Coming Home

I was up with the dawn.  I had to get my last glimpse of Zihua with the sun coming out, so I raced down to the restaurant area where I knew I'd have an unobstructed view of the pay and the sunrise.  Believe it or not, I even beat the staff, so they saw me when I was standing on the palm tree abutment getting my pictures.  They're all very good natured about the whole thing. I got some great panos and stills, and headed back up to the room.

I surfed a bit and then finished the final packing.  I had time on my hands so I emptied all the garbage and stripped the linens.  I made sure to put money in the envelope for my awesome condo cleaner Silvia.  I really like her and she made my room a home for the time I was there.  I headed up to the reception area with my luggage in tow and dropped off the big bag and headed back to the restaurant for my last meal.  They asked if they could arrange a cab, but I was going with Armando ($280 pesos to the airport).

I brought down one of my beers.  The others, I packaged up with some sunscreen, the candles, the lighter, some napkins, some repellent, etc and a note wishing them well. I had a great lunch and said my goodbyes to the waitstaff.  They really are excellent. Zander, Nacho, Carlos, and Antonio are a pleasure, always a ready smile and great service.

I went up to settle my accounts and wait for the cab. Juan Carlos was efficient and had everything ready, which I appreciate.  I loved that he and Yoonuel always looked out for me, making sure I got back and didn't get into any trouble (well...not as far as they know, right?).

Armando

While I was waiting, The couples I got to know at the pool came back from their day of shopping and we exchanged contact information.  What I really love about my WorldMark is the people I meet and the friends I end up with.  We come from all over, but we always seem to find common ground.  I don't mind traveling alone because invariably, I find out that I'm never really alone.  I meet such great people.  We hugged and said our goodbyes.

And guess what?  Armando, my ride was at the resort 15 minutes early (we agreed upon 2 p.m.), so I had no issues getting to the airport and checked in on time.  I did forget to give his card to the front dest for room 402..so if any of you are there, and could pass on the information to them, I'd be most appreciative. The airport at Zihua really is a mess when it comes to getting on your plane.  They don't have a system and everyone crowds to get on.  I didn't care because I was in the 7th row and my seat was reserved, so I hung back and waited for the crowd to disperse a bit.  On the plane I went and watched Zihua fade away behind me from the window seat.

I flew into LAX and it was all relatively simple.  They have kiosks now to check you in with your passport.  It prints out a picture of you on your receipt and you hand the receipt to the Customs Agent. He asks you a couple of questions, and off you go.  Done.  I head to the Southwest terminal, only to find that my next flight was delayed until after 9 p.m.  I go up and ask when that will put me into Sacramento, and he tells me to go to Gate 9 because there's an earlier flight leaving for Sac and they'll waive the fee for me because of the amount of time my flight is delayed.

Only one problem...my checked bag.  It didn't make it on to the new flight.  Ah well, no use crying over spilled milk.  I took some great pics from the air of Los Angeles.  It's really the only way I think the city even looks remotely pretty.  And away I went! My cousin picked me up from the airport and I was home about 9:30 p.m.  At 10:30 p.m. Southwest called and told me they had my bag and they'd lock it up for me until I could pick it up tomorrow.

My Stinkerbutt kitties Cabo and Tahoe took their sweet time telling me they forgive me for leaving them, but Tahoe acknowledged my presence the moment I walked into the bedroom.  I could see her nose under the bed and she let out a little meow, so I know she was happy I was back.  She just decided to bust my chops a bit before she'd let me give her some sugar.  All is well in the Dizzy Crib!

Last Day....

What to do...what to do...

Well, I did do some partial packing and putting things together.  But I knew that this final day needed to be spent saying my goodbyes.  I packed up the left over tequila, hot sauce, salt, etc. and headed into town.

As I'm walking, one of the cab drivers calls me by name. We chitchat and he asks if I have a ride to the airport tomorrow.  I tell him that I don't, and he said for 280 pesos, he'll pick me up at 2 and take me.  Woohoo!  It pays to be friendly and attempt the language here.  And, he truly is a nice guy.

