Food Glorious Food!!!!
As we all know, all cruisers are obsessed with food—I am no exception. Being fairly well traveled and a
bit of an “adventure diner” Mexico is a gastric wonderland. I have joined me various crews for dining
ranging from primitive fishing villages on the outer coast to some of the most luxuries restaurants I have
seen. The food at every stop has been delightful.
There is an appreciation of food and the time spent enjoying it here that we may have lost in our hurried
lives at home. Dinner is never hurried, you are expected to linger for a long time after eating even if the
place is a bit busy—something we rarely saw by the way. If you ask the bill right after you eat- and you
have to ask for it—they give you a bewildered sympathetic look as to say “why hurry”. Families take
hours to enjoy the dinner experience- it is truly a huge part of the joy of the day.
The top end restaurants we have enjoyed have had exquisite cuisine, royal service with a true interest in
your happiness and décor out of Architectural Digest. Even with all this the bills have been on par with
an average night at Anthony’s in Seattle or Humphrey’s in San Diego.
Certainly every cruiser’s kitty should have a place for top end dining occasionally. Rest assured that you
can set sail knowing that it is not only a luxury but more fun and more enjoyable meals can be had on
the cheap. We have grown very fond of sitting in plastic chairs- with some sort of beer branding on
them- under a tent on the beach partaking of enormous amounts of amazing food with the locals. Cold
drinks, piles of baked tortillas and seafood right out of the sea are the common fare.
We like to head through the surf about an hour before dusk and take a table next to the water—
sometimes the surf will come up right under your feet. Scores of children play in the surf so some
weaving is needed to get in but no one gets alarmed—they barely notice. Kids love to play trampoline
on the dinks (note you will take your small dink to this outing) making a sandy mess but the fun of
watching them is just too much to resist.
Food ashore is always fun and entertaining but we eat on board about half the time or more—
remember all those groceries I just packed to the cab, out of the cab, into the dink, and into the boat!
I have developed a true fondness for the “everything in a tortilla” cuisine. We may have huervos and
freiatas in a tortilla for breakfast, fresh local fruit-mmm pineapple, mangos and limes for lunch and
Now one might think with all this food, glorious food that we would all turn a bit pudgy. That
fortunately is not the case. A few factors play to our favor; we eat earlier and in smaller portions than I
ever did in my” work late-eat too much too late and go to bed exhausted, stressed beyond limits and
stuffed” world. Meals are smaller, more relaxed and the ingredients are healthier than I am used to and
it has done wonders. The day to day duties of cruising along with walking and swimming daily provide
good exercise and it does take energy to squeeze all those fresh limes!