Tuesday, September 20, 2011

More from "the Summer of Love"
Nope, we didn't go to Woodstock
or San Francisco.
We just
Loved this Summer!
In July,
we were fortunate to
be able to visit our friend
Tom aboard his sailboat,
Poco a Poco in
San Diego, California.
From there we embarked
upon a sailing adventure to Ensenada, Mexico.


After an overnight passage
through rough and uncooperative seas, we arrived at dawn, in the spectacularly placid Bahia de Todos Santos, offshore of Ensenada, BC.
Our Skipper contacted the marina
via radio and we were directed to our slip in
Marina Coral. A quick shuttle ride took us to customs
where all the paperwork was handled by our
representative from the Marina/hotel. It was easy
but long and tedious though all we did was wait.

Next came much needed showers, then we were
off to town. First
stop was to find the
Central Fish Market we
had read about online.
What a wonderful place!
The seafood vendor's stalls
were abundantly stuffed with
the day's catch. A bounty so fresh that the only smell
was that of the ocean.
We spent an hour drifting
from stall to stall looking and sampling the fare. It was
almost paradise! Arranged
around the outside of the
big building are many small restaurants selling seafood straight from the market within.
We quickly chose our favorite
which became our home away
from home.




Fish tacos there, cost a
dollar each, while shrimp
tacos boasted a hefty
price tag of $1.50. ;)
Huge, raw oysters and a
delicious Siete Mares
(Seven Seas soup)
were available too.
We brought home
over 20 kilos of
fresh seafood.
Life is good!





L.A. CETTO
Back at the marina, we
made arrangements for the
next day of fun. We chartered
a van and driver to take us to
wine country. Yes! Mexico
has a wine country and it is
actually just a few miles
south of the U.S. border.
Valle Guadalupe is home
to a couple dozen vineyards
and wineries, many of them
very good. The oldest, and
easily the largest, of these is
L.A. Cetto founded in the
early 20th century. We have
drunk their wines many times
before and were excited to
tour the winery and
participate in a tasting.
After a perfect night of sleep back aboard Poco,
we were renewed and on our quest for food and
adventure again the next morning.
A shuttle ride to the far end
of town brought us to our
starting point to begin the
day's walking tour.
Self guided of course. The
first order of business was
breakfast. And this great
taco place was perfect.
It was beyond colorful and
all about everything cow meat.

We ordered separately and shared some of everything.
After another satisfying meal, visited several amazing tourist haunts
and found ourselves back more or less downtown. A few blocks east
of where we had ventured before, we found it!
El Rey Sol!

The Sun King,
our elusive French restaurant. It was beautiful, and that was
just the outside! As we stood gawking, the Maitre d' appeared
and asked if we would like a tour. "Of course, we would love it"
we replied and he whisked us inside to some of the most lavish
public and private dining rooms we have seen anywhere.

The kitchen was gleaming and bustling and the walls were
heavily adorned with gilt.
On the sidewalk in front is a blue canopied cafe where all manner of scrumptious pastries are served with coffee. It had taken
us so many meals to find this treasure that we could only
vow to return another time. (we are planning that right now)
Our time in Ensenada was much more than we could have hoped.
I never thought I would say this (because it is not what I look for)
but the town was very clean. Beyond that, it was friendly and
easy going with great tasting food at especially fair prices
everywhere we turned. Our trip to the wineries was a real
delight and a day we hope to repeat many more times.
Part of the reason for this trip was to research the Paella
Festivals which are held annually at some of the wineries.
We have long wanted to host a group of foodies on
an excursion of excess in Baja California. We discovered
that the festivals are held in May. It looks as if
we have some extensive planning to do for that too!
(please let us know if you might be interested)

The return sail aboard Poco
was grueling the first
day as we battled into
heavy seas and a 25 knot
head wind. About 4 am we
anchored among the fishing
and research vessels off
the coast of the Coronado
Islands
to sleep a few hours,
at last. Morning arrived
bringing another wondrous
day of perfect weather
and fair winds for the final
20 or so downhill miles to
San Diego and home.
We can never thank
our good friend and hardy
skipper, Tom, enough for
helping make this
adventure a reality.

Hopefully we will do it again!






CHOW!