I stopped by Zorro's to see if the coozies came in (they didn't), but had a couple of beers there and said my goodbyes. I then headed over to Porto de Mare to say goodbye to Arturo.  He is the recipient of my leftover stuff.  While in the bar, I ended up meeting 2 more nice couples. And the really cool thing?  They're as conservative as I am.  It was refreshing to be able to talk freely without fear of someone getting all snotty, shooting up their hand as if to block out my existence and dismiss me.  No, I will not get political here and am well aware that everyone has a right to their opinions.  But after the incident in Ixtapa, this was refreshing.

We had a hell of a singsong and talked about the possibilities of being an Expat here.  Especially since the one couple just put an offer on a place.  I've been reading the "Two Expats" blog and its really good and makes me believe that all things are possible...including living in paradise.  I also got a couple of suggestions to try when I come back, which I will share with you.

1.  3 different types of Posole at Saint Prescia Posolaria.  Only offered on Thursdays between 1 - 5.   Be there between 12 and 12:30 because the band starts at 1:15 and it will be impossible to get in.

2.  First restaurant on the right side of the basketball courts offers meatloaf on Fridays with mashed potatoes and veggies.  If you get tired of the local cuisine and just need a tastebud break, apparently, it's really good.

I didn't want to head back too late, so I said my goodbyes and gave hugs all around.   And made my last trek up the staircase.  Yes, it was dark. No, it wasn't late. Yes, I had protection.  No, nothing happened to me.  I walked into the entry and talked my friends at the resort.  They couldn't believe I was leaving and said that I was part of the family now that I've stayed so long.  I feel like it.

I took one more dip in the pool and gazed at the stars and the lights of Zihua.  This truly is a wondrous place. I headed back up because I still needed to check in for my Southwest flight from LAX.  Don't forget...You are two hours ahead of the west coast, so when checking into an 8:40 flight from LAX, you can't do it until 10:40 Zihua time.  Fortunately, I'm A16, so it paid off!!!

A little more packing and off to bed.  Gotta see the sunrise in the morning!!

Second to the last Day

I woke up this morning and thought I'd do some computer cleanup.  I had about 16,000 emails I needed to delete off my computer, and I've been putting it off for forever.  As usual, I don't dress up to go on the balcony and sip tea, and do my thing.  However, I stepped out on to the balcony and these voices above me started laughing and saying "guess you didn't expect us above you".  That would be correct sir!

Turns out there's a cruise ship in the bay, which is unusual.  I've never seen it.  So there's three different stories going around about the ships.

1. An expat told me last year that cruise ships used to come in regularly, but the expats started a campaign to have them banned and succeeded.  If that's true...why the cruise ship?

2.  I heard that the cruise ship industry refers to our area as a "red" area, i.e. heavy cartel traffic, and refuses to bring the cruise ships in to Zihua.

3.  I heard that occasionally the smaller cruise ships will come in.  The larger ones want access, but in order to do so, the bay would need to be dredged to allow the depth necessary for the larger ones.  Zihua is too poor to pay for the dredging, so they told the cruise industry that they would have to pay for it if they want it. The industry seems unwilling to do so, so they only send the smaller ships occasionally.

I don't know which story is right...all I know is...I see a cruise ship!

We had fun discussing the whole thing, but I really looked funny with my poofy hair on top of my head and my long shirt on, holding a laptop and craning my neck to talk to two different couples.

Are these dates? 

They did finally leave me alone to clean my mailboxes, and a couple of hours later..I was done.  One thing off the list! Later, I headed down to the pool and did some snoozing and sunbathing.  I ordered the obligatory Miami Vice during happy hour and sipped away in contentment.  I ended up talking to the couples I've made friends with.  Seems I created a monster telling them about La Papa Loca, because they were headed there again for the stuffed potatoes...not that I blame them.

