Tag Archives: Mexico

On The Road To Land’s End – Again!

Linda in Site News

Every year, Ron and I head up to the BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament in Indian Wells, California (www.bnpparibasopen.com). As always, we watched some fabulous tennis and had an opportunity to catch up with many special and long-time friends (Bonnie and Don, Pete and Tony, Judy, Peter, Bob and Roxy, Bob and Winnie and so many more).

We drive to and from the tournament every year, which is approximately 1300 miles each way. We’re on the road home as I write this and I’m remembering how much fun we had with my Mom on this same trip to Cabo last November.

My Mom has always loved every aspect of travel and makes every experience a great adventure. It’s such a delight to be on the road with someone who takes everything in and enjoys every aspect. She has a child-like sense of wonder and curiosity – it’s a true gift at any age and especially for someone now in her 80’s.

We planned our trip down in November, just as we’ve done on this trip, to get to Mulegé to spend Saturday night at the Hotel Serinidad, a fly-in hotel that has been a Baja classic for decades (www.hotelserenidad.com). Every Saturday night features the Serinidad’s famous pig roast, which lures people with small planes to fly in from the States or other parts of Mexico and for people like us who are driving, to plan our overnight stop for this weekly event.

The staff at the Serinidad know how to do a pig roast well, and it has become a real highlight on our many trips up and down the Peninsula. Mom LOVED it, and she enjoyed every aspect of this legendary and iconic hotel. There are some great memories and stories at this hotel, with pictures on the walls from famous guests of years gone by like John “Duke” Wayne, June Allyson and Dick Powell. We’ll stay overnight and get an early start to ensure that we arrive home in Cabo tomorrow night.

We wish Mom was with us again on this trip and we’ll be thinking of her tonight. Hopefully she’ll be with us again for this amazing trip next November!

The Wine Route and Ensenada

Linda in Site News

When we left San Diego, we decided to head east and cross the border at Tecate instead of Tijuana. We’ve had much better experiences crossing here, especially when we’re headed back to the US as I don’t think we’ve ever taken any less than three hours going north at Tijuana versus a half hour, at maximum, at Tecate.

We were hoping to get the air conditioning compressor changed on the Lincoln LS in Tecate, but were directed to the Ford dealership in Ensenada instead. Mom and I weren’t uncomfortably hot in the car, but we knew it was going to get much warmer as we continued south.

The road from Tecate to Ensenada is called the Wine Route or “Ruta del Vino” and connects over 50 wineries in the state of Baja California. Although few people think of wine in Mexico, it is actually the oldest wine-growing region in North America (and yes – Mexico IS part of North America!) and have produced wine since the sixteenth century when the Spaniards arrived with vine clippings from the old country. The Wine Route takes you through four different valleys (Guadalupe, Llano Colorado, Santo Tomas and San Vicente) and provides a Mediterranean microclimate that is in the midst of a tourism and winemaking renaissance that Napa Valley experienced in the 1970’s and that the Okanagan Valley in southern British Columbia in Canada has recently experienced.

Besides the stunning scenery, the Baja wine country offers a wide range of world-class restaurants, B&B’s, and luxury hotels and it’s developing more every year. If Mexico is able to get the drug war under control and make the border towns safe again, we expect the tourism in this area to expand tremendously over the next decade with visitors from the US and beyond. In the meantime, we’re savoring every trip though this region and realize the potential of what will continue to develop over time.

The Wine Cellar at Vena Cava
(La Ville del Valle)

Unfortunately, because we were anxious to get the car repaired and the weekend was upon us (most businesses close at 1:00 on Saturday and don’t open again until Monday in Mexico), we had to hurry on to Ensenada on this trip and not explore what the wine country had to offer. I hope that we have more time the next drive down with Mom.

We checked into the Hotel Mision Santa Isabel, a once-beautiful property, but quickly realized that this hotel is a sad memory of its former self. It is perfectly situated, however, and provided close and safe access to good restaurants and shopping. Next time, however, we would stay at the Hotel Cortez across the street (www.bajainn.com) as it appeared very well cared for and they served us a delicious breakfast the next morning.

