Asada Lucas | Puerto Penasco, Mexico

Friday - 23 January 2004 - Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico: DT came down with a cold (bummer) so we didn't do too much the past two days. Plus, it was raining. Not a cloud in the sky today though - just a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Very nice! Hubby was feeling well enough to go for a little jog, but he is still so congested in his chest, we went into Farmacia Cosmos 2000 to pick up the medicine his doctor had recommended via email last night. Dr. Williams told DT the drug and the dose - a 6 pill dose - and the Farmacia had the exact thing in a bottle containing only 6 tablets. Isn't that amazing? It was $23 for the course - so I can't even imagine what it costs in the US.

Signs in town: Yes is here a good sign


Need a shrimp cocktail and want to rent an ATV?

Anyway, the medicine needed to be taken thirty minutes before a meal - which gave us the perfect opportunity to drive back to the campground and get Mom & Dad for lunch. (This is only a 5 minute drive.) All week we have been driving past an open-air grilled chicken place, Asada Lucas. The smells are incredible and it was finally too tempting, and we caved. The menu is short. They serve chicken. Whole, half or quarter. Each diner is served a plate with a bit of shredded cabbage and pickled red onion as garnish (or possibly salad?). The chicken is served, chopped by a huge cleaver, on a platter in the middle of the table. You get a basket of tortillas and a chicken for $9.00 (not each, total). No beer. Coke and Sprite. It is not only an open-air restaurant, with a palm-leaf roof for shade - it an open-floor restaurant. The tables are sitting on hard dirt!

Pollo Asada from Asada Lucas

Many meats in Mexico are marinated Asada-style. This simply means using a lime marinade with various spices - salt, pepper, oregano and a little paprika, usually. It was some of the best chicken I have ever tasted. The four of us ate two chickens! Several dogs hang around the restaurant looking for scraps.

After lunch we drove back into the Malacon to give Juan (the shrimp vendor) a copy of the photo I took of him a few days ago, as he had requested. We pulled up in front of his shrimp stall and saw Juan eating a burrito. He saw me and I opened the car door and handed him the photo and he nodded his head in thanks (he had a mouthful of burrito) and I hopped back in the car. The entire process took 10 seconds. As we pulled away, all the vendors came running over to him to see what that lady had just given him and he slipped it away, pretending it was a love letter or something - until he turned it over and showed them all the photo of his smiling face. Very cute.

Our next stop was an incredible shop we had passed-by the other day. It must be the most crammed store in the history of the world. I swear, even in Taipei, there has never been a junk store filled with so much stuff! Most of it was ceramic and all of it was dusty and had probably been there for 10 years. DT thinks the guy needs help with his inventory. The shop keeper made a racial slur, so I think he needs more than inventory control.

If you need Mexican pottery - this is your place

The beach was fantastic this afternoon - warm and sunny. DT was feeling a little better (after an antibiotic and a chicken) and sat out on the seawall. He is a total sucker for a cute kid selling ANYTHING. Our bobble-head turtle collection has grown from 3 last week to an absolutely staggering number... plus it includes three bobble-tail fish! DT pays under a dollar for each carefully chosen addition, and he never bargains with the kids - he pays full price! The kids LOVE him. Seriously, could YOU resist this adorable munchkin? Daniel, 5, is the 4th of 5 children and does not speak Spanish. He only speaks his native tribal language. Daniel does understand some Spanish though and when I asked him his name (in Spanish) he could tell me, but he couldn't tell me his age. So, he asked his Dad and his Dad told me. I now have a new friend.

Daniel


DT's Turtle Collection

Tonight we finally went down to the Happy Hour at the hotel. The place was hopping - probably due to the big Dutch Star/Newmar caravan mentioned in Monday's report. (Actually, my previous report was wrong - they are a group of 70 coaches.) When we sat down at our table, our handsome waiter told us, "I have some very bad news for you, Senors. It is Happy Hour and you will have to pay half-price for your drinks." Everybody's a comedian. The hotel does not allow vendors to come up on the patio, so the vendors congregate down on the seawall. If you look at the photo below you can see them gathered on the beach and you can see a group of ladies shopping! As DT says, 4 of us went down for cocktails, and 6 came back - he bought two Super Hero parachute kites! (Batman and The Hulk.)

Happy Hour at Playa Bonita Resort Hotel


Ho Hum, another gorgeous sunset

For dinner, we went out late to Ocean King - an ocean-front restaurant above the fish market. Obviously, they offer seafood, but no one was really very hungry. We had fish & chip baskets, etc. Ocean King wins the prize for nicest restaurant decor. There was not a plastic patio chair in the entire restaurant. The walls, curtains, chairs, napkins and tablecloths matched! Even the centerpieces (artificial miniature red rose bouquets, complete with glitter) matched! The place was spotless. Only one wandering minstrel and one flower vendor disrupted our meal. The new moon was shining over the water. A nice evening, but after today, I'm never eating again.

Until tomorrow.

RV Park: Playa Bonita RV Park