I headed down to Lety's. I had the breaded fish because I'd read a different blog about an expat in Akumal and he was talking about a place that had the best breaded fish and that he's had it at least 60 times.  Being one of Pavlov's dogs...well....I had to have it. It was good, but not as good as I would've expected.  However, I was hungry (I forgot to eat) and ate all of my vegetables and rice. For 145 pesos (including the beer), I was doing alright. I'm getting low on pesos and I refuse to pull out more money, so we're watching it.

It's Sunday, so there's festivities in the central basketball courts.  Arturo told me I had to check it out.  I watched the dancing and the people having such a great time.  The sun was starting to set and to witness this with the incredible hillside as a backdrop was just breathtaking.

The Tamale Man

I walked around just taking in the sights, knowing that time is short and I'm headed home soon.  They had all kinds of vendors in the square. You could get Agua Fresca, tamales, empanadas, ice cream, pop corn, corn on a stick...you name it, it's probably there. After doing some walking around, I decided to sample the local cuisine. I opted for the empanada. It's this huge monstrosity that you get to choose the fillings for and the make it right on the spot.  This includes the masa that surrounds it.  I decided that since it's close to leaving, I'd take a chance on the pork and queso.

Watching them work was really something. Mixing the masa, rolling it into balls, pressing it out into an oblong shape, putting in the filling and sealing it shut and sliding it into the hot oil. Absolutely awesome.  I prayed that I would not be paying for this gastro-intestinally later.  After it came out of the hot oil and patted dry, they split the side and put more toppings on...shredded cabbage, cheese, creama and hot sauce. The price for this huge meal? 30 pesos!

I find an empty park bench and dig in, enjoying the spicyness and the stringy melty cheese.  This was something that required fingers along with my fork.  I thought about using my tactical knife, but thought the better of it.  As I'm eating, families are walking by watching me attempt to eat cleanly.  I'm sure they were giggling inside.

I walk around a little bit more after finishing the empanada, but I know I want to head back before it gets too late.  It's about 8 p.m. when I head back to the stair case.  Yes, I know.  I had my flashlight out and my knife out and open...just in case.  I look up the long stair case take a deep breath and begin the steppin!  Other than my huffing and puffing, everything was pretty quiet.  I stopped half way up so I could look at the lights of Zihua.  This place is magical and I love being here. The weather this week has been phenomenal!  The temperature was just right...although once I hit the top of the stairs, I had sweat running down my neck..a combination of not being in shape and a heightened sense of my surroundings. Just glad I didn't have to use the knife.  I click it shut and head into the resort.

One more day....

Zihua at night

So today I hung out by the pool, and around 5 headed back to my room to change clothes and head into town.  You know, as we get older, we do tend to end our evenings a little earlier.  In Zihua, that would be a big mistake.  This town comes alive as the sun goes down...especially on the weekends. Tonight the weather was cool and inviting. The town came out like a tour de force.

I walked the steps, the cobblestone street and into downtown Zihua.  I knew where I was headed tonight...Daniels.  I was going to see Alfredo play and say hello to his lovely wife Julia.  And, I figured that I'd have a final meal on the beach, listen to some great music, etc.  She was there and greeted me with a warm hug. She was sitting with friends, and I didn't want to interrupt, so I headed for a table on the beach, sat down and ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.  Wow...beautiful sunset, perfect temperature, sand in my toes, sipping on chilled wine.  This is a mental picture I'll take with me for when I lose my patience at work or home gets exasperating...right? 

I ordered the Daniels special salad that came with romaine lettuce, pine nuts, tomatoes, shrimp and a parmesan crispy chip that was the size of the salad plate.  With balsamic vinaigrette sprinkled on top...wow, it was really good. The nuttiness of the parmesan along with the pine nuts, the shrimp was tender and spicy...but not so much as to overwhelm the dish.  

I also ordered the Mahi-Mahi burger that came with fries.  I'm really particular about my fries and most people don't make them to where I enjoy them. They have to be the right amount of crisp and salty, or I just won't eat them. But the burger was delicious. It had some queso, tomato, lettuce, etc and the patty was nice and thick.  I put a blend of cocktail sauce and vinaigrette on the bun and enjoyed it that way. 