Mom loves horses and we took a horse drawn buggy down the main thoroughfare to the Telcel location to get our Mexican phones working, got the car fixed at the local Ford dealership and finally got our convoy on the road for the next leg of our Baja journey.

On The Road To San Diego

Linda in Site News

We shared a lovely dinner and stayed overnight with David and his gorgeous girlfriend, Jake, at his newly and beautifully renovated home in Santa Barbara on our way south. When we got back to David’s after a delicious dinner downtown, we found a note on our car that had been left by one of his elderly neighbors to apologize for hitting and damaging the front end of our car which we had left parked on the street. Ironically, we had just had body work done on the BMW convertible in New York and the car was in perfect condition when we started our road trip. We were leaving early the next morning for San Diego, so Ron had to get a repair estimate as quickly as he possibly could before we left the area.

David and Jake

We had picked up a new used car (a 2002 Lincoln LS sedan) in Santa Clara to drive down to ensure that my Mom would be as comfortable as possible as she’d been having recent back issues and we knew there was no way for the three of us and all our “stuff” to comfortably fit and travel in our little BMW. The Lincoln needed a new air conditioning compressor, which our friend, Stretch, had ordered and it was to be waiting for us to pick up in San Diego.

Ron and I fired up our walkie talkies and got our damaged little caravan on the road to San Diego as soon as he was able to get a repair estimate in Santa Barbara. I was really anxious to ensure we got to the airport on time as my amazing little 83 year-old Mom was making her first solo trip – flying from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to meet us in San Diego to drive the Baja to Cabo San Lucas.

Mom Matthie

We got to the airport a little late and I was panicked. Ron found parking first and went in to find her at the luggage carousel while I found my way back to the airport and eventually secured parking. Ron found her there, as calm as could be, after having made friends with the airline escort who took her by wheelchair to the carousel area and, of course, several other people. Whew!

Ron needed to pick up the part for the Lincoln, so we took Mom to a nearby park and had an impromptu picnic (with the delicious sandwiches and food that we had prepared at Ron’s Mom’s home) and Mom and I had a chance to catch up while Ron was gone. We found a well-kept and clean motel for us, the Best Western Seven Seas (http://www.bw7seas.com), that had adjoining rooms for peace of mind. We had originally planned on crossing the border that day, but Mom seemed a bit tired, so we thought it best to let her get a good rest and we’d go into Mexico the following day.

Mom wasn’t terribly hungry that night, so we got her some soup and brought it back to her room for her. Ron and I headed to Old Town in search of Italian food as both of us had been craving it for some time. We wandered around to check out the sights and settled on Jack & Giulio’s Italian Restaurant (www.jackandgiulios.com) for dinner. The meal (we split Angel Hair Mediterraneo and Scampi Alla Giulio) and the bottle of 2009 Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico were great, but the absolute stand out of the meal was the basil orange vinaigrette they used on the salad we started with: an Insalati Cuere di Palma with hearts of palm, greens, tomato, and avocado. We almost licked the plate it was so good (Ron actually ordered more bread to sop up every drop of the dressing). Here is the closest re-creation of that dressing that I have been able to come up with so far:

Basil Orange Pesto Vinaigrette

½ cup fresh basil
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ cup olive oil

Add first 7 ingredients to your blender and pulse to chop and blend. Gradually pour in olive oil from the small opening at the top of the blender lid until mixture is completely blended. Chill 2 hours in the refrigerator and serve over greens or use as a dipping sauce for seared scallops or grilled shrimp.

We were really sorry that Mom hadn’t joined us for such a great meal, but she needed her rest after her first solo trip ever and all the excitement of the day. We shared many more great meals with her in the month she spent with us, however, and made some wonderful memories with her.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Linda in Site News

We had originally planned to head up to Glenwood Springs, Colorado to see our dear friends, Tony and Sue. Turns out that they are away and are in Cabo San Lucas, of all places! We’re really sorry to miss them as they are two of our favorite people. It’s a real highlight to stop and see them on the way to New York every year and, whenever possible, on our way back to California in the fall. Hopefully we’ll see them before next May, but we’ll pick up exactly where we left off regardless.

We took a different route and headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico instead. Both Ron and I had been there previously, but it had been well over a decade since either of us had visited. We couldn’t have arrived at a better time as the sun was just setting and the colors and the landscape were absolutely breathtaking.

