It was back to the paradise that is Playa Destiaderas.

Deja Vu All Over Again

 — Yogi Berra

Today was a carbon copy of last Sunday. We went to the La Cruz Market to eat and check out the music acts, and then it was off to Playa Distiladeras to frolic in the surf. I have covered both thoroughly in the past, so I didn’t take many photos. 

At the market, we tried a couple of different food stands. I kept hearing my brother-in-law’s voice in my head whispering, “Try the grilled meat stand.” Heinrich is a self-taught meat-master. He has his own smokehouse, gyro rotisserie, wood-fired pizza oven, and lots of secret rubs and marinations. 

I heeded his pleadings and went for a steak sandwich. It was delicious. The subtlely favored white sauce enhanced the steak without overpowering it. The grill-toasted bun almost reached European standards. My only quibble is that at 200 pesos, the same price as last week’s giant taco, it was only half the volume. 

To round things out, we got a couple of terrific tacos. Like the tacos from Los Dorados de Villa Birria in downtown Bucerias, they don’t look like much, but the secret is in the marinated shredded meat. Whatever the spices and sauces are, they perform sorcery on the meat filling as it bursts with unique and delicious flavors to surprise the pallet. How can so much flavor come from such a simple-looking scoop of shredded meat?

Wanda insisted on a large chocolate brownie for dessert. I’m a chocoholic, so I didn’t put up much of a resistance. Of course, we washed it all down with a large Mexican hand-squeezed OJ.

Just look at that grilled meat. That's my bun being toasted on the grill.

Our steak sandwich.

Our tacos. They don't look like much in the photo. I assure you that they tasted infinitely better than the photo suggests.

The band on the main stage was absolutely terrific. It is hard to define their style. Rousing Mexican flamenco jazz ballads? Whatever it was, it captivated us. I could say that the lead singer did much of the captivation. She was expressive, energetic, delightful, soulful, and demanded your attention. The flamenco-style guitar player was also a standout. He wove excellent riffs around the bass player's lyrical bass runs. We stayed a lot longer than usual and tipped better than usual.

This trio played in the middle of the food court. They played a soulful blues style.

Unfortunately, I didn't get their name, but this band was sensational. The singer mesmorized and hipnotized. Her expressiveness demanded your attention. The guitar player magically filled so much sound-space with just his simple nylon-string acoustic. Notice the bass player's six-string bass guitar. That's a lot of strings for a bass, and he expertly used all six. The percussionist rounded out the band. Utilizing the Cajon drum box as his core instrument, he accented his rhythms with bongos, conga, splash cymbal, and a foot pedal cowbell. We loved the style of music, the three-part harmonies, the intricacies of the songs, and especially the interpretive emotions that the lead singer brought to each tune.

What can I say about Playa Destiladeras that I haven’t already said? We are so happy that the beach has returned to its glorious state. Being Sunday, Mexican family day, we were surprised by how uncrowded it was. This was the second Sunday in a row that the beach was so uncrowded. I suspect the beach got a bad reputation when the hurricane dumped all the rocks on the shore. If that is the case, the word hasn’t quite gotten around that the rocks have all been removed. Shhhhh, let’s keep that a secret.

First, we camped at an umbrella, table, and chairs. I love Wanda's colorful towels.

Wait for it!

Wait for it!

SPLASH!!!

Again, wait for it.

SPLASH - swallowed up by the wave!

The late sun brought out long shadows.

Sharp readers will have noticed that I have skipped a few days here and there in my journal postings. I have played with Jeff at the Sunshine Bar a couple of times. Since I have covered that in several previous postings, there isn’t a burning need to present that; suffice it to say that I always have a blast playing there. However, there is one thing worth mentioning. Rick from Madison, Wisconsin, a trumpet player, sat in for a few songs. He was a good solo ad-libber.

We had a couple of errand days. Although those are boring to write about, just being out in the spectacular weather doing mundane things is a joy. And, of course, we tried a couple of new eateries. I will add a few ad-hock photos to this posting to cover those days.

We tried out Bucerias' only Chinese buffet-style restaurant.

Comida China is a typical buffet-style Chinese restaurant. The food is delicious and ridiculously inexpensive for the mountain of food you get.

Comida China is an odd store, melding a restaurant with a trinket store.

Wanda's breakfast craving for pancakes, waffles, and french toast has yet to be satisfied. Jeez, we've only made the occasional toaster waffle in the past 40 years. I guess we are making up for lost time. I think the gorgeous presentation with all the fruits and creams has caught her fancy.

Jo Jo's is primarily a premium coffee shop.

Now, that's a waffle presentation.

So, Daylight Savings Time (DST) kicked in today in America. This year, Mexico has decided not to observe DST. Personally, I like DST. I am okay with changing clocks twice yearly, although I would be okay with DST all year. It is depressing when it gets dark at 4:15 pm in the winter. Anyway, we have to remember to change our clocks when we land in Chicago when we return in just ten days - yikes.

Dave and Wanda

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