They let me enjoy my table for as long as I wanted, so I sat there for a couple of hours...taking my time, enjoying the music along with the crash of the waves. Watching families stroll along the waters edge and having fun.  It's my last weekend and I'm making the most of it.  After a while, I give up the table and move to the sidewalk to finish watching the set. I say my goodbyes and head into the middle of town. 

I'm headed for Zorro's.  I need a couple more coozies to make out my collection and my friends R and K's collection.  They are sold out.  They said that they had more coming, so I told them I'd check back on Monday...my last day.  With a little luck, I will acquire what I need.

After that, I head over to Arturo's for a cerveza and to chitchat.  The crowd at the bar was quite boisterous and loud, but I still managed to get a table.  One of the guys tells Arturo a mexican joke.  "A french poodle was walking along and met up with three dogs...a German Shepard, an English Bulldog and a Mexican Chihuahua.  The french poodle tells the three dogs if they can use the words liver and cheese in a sentence to impress her, she's theirs.  The German Shepard says...I like liver and cheese...she sniffs up her nose at him. The English Bulldog says liver and cheese taste delicious in a dish.  She's still not impressed. The Mexican Chihuahua says "liver alone..cheese with me" and off they go into the sunset."  The joke is ok, but the level of tequila in this group was quite high and they were laughing their butts off.  I was laughing at them laughing, it was so funny.  I guess my tequila blood alcohol level wasn't high enough.

I drank a couple of cerveza's and Arturo and I chitchatted about family, etc.  We really do have a good time conversing.  He told me about the food and fun available tomorrow (Sundays) in the square and that I really should go.  He also said that La Portenia (a restaurant a couple of spaces down) has really good food and that I should try it.  He knows the owner and said that I wouldn't be disappointed.  If I can make it in there this trip, I'll try.

I pay my bill and head back out into the busy town.  It is amazing how many people are out, including young children at 10 p.m. at night.  Like I said, the town comes alive in the evenings.  If you are a people watcher...this is the time to be out and about.  After doing my share, I decide it's time to head home and hail a taxi.

Meeting New Friends

So today, I headed out early. Someone told me about the fried chicken place, and I figured that it would be great for a brunch item.  So I was up, showered, dressed, caught up on emails, etc and out by 9:30 a.m.  I did my trek down the staircase, and traversed the cobblestone road, over the canal and along with waterfront.

I have to say, morning in Zihua is pretty awesome.  Everyone is eating breakfast, or they have a breakfast item in their hand. They're prepping for the day, smiling and starting off the day as if they don't have a care in the world.  I really like that.  I got to the second canal overpass and knew that I had to follow the canal on the city side and that the chicken place would be on the left hand side.  As I'm walking, the traffic starts to back up and people are laying on the horns.  Come to find out a huge bus (kinda like the gambling casino buses) is trying to turn on the street, and they're not quite making it, so they're having to seesaw back and forth to get through.  It was quite funny to watch, but obviously, the other drivers were having none of it.

I finally come up to the chicken place and place my order.  The only thing I have is a 500 Peso note and they don't have change, so I head to the store a couple of stalls down and purchase a pineapple soda.  I haven't had soda in a long time...let alone a pineapple one...but it looked appealing and I thought "Por que' no?" Now I had some change and  could pay for the rest of the chicken. I had to wait about a half hour, but it was definitely worth the wait.  I purchased 4 pieces of chicken with mashed potatoes and cole slaw for 115 pesos.

I went and found a bench on the malecon facing the ocean, opened up my pop, and pulled out a piece of chicken.  YUM!  The skin was crispy and not too greasy. The meat was tender and yes, cooked...no pink. Not overly spicy.  Now if you've ever had southern fried chicken...well, this wasn't as good.  The south knows their chicken.  However, this was a good substitute.  Better than KFC.  You can really taste the chicken.  The mashed potatoes were ok, and I'm not a slaw fan. It was ok as far as slaw goes, but unless it's dry slaw, I just don't prefer it.  I ate two pieces of the chicken and put the rest away for breakfast tomorrow. I drank about a quarter of the soda and threw the rest away.

