, but saw a documentary on the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State on T.V. Couldn't remember when me and the kids went to see the iconic Tom Petty. After a lot of searching, I finally found the ticket stub. So memorable.
