Availables - Playa Manzanilla 2022: 3/4 - 3/6 | |
At home, we live in the country. We are used to seeing bugs and critters. During the winter months in Mexico, it is extremely rare to see any critters, except stray cats and dogs. I have yet to see an insect, and there was only that one crab spider in the jungle. Today, we found our first house guest walking on our ceiling. It looks like he lost his tail and is just starting to regrow it | |
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The Availables 2022: Friday, March 4
As far as bands go, in the Bay of Banderas area, the benchmark for excellence is the Gecko Band. Some iteration of the Gecko Band has been around for over 20 years.
When I say the Gecko Band, I am really saying Victor Vera, the lead singer. He is “the” Gecko. The rest of the band members have come and gone with regularity. Victor, while not a virtuoso crooner with a wide range, does have a distinctively strong voice that commands the crowd. He always finds competent side musicians. I have seen some outstanding versions of the Geckos and some good versions. Victor never puts out a mediocre version.
Three years ago, Victor had an outstanding rhythm section consisting of a 6-string bass player and a hot solid drummer. That rhythm section now has its own band called the Availables. They hooked up with two excellent guitar players. The Availables, with awesome musicianship and tight 3-part vocals, is currently the reigning band in the area. They play every Friday afternoon, 4 pm to 7 pm, at Jax Bar in Bucerias.
So, today’s itinerary for me was to practice at Jeff’s from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm, then go to Jax for the Availables show. Wanda went her own way to the beach.
Jeff and I had a productive practice. We learned five new tunes and got into the old groove that we had pre-COVID. I was psyched and ready for the concert.
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Jeff and Teri have a comfortable home in the subdivision right next to ours. I love their hangout on the top floor. | |
On hot days, they have a nice cooling-off pool in their front patio. | |
I love the art work and murals that they have decorated their house with. | |
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The Availables didn’t disappoint. I knew the rhythm section was going to rock, but I especially enjoyed how the two guitar players played off each other. And the singers all had good range, with one of the guitar players able to hit a nice high falsetto.
We sat with a group of Jeff’s cronies. They were all a bit on the gruffer side. At the end of the evening, the gruffest got up, whipped out 2000 pesos, and paid everyone's tab at our table. I learned that he was a doctor in a former life. He does this sort of thing fairly often.
We topped the night off with a nightcap at the Voodoo Monkey, two doors down from Jax.
Wanda’s day? She bought a lovely Mexican sundress from a street vendor. She has been looking for one and today was her lucky day. She paid a mere 200 pesos ($10 US).
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The Voodoo Monkey Tiki Bar two doors down the street from Jax. | |
The bartender at the Voodoo Monkey. Notice that he is wearing an iconic Latin American guayabera shirt (also known as the Mexican wedding shirt). | |
Part of the Voodoo Monkey’s decorations. At least, I think it is there for decorative purposes. | |
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Desayuno 2022: Saturday, March 5
We’ve been here in Bucerias for five weeks and we haven’t eaten at our favorite restaurant - Los Pericos Bar Cafe Restaurant. Their Saturday breakfast special is huevos, tamales, and chilaquiles - perfect. Breakfast at Los Pericos it is.
All the food at Los Pericos has a wonderful clean delicate flavor that I can’t get enough of. For $6 US, we got two eggs, a big fat tomale, a delicious chilaquiles in a red sauce, two baguette slices toasted, and coffee (or OJ). I can’t explain why this was our first trip to Los Pericos. It won’t be our last.
