My Musings: February 2023

Today's a snow day. It snowed most the day yesterday and through the night so I could go out now, but I don't plan to. Snow days inspire me to get in the kitchen, and I can use some encouragement on that front. I haven't been doing much cooking now that it's just the two of us, but the kids are coming home this weekend and that is also incentive to get busy. The first thing Ted will do when he gets home tonight is check out the refrig. Last time, he was disappointed. He won't be this time. I made a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread, and I have dough for peasant bread proofing on the counter. I browned a batch of Sweedish meatballs and chopped the ingredients for a hearty orzo dish I've been meaning to make. He can have either or both. His only request for the weekend or week (he isn't sure how long he's staying) is Chicken Tikka Masala. Lily is hungry for fajitas. I'm on both.

I'm also making crusts for tarts. One sour cherry and one chocolate. Sunday we will celebrate the February birthday girls with a brunch at Casa Wags. I haven't done much entertaining since the holidays. I'm looking forward to it.

Next week I'll be getting ready for Grand Cayman. I leave Friday and I'm looking forward to that too. When I return, I suspect we'll be in for a couple more months of cold and snow, but I'm ok with that. We had a lovely, long fall and a mild, dry winter so it makes sense that late winter/early spring will be inclement. I'm getting better at letting go of things beyond my control.

Today is a snow day. It's been coming down since I got up and it's starting to accumulate. I'm not sure that we needed to shut down the city for a couple inches, but I'm not complaining. A bonus day at home is perfect for crossing a few to dos off my list. I washed every stitch of our bedding, I made us grilled sammies for lunch and I have plans for an extra long workout this afternoon. The snow globe out my window has inspired me to finally sit down and write about our sunny trip to Mexico earlier this month.

It was a beautiful seven days in a place we so love with people we adore. And while I have only good things to say about our time in Zihua, the travel to and fro was a lot.We tried to put together a rather last minute flight at a reasonable rate and that meant leaving on the red eye from O'Hare, having a very long layover in Mexico City and then traveling on a small plane to Z. Because of close connections, we could only take carry ons and then we ended up having to book another flight at another charge when times changed. Our bargain airfare ended up costing us more than if we had flown direct from Milwaukee to Z at a reasonable hour. Live and learn.

We left our house at 7:30 p.m. Friday night and were at La Casa Que Ve al Mar by 12:00 p.m. Saturday on no sleep, but lots of excitement and energy. We loved being tucked in the hills with incredible views, but first thing made the 10 minute walk to the beach to check it out. We stopped for lunch at La Perla on Playa Ropa because it was happening and enjoyed our first order of fresh guacamole, tacos and cold cervezas, and also re-calibrating to vacation/Mexico time. No hurries, no worries. When we got back, we had the pools to ourselves. The late afternoon swim was refreshing, the view worth a million dollars and the showy sunset at 6:30 as captivating as I remembered. Watching whales breech in the bay, was unexpected and thrilling and rare. It happened just that first day. At first I thought my tired eyes were playing tricks on me, but this was the real deal. We had a chill happy hour in the condo with the front wall of windows wide open to let in the ocean breeze. While we were eager to visit el centro, we were losing steam (it was 9:00). We ended up at Jungle Pizza with Reuben down the road for wood-fired pizzas that hit the spot and we toasted our ability to rally all day long. We finally turned in at 1:00 a.m. Sunday after 36 waking hours.

Sunday started the way most days did in paradise: waking mid-morning when I had enough sleep to the sound of the chachalacas to find the boys out for a walk about to get us coffees and save us chairs at the pool. They would play cribbage and we would read, or I would try to read. Sue read 5 books! I didn't read 500 pages because I was happy to just watch the view and chat up the other guests in the pool. The joke was that I was running for mayor. I guess I missed small talk. There were a group of retirees who come the same time each year for a month or two or three. Many were Canadians, but we also met couples from Chicago, Colorado, Alaska, Portland and a mother/daughter duo from Wisconsin. There were plenty of characters to keep us entertained. Mike and Pete walked to town at noon to scope out spots to watch football. It was NFL Championship day. Sue and I met them for happy hour and the second game at a dive bar with a big screen and a lively, entertaining crowd.