After that, I hobnobbed around the town, looking in the shops and trying to figure out what to get my neighbor for watching my beloved stinkerbutt kitties.  It started to get hot around town, so I made my way back to the resort...yes, up the steps. But I did pass the house I really like and wouldn't mind owning if I lived here.  It's a beautiful little number..three stories.  I had to take pictures and show it.

Once I got back, I donned a suit and headed to the pool.  That is where I met B.  She's on the FB WorldMark page and we had exchanged a couple of texts, but hadn't met yet.  She speaks PM geek speak, so we had ourselves a hell of a singsong in the pool.  Too fun.  Unfortunately, her guy has been laid low the past 3 days due to some bug, and she's been jonzing to get out.  Hey, I'm always up for a wing chick...let's hit the town!

She came by and picked up the pedialyte, the gatorade, and some other stuff to help her man. And a couple of hours later, came back by and we headed out.  We scoped out a pharmacia to see if it had the gatorade and a couple of other items her man needs. then we walked to the basketball court to watch these drill teams made up of school children.  Not quite sure what they were commemorating, but it was cool to watch.

We started raising our eyes skyward and looking at the second story restaurants and bars, searching out a place for dinner and a cool view.  We went into one that just opened and was pretty empty, although the view was awesome.  Then we walked to the other side of Coconuts and opted for a restaurant that had a lot of cheap options for dinner.  We walked up the staircase to the second floor and ordered a couple of margaritas.

Man oh man...this place knows how to make a margarita.  They went down so smoothly.  We decided to share a pizza and went with one that had pineapple, bacon, ham and jalapeños...I know, right?  You can't go wrong with pig, fruit and heat!  It was just a cool, relaxing evening, and we chitchatted about a lot of stuff.  This girl is interesting.  She's travelled and lived in China. How cool is that? This, my friends, is the really cool thing about my WorldMark.  Everywhere I go, I meet cool, laid back people. We all seem to be comfortable hanging out, talking, sharing experiences...and if I'm really lucky, they stay friends for a long time to come.

The pizza was really good.  They have their own pizza oven, and you could tell the dough is made fresh and the ingredients was farm to table.  B had pizza already here in Zihua and she said that this place was hands down much better than the last one.  And they do deliver to the resort.  She also pulled a really cool move and when she ordered her pizza last time, to be delivered to the resort, she also ordered a pie for the staff.  How cool is that?

Afterward, we headed out and walked through Coconuts so she could see how pretty it was all lit up at night.  We then hit the Pharmacia and picked up our items and then walked along the malecon to the pier.  They were holding a concert there, so we walked up and started listening to the band.  The band was good and played a variety of songs.  We sat along the waters edge and just totally got into it.

Band at the Zihua Pier

Beside us was a group of 4 guys...locals, that were having fun and drinking beer.  One of them came over and handed each of us a beer and cracked it open for us (hey, good move...no date rape drug in the beer can!).  We enjoyed the beer and one of them came back over to talk to us.  His english was limited, but we were getting by understanding each other.  He asked us if we liked men, and we laughed and said that we did.  And then B...right off the cuff asks him if he likes men!  You should've seen how big his eyes got and how quickly he let us know, that no...he likes women.  I about spewed my beer, it was so funny.  He does heating and cooling in Zihua although he belongs to a state in the middle of Mexico.

His friend came over and sat next to me.  His english was less than his friend.  But he kept calling me beautiful and I kept telling him that he was too young for me. I did take a picture with him though. He wanted to come home with me and B had one that wanted to go home with her...even though he knew she had an "esposa".  Mine kept wanting kisses and telling me I was beautiful.  Very sweet, but Dude...I said at the beginning of this trip..NO MEN!

We knew it was time to make our exit and leave, but it can't be all bad to know that you still got it, right? We went taxi hunting (don't want to walk the stairs late at night and get robbed) and made our way home.  But it was a night to remember!  I had a hell of a time, so much fun, and I appreciate having such a cool chick along for the ride.  However, she has to disavow all knowledge of everything that may have compromised us for the evening!

