College Spring Break in Mazatlan, Mexico
01-26-2015
Ever since a spring trip to Mazatlan, Mexico with college friends I have had the itch to visit Mexico in the spring. It’s warm, the beaches are beautiful, the food is great, fishing is fabulous and it’s an adventure to go.
My first trip was truly an adventure. One of my classmates, Mike, at the University of Colorado, Boulder had a Toyota Land Cruiser. Five of us, four guys and one girl, crammed ourselves into our squarish looking wagon and headed south. We left the day before spring break actually started. We drove straight through, two thousand miles, two days and two nights, as I recall.
Along the way, the owner of the Land Cruiser, Mike, went into a department store and purchased a female manikin. We tied her to the rear tire. We clothed her with a few things, to keep her decent and off we went. The expressions we got from people as we passed by kept us laughing the whole way.
When we arrived in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, we thought it would be a neat idea to remove the car top so we went ahead and left it at a dealership. Our thought process was that we could better catch the sun rays without the top. Stupid college kids. Shortly after crossing the Mexican/American border at Nogales, evening set upon us. As the night progressed, it got colder and colder. The desert cools off quickly, especially in the winter months. I drove with all the clothes I could put on and everyone else crawled into their sleeping bags. We drove all night long without a top.
We arrived late in Mazatlan the next day. It started to rain and remembers the smart college kids had taken the roof to the Land Cruiser off. We got soaked and were pretty miserable. That night, we slept on the beach.
The next day, when the sun rose, life was better. We went to the beer bottling plant, purchased a case and chartered a fishing boat. We caught a couple of fish, had our pictures taken and took one of the fish to a little lady who had a restaurant on the beach. She prepared our fish while we went to town to round up all the college kids we could find. When we returned, our little Mexican lady had prepared our fish in two different ways. It was a hit with all of us. It cost 50 cents for the food and 50 cents for the beer. These were prices we liked.
The old historic district of Mazatlan is my favorite area of the city. It contains the Mexican Market (Mercado) where hundreds of vendors sell their wares; fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, clothing, shoes, hats and jewelry. Everything is very inexpensive by our standards. Some things are a little shocking for Americans like the featherless chickens hanging by the heads, pig’s heads and feet! I purchased my first set of Mexican Sandals (huaraches) and a sombrero.
In the historic district too is the Zocalo (central plaza) anchored by the large Catholic Church. Around the square are shops, restaurants, street vendors, musicians and dogs. It is such a mix of sights and sounds, none of which are experienced in the United States.
After almost a week, it was time for us to head back to school. On our way, near Hermosillo, we had the “inevitable” mechanical problem. We had blown up the burlap timing gear and bent some of the rods. . As it was Good Friday, it looked like we were faced with a long Easter weekend stranded in there because the replacement part could not be sent to us for four or five days. Mexican mechanics are resourceful, however. They took an old Chevrolet timing gear, machined the thing and fitted it to our wagon. Eight men worked eight hours to repair it. When we got our bill, I was flabbergasted. They charged us only sixty dollars. To this day, I will never forget how ingenious, creative and reasonable those Mexicans were.
Late Saturday night, we made it back across the border and we sacked out on a church lawn. The next day, we got some strange looks from the Easter Sunday church goers. We had one more thing to a laugh about. We had so many laughs on that trip.
Mike is now a retired professor emeritus from the University of Tennessee. We exchange Christmas cards every year and he always reminds me about the night we spent in Topalabampo. We couldn’t find a beach so we slept on the concrete peer much to the delight of all the bugs within a mile!
I guess those fond memories are the reason that I have gone back to Mexico on numerous occasions.
Hasta la vista, mi amigos and amigas. Con amour,
Victor
About the Blogger: Victor Ray has had a love for travel and history since he was a small boy. Now he has found a way to combine the two, traveling in his motorhome with Raleigh, his pure bread Australian Shepherd. He shares his passions exploring the highways and byways in search of scenic, historic, unique and pristine places.
My first trip was truly an adventure. One of my classmates, Mike, at the University of Colorado, Boulder had a Toyota Land Cruiser. Five of us, four guys and one girl, crammed ourselves into our squarish looking wagon and headed south. We left the day before spring break actually started. We drove straight through, two thousand miles, two days and two nights, as I recall.
Along the way, the owner of the Land Cruiser, Mike, went into a department store and purchased a female manikin. We tied her to the rear tire. We clothed her with a few things, to keep her decent and off we went. The expressions we got from people as we passed by kept us laughing the whole way.
When we arrived in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, we thought it would be a neat idea to remove the car top so we went ahead and left it at a dealership. Our thought process was that we could better catch the sun rays without the top. Stupid college kids. Shortly after crossing the Mexican/American border at Nogales, evening set upon us. As the night progressed, it got colder and colder. The desert cools off quickly, especially in the winter months. I drove with all the clothes I could put on and everyone else crawled into their sleeping bags. We drove all night long without a top.
We arrived late in Mazatlan the next day. It started to rain and remembers the smart college kids had taken the roof to the Land Cruiser off. We got soaked and were pretty miserable. That night, we slept on the beach.
The next day, when the sun rose, life was better. We went to the beer bottling plant, purchased a case and chartered a fishing boat. We caught a couple of fish, had our pictures taken and took one of the fish to a little lady who had a restaurant on the beach. She prepared our fish while we went to town to round up all the college kids we could find. When we returned, our little Mexican lady had prepared our fish in two different ways. It was a hit with all of us. It cost 50 cents for the food and 50 cents for the beer. These were prices we liked.
The old historic district of Mazatlan is my favorite area of the city. It contains the Mexican Market (Mercado) where hundreds of vendors sell their wares; fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, clothing, shoes, hats and jewelry. Everything is very inexpensive by our standards. Some things are a little shocking for Americans like the featherless chickens hanging by the heads, pig’s heads and feet! I purchased my first set of Mexican Sandals (huaraches) and a sombrero.
In the historic district too is the Zocalo (central plaza) anchored by the large Catholic Church. Around the square are shops, restaurants, street vendors, musicians and dogs. It is such a mix of sights and sounds, none of which are experienced in the United States.
After almost a week, it was time for us to head back to school. On our way, near Hermosillo, we had the “inevitable” mechanical problem. We had blown up the burlap timing gear and bent some of the rods. . As it was Good Friday, it looked like we were faced with a long Easter weekend stranded in there because the replacement part could not be sent to us for four or five days. Mexican mechanics are resourceful, however. They took an old Chevrolet timing gear, machined the thing and fitted it to our wagon. Eight men worked eight hours to repair it. When we got our bill, I was flabbergasted. They charged us only sixty dollars. To this day, I will never forget how ingenious, creative and reasonable those Mexicans were.
Late Saturday night, we made it back across the border and we sacked out on a church lawn. The next day, we got some strange looks from the Easter Sunday church goers. We had one more thing to a laugh about. We had so many laughs on that trip.
Mike is now a retired professor emeritus from the University of Tennessee. We exchange Christmas cards every year and he always reminds me about the night we spent in Topalabampo. We couldn’t find a beach so we slept on the concrete peer much to the delight of all the bugs within a mile!
I guess those fond memories are the reason that I have gone back to Mexico on numerous occasions.
Hasta la vista, mi amigos and amigas. Con amour,
Victor
About the Blogger: Victor Ray has had a love for travel and history since he was a small boy. Now he has found a way to combine the two, traveling in his motorhome with Raleigh, his pure bread Australian Shepherd. He shares his passions exploring the highways and byways in search of scenic, historic, unique and pristine places.
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