Our friend, Mary, was originally from Santa Fe and she and Stretch had just come back from a recent visit there, so we looked to them for some recommendations as to where to eat and stay.

Stretch and Mary called ahead and made a reservation for us at the Silver Saddle Motel, a classic vintage motor hotel with a western theme located on Cerrilos Road (www.santafesilversaddlemotel.com). The motel is owned by a great lady, Penny, that we met on our second morning and who has spent a great deal of her past in Mexico, including the early days of Cabo San Lucas and the Baja. The motel is being run day-to-day by Penny’s daughter, Dawn, and her boyfriend, Miguel, and, along with their night manager, Gene, they make their guests very welcome. We stayed in the Cowboy Room, decorated with Roy Rogers/cowboy/vintage paraphernalia, and couldn’t have been more homely. The room was very clean and comfortable and the complementary breakfasts were simple but fine. Special details like pumpkin butter and cranberry apple butter for the bagels were nice touches.

Santa Fe literally bursts with its own distinct flavor and the variety quality of their over 250 restaurants makes this city a foodie’s paradise. On Stretch and Mary’s recommendation, we ate at Tomasita’s, at the old railway station, on our first night for some classic New Mexican fare. We shared a salad, a Mexican combination plate so we could taste the famous red and green chile sauces and try their version of a relleno (we still think Pancho’s makes the very best!) and sopapillas with butter and New Mexican honey. Delicious! A mariachi band came in to play for a friend; four women including a trumpet player and they were phenomenal. After they left, a gentleman who appeared to be a guest at the neighboring table, got up and played the cello. He was truly a virtuoso and almost seemed out of place in this restaurant, but it was lovely that he played for his friend’s birthday celebration.

The next day we headed off towards Canyon Road and wandered through the endless galleries and then down to the central square to wander that area and take in the beautiful fall colors and beauty of Santa Fe. We had originally planned to be on the road that afternoon, but decided that we were having such a grand time in Santa Fe that we would stay another night and head out first thing the next morning.

We decided to have dinner at La Plazuela at La Fonda on the Plaza. La Fonda Hotel is a Santa Fe icon and the dining room was absolutely charming. Great food and wonderful service made this night very special.

The Best Omelet Ever at The Hampton Maid!

Linda in Site News

Twice a year, Ron and I have the great privilege of traveling from Cabo San Lucas to Southampton, New York and then back again. (over 5,100 miles each way). I joined him in early October this year so that we could do a little touring and exploring before we hit the long road back to Mexico.

We took our car in for servicing one morning before we left to ensure that it was road worthy and ready for the long trip and walked to a well-known restaurant in Hampton Bays for breakfast while the car was being worked on. The Hampton Maid, established in the year I was born, offers lodging, a great little gift ship and a restaurant that only serves breakfast (www.hamptonmaid.com). When you serve breakfast that is this good, you only need to be open for this meal every day!

The staff was very friendly and the service was excellent. Looking around the room, it was apparent that the restaurant was enjoyed by lodging guests, locals reading the latest Dan’s Paper or the morning’s New York Times, and people meeting for business. Our waitress delivered a carafe of coffee to the table while we considered the menu and the specials that she described for us. Ron chose Eggs Benedict and I ordered their featured omelet and we decided to share a side dish of corned beef hash. The food was prepared and served to us quickly; beautifully plated and presented on warmed plates. Ron’s dish was very good and the beef hash was home made and delicious. The omelet, however, was truly outstanding – without question the very best omelet either of us had ever tasted. The omelet itself was the lightest and fluffiest I’ve ever had and they flavored it with very thin julienne slices of ham, Brie, and a locally grown Honey Crisp apple. It was not only visually colorful and appealing, but the combination of sweet and savory flavors was a delightful surprise. This omelet was so good that we stopped to pass along our kudos and compliments to the chef and his team.

When we’re back in the Hamptons next summer, we’ll definitely return to The Hampton Maid for another fabulous omelet, hunt for Honey Crisp apples and try to recreate that delicious omelet all year long until we’re back to enjoy the very best once again at The Hampton Maid.