La Sirena Gorda

This morning was all about working out my issues with AT&T.  I had already talked to them once on this trip, but it seems that somehow I was charged over $100 before my package option went into effect.  That shouldn't have happened.  After spending some time, I was finally transferred to International and Julie took care of me.  Not only did she take care of me, but instead of owing $320 for this months bill, it's now $138 (That's dollars, not pesos).  Happy Dance!

I got dressed and headed to town to take in the sights.  I'm looking for a couple of last minute things and didn't quite find what I'm looking for.  I did see a lot of pretty artwork, and home made rugs.  I even looked for a runner rug for my kitchen to cover the concrete floor seams.  Didn't quite find what I was looking for though.

Traipsing about in the heat of the day makes you thirsty, so I headed to Zorro's for a beer.  Met a group of gentlemen there and had a great discussion.  Found out that a sail boat that's been abandoned for the last couple of years (apparently there's some lawsuit with the owner, etc) beached over at Playa la Ropa during the mini storm last Sunday.  Although a couple of boats tried to pull it back to deeper water, it didn't happen.  The next day, the scavengers came out and had a crane drag it further onto the beach and  picked over the thing and stripped it down.  Looks like the owner is going to come back to nothing.  Ah well.

We also talked about how they spend 6 months a year down here.  Their rent is about $200 per month, which makes it totally affordable. I'm beginning to get the picture.

After two beers, and not having eaten breakfast, and it being past lunch, I went in search of something different.  I headed to a place called La Sirena Gorda, which is on the Malecon across from the Mexican Naval Installation.  I really didn't want a full blown meal so I ordered the empanadas.  You get three, so I chose 2 fish and one cheese.  The waiter brought out two different kinds of green salsas, both good and spicy, but one of them super hot.  No worries....I got this.

He brings out the empanadas and they have a light, flaky crust that is not greasy.  They were so good.  The cheese is really cheesy.  Put some of that green salsa on it and the flavor just soars. The fish empanadas were not too fishy, lots of flavor and just melts in your mouth.  Oh yeah, I was a happy camper.  I finished those off in no time flat $100 pesos for the empanadas, which is a tad pricy but considering where the restaurant is located, to be expected.

I finish off the meal and head to visit Arturo.  There's all kinds of couples around the bar, and we're sharing the places where we've eaten, etc.  I was turned on to another place for tomorrow.  The only fried chicken place in Zihuatanejo, and apparently, it's so good that a line forms and could take a half hour to get chicken!  Well, after eating Mexican food and fish most of the time, this would be a welcomed change, so...I will let you know tomorrow all the details about the fried chicken place.

Veggin

So I hung out at the pool and met another couple.  Young, loving being here.  They prefer this to Coral Baja because it's so quiet and boutiqish. They don't have kids yet, so when they do, they'll totally get back in to the Coral Baja thing.

I didn't go into town today, not that I'm not into exercising or anything, but more of just staying around the resort, not spending money, etc. I'm poised to go back with a couple extra bucks in my pocket and that's always a good thing when you have to replace your ride at home.  Ugh, so many things to do...The list is endless, and I'm just putting off the inevitable.

I decided for dinner to take a walk to Leo's again.  This time, I passed on my tacos and went for the Sopa de Mariscos....Seafood soup. Man oh man was it delicious!  Big, huge whole shrimp, a half a lobster, pulpo, snapper, etc, all floating in a rich broth.  Only 130 Pesos. The stuff was so good, and I was slurping away.  The Gato (kitty) wanted me to share, which I was loathed to do, but I did.  So we're both happy.

The restaurant owners had their children with them and the baby was about a year and a half.  He took a liking to me, making all kinds of faces and just giggling up a storm.  Every time I'd start to concentrate on my soup, he'd let out this big yell so I'd be forced to look at him and smile.  His mommy got tired of that and hauled him away after awhile.