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On our walk to Los Pericos for breakfast, we noticed that the trees had suddenly burst with flowers. | |
Los Pericos has both outdoor and indoor seating. The cafe restaurant is part of a quaint hotel. If we would ever lose access to our Airbnb, I’d like to look into staying here. | |
Everyday there is a different breakfast and dinner special. Canadians flock to Los Perios, so they kind of cater to them. Several breakfast specials are more traditional North American in nature - pancakes, crepes, eggs, etc. I prefer the traditional Mexican breakfasts. | |
The first course consisted of juices, coffee, and toasted slices of french bread. Notice Wanda’s new sundress. | |
My eggs are over-medium (Wanda likes hers over-easy). The tamale is still wrapped, but it was thickly filled with shredded chicken. Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish. It is lightly fried corn tortillas cut into small squares or triangles, refried beans, white cheesy sauce, and a great tomato-pepper sauce. Of course, there are many variations to the dish. | |
The kitchen and dinning area are clean and cute. The prices are fair, especially the daily specials, and the food is wonderful. | |
It is great to see a building project getting worked on. Two years ago, this was an empty lot. Now it is a large condo project. We walk past it almost every day. There are usually about a dozen workers putzing about. At that pace it will take another two years to finish, if it gets finished. | |
Here is an example of a condo project that, for whatever reason, just quit in the middle of construction. I wonder what happens to the people who pre-bought their future condo unit? As I have said before, it amazes me that another company doesn’t come in, buy these unfinished hulks at a steal, and then finish them. I would guess that maybe 20% of these projects get stalled and just sit half-built. | |
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Jeff called just as we were finishing breakfast. He wanted to drop off my guitar that I left at his house yesterday. He was also going to La Comer and he was willing to take us along. We needed to buy a case of bottled water which is hard to lug home on the bus. We went.
When Jeff dropped us and our groceries off at our place, he mentioned that he had some beds to move. I offered to help and Teri offered to make us some homemade salsa. Teri’s salsa is worth moving furniture so I went.
Well, that was our day. Not very exciting, but very satisfying nonetheless.
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We love the idea that the grocery carts automatically put the brakes on when going up and down these escalator walkways. | |
When Jeff dropped us off with our groceries at home, we checked out the progress of the remodeling project across the street. Jeff knows the owner, Rocky. The floors are all marble. The front doors and closet doors are very unique. The master bedroom includes a huge jaccuzi and walk-in shower. | |
The view of our subdivision from the top of Rocky’s house. | |
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Playa Manzanilla 2022: Sunday, March 6
Wanda read about a beach in La Cruz. All the times we have been to the La Cruz Arts and Crafts Market at the marina, we have never seen a beach at the waterfront. I checked Google Maps and saw that Playa Manzanilla was next to the marina. It was time to explore.
Sunday is both market day at La Cruz and local family day at all the local beaches. As long as we were heading to La Cruz, it made sense to make a quick run through the market. Then we could look for the beach.
As soon as we reached the marina we spotted the beach. How could we have missed it? Oh well.
First, it was the market. Again, every booth featured wares that were advertised as handmade. The dresses were handpainted, whatever that means, artists were painting right at their booths. Purses were made of beercan poptops or armadillo shells. Everyone had some niche skill that they turned into a clever product to sell.
When we were in Spain, we enjoyed the Spanish paella, a rice dish that usually features a seafood like shrimp or octupus, a sausage like chorizo, and maybe some chicken. Throw in some veggies like peas and carrots, some light seasoning, and voila, you have a national dish. A vendor at the La Cruz market specializes in Spanish paella and we bit on it. It was yummy and pretty close to the authentic Spanish version.
Wanda found a hand painted hat that she couldn’t live without. Surprisingly, at 200 pesos, it was cheaper than the unpainted one she bought in San Pancho. It looked good. Way to go, Wanda.
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Every woman needs and deserves an armadillo purse. | |
Or a pusre made from beercan poptops. | |
Wanda bought a hat with a handpainted butterfly (not shown here). It is very classy. | |
The paintings at the market are impressive. | |
The food is also artisan. There were a couple more places to sit and eat. They still need more. | |
These guys came up with this unique crepe dish. You can order about a dozen different fillings from an apple crisp to bacon and cheese. They fold them up and serve them in big paper cones. | |
Playa Manzanilla was very crowded. The locals came out in droves today. While not up to the standards of Playa Destiladeras, it was nice, and on any other day it would be worth a swim. We walked the whole length of the beach but didn’t go in beyond wading. | |
Sunday is family day for the locals and they take advantage. The beaches fill up. | |
In the evening, we went to Playa Bucerias to watch the sunset. It was also pretty crowded, but the air was deliciously cool, and the sunset a saturated orange. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day. That is good because tomorrow I return to the dentist. | | | | |
