Worst Day EVER!!!

Well, I mean, I did have to set my alarm clock so that I would be up and ready to go this morning.  The plan was to meet up in town and get our ferry tickets to Playa Las Gatas.  The only way to reach the beach (as far as I know) is by boat.  I set my alarm for 7 a.m. and was up and ready to go in no time (not a lot of makeup, and my bathing suit choices are not vast, so..).

However, at 7:30 a.m. the electricity went off, and the generators came on with a large bang.  Well, we know they work so that's a good thing.  But for some reason, my air conditioner stopped working. I messed with it a bit and turned it back on thinking that all would be well, and down to town I headed.

I met up with my friends and we got our tickets on the municipal pier. The price went up 10 pesos to a grand total of 50 pesos for the round trip.  No big deal. We get into the boat and the boat captain's son collected our ticket halves. He must of been all of 10 years of age, and cuter than heck.  We made our journey across and headed down the beach in search of "Davide"...pronounced "Daveed". My friend made his acquaintance a couple of years back and managed to reserve our lounge chairs at Otilla's.

The views were incredible!  The water was nice and clear.  Word of warning...bring some flip flops or water socks.  The beach above the water line is fine, but below is quite rocky.  We not only had lounge chairs, but they also set us up with reclining chairs in the water.  How refreshing was that?  So my buddy and I kicked back and enjoyed the waves, with the occasional big wave down the back... I believe the saying is "Never turn your back on the ocean".

We ended up getting some snacks and drinks there.  I had the Tequila Sunrise and a Pina Colada. We shared some mummy shrimp (wrapped in bacon), some coconut shrimp stuffed with cream cheese and some abalone sautéed in garlic.  Yum!  A little later we shared some fish tacos and chicken tacos. It was quite the afternoon. Warm sun, snoozing in the lounger, dipping in the ocean.  We basically spent the day there.  When it came time, we took the water taxi back.

We caught a beer with Arturo to recharge out of the sun and we each headed back to our respective places to shower.  The plan was to meet at 8 for dinner at Porto de Mare.  I got back to my room...but it was not cool and refreshing.  The AC still wasn't quite right.  I took my shower and got ready and let the front desk know what was going on.  They said they'd have someone check it out and fix it while I was at dinner, if that was ok with me.  It totally was.

I headed back into town, down the flight of steps.  It's almost a full moon and the bay is lit up with moonlight.  You can see all the lights twinkling across the bay, the sounds of insects in the night.  It was pretty cool.  But once again...the air is not moving.  It is warm and I know I'll be shiny from sweat when I arrive there.

I'm running a bit early so I watch the locals play basketball in the town court. Yes, that is the game here, and that is what the court is for.  Right smack in the middle of the Malecon, facing the ocean.  Families converge from all around. Food stands are scattered around with the local favorite eats and drinks.  Kids are driving mini cars in the square, while other kids are playing around them.  Very much community here.

My friends come walking up and we head back to the restaurant for dinner.  It was exceptional.  We each started with an appetizer, one had calamari, one had caprese salad, and I had the tomato/goat cheese/avacado stack with a balsamic reduction.  OMG, that thing was the bomb!  I will be copying that dish at home!  The ripe tomato slices with the creaminess of the avocado and the decadent richness of the goat cheese.  It had just the right tang to complement the sweetness of the balsamic reduction.  Man oh man....how can you not wax eloquent in the face of such deliciousness?

For my main course, I chose the red snapper stuffed with shrimp in a cream sauce with mixed vegetables and potato.  Again, an exceptional meal. The snapper was tender and wasn't overloaded in sauce. The stuffing inside contained the shrimp and very finely chopped onion with a touch of celery. It was really a nice bite.  We shared a Sangiovese to go with it and just had an awesome time.

In the background was a really talented guitarist that played some Santana and other great choices.  Not too loud, but just enough to make everything balanced.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.  When I got back to the resort, the guy at the front desk (even though he had customers in front of him) assured me that my room was cool...and it was!

Worst day ever???  No, not really, but when my friend and I were on the beach looking at all the beauty that is Zihuatanejo, we couldn't help but look at each other and say "Worst day ever" and then laugh.