I came back and put out my candles, and made myself a drink, put on some music and just relaxed under the stars. It was a beautiful night.  I have neighbors above me that are a hoot and keep looking over to see what I'm doing.  I'm wondering if they've ever been out of the Country before.  I'll keep you posted.

Danger Will Robinson

I, again, headed to the pool today and did some serious snoozing...right thru happy hour from 12 to 2.  Ah well, I'm sure my liver could use the break.  When I woke up, there were two couples by the poolside.  One couple I had met on Sunday.  They really are a lot of fun and we have great conversation. We got into another conversation and the gentlemen tells me that an American Couple got robbed on the Stone Stairway last night.  What? I was on that stairway!  It was apparently at about 10:30 last night...about an hour and a half after I traversed it.  The couple are not staying at our resort, so I didn't get details, and we know that's where the devil is.

He worried about me taking the stairs, but I told him that I take the stairs loaded for bear, i.e. I carry a tactical knife with me and I know how to use it.  That doesn't mean I go looking for trouble, it just means that if trouble finds me, I've got an edge. I will try to avoid taking the stairs late at night.  I thanked him for letting me know and I headed back to my room to shower, etc.

I dress in a skirt and top and clip my knife to my waist...blade in, so no one can see it.  I head down to the Malecon and visit Arturo, and my conservative couple are there.  We talk about our dinner plans.  They're headed to Coconuts, which is a really beautiful place.  I'm headed to a place called La Papa Loca (The Crazy Potato).  I hear they have these potatoes to die for, stuffed with all kinds of wonderful goodness and cheap!  I get directions from Arturo and another couple of guys and off I head.

The evening is cooler and the streets are teaming with the locals.  I'm headed off the beaten path to a more non-touristy area.  This place is on the other side of the Mercado Centro Municipal, i.e. the two block long series of indoor stores, shops, restaurants, etc. I walk at a decent clip, swerving my head side-to-side trying to locate the place.

I actually do find it and the place is PACKED with locals and tourists.  Seems the word has gotten out about this place.  I look at a menu that is entirely in Spanish.  Fortunately, I can make my way around it  pretty well.  I order the Papas Mas Crazy....a stuff potato filled with Chorizo, Queso, ham, sour cream, chopped up hotdogs, etc.  Before they bring it out, they provide me with chips, salsa, sliced limes, sliced radishes and grilled onions.  I think you use them when you have more of a taco and add them to it.  I snacked on the radishes and ate one of the grilled onions.  It was really good.

Then they brought out this monstrosity.  OMG, this thing is a serious treat.  I dip my fork in and try to get a bit that has a little bit of everything on it.  I put it in my mouth and I taste the creamiest potato I've ever had!  The chorizo is good...not too spicy or hot, but compliments the creaminess of the potato. The ham, cheese, hotdogs, etc is a good balance salty and zippiness without overpowering the whole dish.  Wow...I gotta make these for my niece for "Make your own baked potato" night.  I wonder what she'll think of them.

This place is popular.  People are lining up for a table, and I got in just in time.  Not that I mind sharing my table.  This cute little boy came up and he's just staring at me..I think he's gonna try and roll me for the table, but my Momma didn't raise no whimps!  I can totally take a 6 year old down if I have to!!

I enjoy every delicious bite of my potato and my belly is ROUND!!! Cost of the potato?  $70 Pesos.  Yep, that was one cheap, filling meal.  I get up, pay my bill and head out to walk off some of this bloated belly I'm carrying around with me.  Couples are walking around me, holding hands, smooching in dark corners.  Some of these kids look way to young to be canoodling, but now that I'm older...everyone looks young to me.  There are still girls in their school uniforms, I think they're headed home. I cross the busy streets and finally get to familiar surroundings...the cobblestone walking streets.

I tool around there for a bit, and head back to Arturo to let him know I found the place and how good I thought it was.  I also catch a taxi home.  No need biting something off that I don't need to.  Besides, with this round belly, I may not be as fast as I think I am.  Good night Peeps.  Until tomorrow.