After the games, we walked around town on familiar streets reminiscing about the last times we were here and soaking up the lively local scene. There were young novios on dates, families getting ice cream, street performers and merchants, and fewer stray animals...thank you God. In fact, there were many dogs on leashes so more pets. We ended up at Banditos by default because it was getting late and we needed to have at least one meal that day. We had our last dinner here last time for the same reason. The food is good, but it's not our favorite because it's not very authentic and it's pricey. That being said we all cleaned our plates and I loved my camarones con amor. We walked along the malecon and then over the river to catch a cab home where we continued the night until we got a knock on the door at 2:30 to say we were being too loud. I guess noise carries when living in the open air. We learned to close up and turn on the air late night, and had a good laugh that at our ages, we were the young, rowdy ones.

Monday was Ground Hog Day...literally and figuratively. We came to slow down and relax and that is exactly what we did all.week.long. We enjoyed the pool, but mostly in the shade of an umbrella. The sun here is intense and I burn, peel and burn again. We hit Coconuts for happy hour. It's a favorite, but it's another gringo restaurant. At happy hour, the drinks are 2 for 1. We got to enjoy the romantic garden atmosphere: twinkle lights and live music and then we got dinner smack dab in the middle of town in the middle of the street. Los Oaxacos is where we have our favorite meal of the trip because it's where all the locals eat: it's authentic and delicious and cheap. Victoria's are $2...the whole meal less than what it cost for happy hour at Coconuts.

Tuesday's daytime pool view.

We walked to town for dinner on the beach at Casa de Arcadia. Walking is a great way to see out of way places and a beautiful nighttime view of the city...the hills are alive. We need at least another week to visit more places. The atmosphere was the winner here. None of us were thrilled with our food. My fish tacos were cold, but my gatito amigo enjoyed them immensely and that made me happy. Omar and his mama showed up to peddle trinkets again. The poor guy dumped out his entire bucket the night before looking for a tortuga for me and when I settled on 2 frogs, we couldn't settle on a price. Mike was playing hard ball. The streets were lively again and we walked about a bit before heading home for night caps and a fun game of Shanghai.

Wednesday was beach day. We rented chairs and two! umbrellas on Playa La Ropa where Ivan took good care of us all day long. It was a nice change of pace. I loved walking the beach, hearing the waves roll in, watching all the birds and swimming in the ocean. The water was perfect. The pelicans were particularly entertaining as they dove in at full speed for fish and sometimes almost on top of swimmers. Doris cooked up quite a spread for dinner and we ate the leftovers the rest of the week. Hiring a chef for a night is a must on our list when here. It's a great way to sample the local fare and then we snack on the leftovers the rest of the week. We stayed in and enjoyed her homemade tortillas, chicken tinga, arachara beef and cactus, and a menagerie of fresh salsas. It was the perfect night for a swim. Again, we had the pools to ourselves. Everyone else may have been in bed. There were no knocks on the door btw.

We were back at the pool Thursday and it was crowded. We had dinner reserves at Olga's. She serves diners on her quaint patio. It's a family affair. Service is slow and it's not cheap, but the food and experience were worth the price and wait at least once. We made our way to Z for a drink and some provisions (drinks and Cubans, coffee and vanilla) and then headed home where the party continued until the next day. As much as we love Zihua and feel safe in the city, it's not the wisest idea to be roaming around as tourists late at night.

Friday was our last day and we woke early with resolve to fit in as much as possible. We did muy bien. We walked the beach first thing, which we all love to do. That is the one thing I missed about not being right on the beach. We had our only breakfast of the week at Adelita's. Breakfast is always a treat when on vacation and we questioned why we didn't get it more often. It was another lively day at the pool, but we cut it short so we could be on the beach for sunset, and it was the most stunning of the trip. Watching the sun slip into the ocean never gets dull. The beach was festive and we wanted to stay, but we had to get to las tiendas for our trinkets. Next time, I want to experience more of the nightlife on la playa. We took a bus that let us off in the middle of Z, and also want to remember how easy and cost effective this is next time. We didn't have an excess of time to shop so we got to it. Next time, I will not wait until the last day to do this either. We wanted to find our favorite artisan store, Fruity Keikos, but we couldn't. It was probably for the best because I didn't have room to bring much back and I know I would have tried. It was a unanimous decision to head back to Casa Que Ve al Mar for dinner. Doris dropped off another dish, carne con peppers, and more homemade tortillas for us earlier in the day and we had libations to finish as well. It was a wise, delicious choice. We were in bed by midnight for a full day of travel wishing we had just a couple more days of this life and dreaming about when we can come back..