Howard Johnson Hotel - Don Pelayo Mazatlan

... vendors. <br><br>This awoke this morning very refreshed and went over to the Playa Mazatlan, the hotel I stayed at for my senior trip 25 years ago, for breakfast overlooking the ocean. We enjoyed a walk back via the beach and then a nice morning and early afternoon at the pool. Nico entered a contest to try to retrieve the most poker chips from the bottom of the pool. He ...

... to mazatlan) to the ferry landing for Isla de la Piedra. Once there we got another pulmonia across the island to a semi deserted beach, lined with fish restaurants full of lunching families. The scenery and setting were beautiful, and with 2 islands protecting the shoreline from the biggest waves, it already beat the zona dorada beaches hands down. We treated ourselves to some happy hour beers and a pescado zarapeada (spelt wrong but ...

... organization that I work for, is building a feeding center for children in the heart of Mazatlan because this cycle of drug use, poverty, and crime is catching up to the most vulnerable part of the population in the city. The kids are living in shacks made of whatever materials can be found - sheet metal, tarps, shipping pallets, boards and planks of all shapes and sizes. Some of them are living with a parent who's still addicted to cocaine or heroine ...

... taquila, and 1 litre of baileys for $10. very cheap for every shopping needs. but venture off the main drag and you can see chicks rooting donkeys, meat sitting on a table for sale in 30 degree heat with maggots breading, drugs, and burnt out buildings.. great day trip to experience the place but as i was told tijuana is far from the real mexico it is just locals wanting USA dollars from tourists. one gogod thing beautiful weather :-)

... has just been built (relatively speaking i guess it has!). All the buildings were cool, specially the huge, funky and very posh hotels on the front, the Manchester Grand Hyatt being by far the coolest. They had one of those seriously cool fountains, which randomly send up jets of water and you can play in!! Wandered round a cute little seaside village, full of fascinating little shops. They were packed to the roof with stuff, the best one being the ...

... met up with Jon and his friend David. Then the 4 of us drove up into the Santa Monica hills to the restaurant: a hunter's lodge, over 100 years old. Under the glare of multiple horned beasts we enjoyed a fabulous 4 course dinner, each more delicious than the last.. I ended up having the squash and red pepper soup, follwed by quail, then the main course was veil, and for desert a piece of apple pie... and the biggest shock, it was all ...

... who Matt then fell in love with. The rest of the band looked like seventies throw backs with long hair and beards, and they were fantastic. Nina, Matt, Brad and I all had a considerable boogie on the dance floor, all taking the Mickey out of each other and of the others around us. At one point Brad was dancing with his leg up in the air like he was playing it as a guitar which had me in stitches. Not many other memories of the night after that as I was little drunk!

... They must have been on one sweet vacation because their meals were cooked for them and they were driven around by chauffeurs. Interesting way to camp. We were jealous. We decided to drive up the mountain to check out the scenery. Sze was taken by the ...

... spin around on this pole. Had fun drinking beer and dancing on the tables at Senor Frogs. :) Back to the ship, which, by the way, was full of ancients. Not that we minded. But would have been nice to know when we booked the trip. It was kind of funny though. I had fun dancing with this guy that had to be at least 80. :) LOL