Ensenada Day Trip

Trip Start Dec 22, 2006
1
16
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Trip End Feb 10, 2008


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Saturday, January 20, 2007

Yippee! Friends are in town! Or are they?! We were advised via email that our friends Carolyn and Jouni were stopping into port at Ensenada as part of their cruise and were extremely excited to see faces from home (well...Edmonton, but we were happy nonetheless). We had made arrangements to meet them at the port at 9am and in true mikeandger fashion, we were half an hour late arriving. Not to mention the boat actually docked at 8am. Not sure what happened, but needless to say, with all the other "cruisers" we could not spot our beloved friends. We even went so far as to walk the strip calling out "Carolyn?"...."Jouni?"...."Where are you?". Unfortunately there was never a reply. We checked back into the port several times but never did get to see them. We'll catch you next time guys, next time.

In between stops to the port, we did some of our own sight-seeing. We strolled the boardwalk Malecon and decided we could not leave Ensenada without trying some fish tacos. After all, fish tacos were invented in Ensenada, so we had to splurge to see what the rage was all about. The taco stands back onto a large open air fish market (Mercado Del Mariscos) which serve the vendors with fresh fish straight from the ocean. Fish Tacos are all they are cracked up to be....yummy! But to those that will be traveling this way....we've heard tell that you don't always get the freshest fish if you buy from roadside stands.

We also checked out the Riviera Del Pacifio. It was a plush gambling casino in the 1930's and is now a social and cultural events center. It has been associated with the likes of Jack Dempsey, Al Capone, and various Hollywood stars from the day. The lounge (Azul) in the casino is also where the margarita was invented in 1948 and of course is now a staple in Mexican cantinas. The building is surrounded by a beautiful botanical garden that is well maintained by groundskeepers; in fact they were out working that weekend. The property also boasts a wading pool, an outdoor theatre, a small shopping square and a playground. If the walls could talk, oh the stories they could tell.

Another staple in Ensenada is Hussong's Cantina which has been around since 1892 and is the oldest bar in the Californias. We stopped in for a couple of cervecas. Since two cruise ships had docked that morning, the place was pumpin'. There was a mariachi band for entertainment and they served all customers a bowl of peanuts (the shells of which were simply thrown to the floor). It was an infectious atmosphere but we did manage to stick to only one beer each.

After one last walk past the port, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we were not going to see Carolyn and Jouni, so we headed back to camp. On the way, we passed a Wal-mart and could not resist stopping in for milk and eggs. Once inside we were surprised to see an entire fruits / vegetables section as well as a bakery, just like you would find in your local grocery store. It's evident that Ensenada is quickly becoming North Americanized with the introduction of Wal-Mart, Burger King, Starbucks and Home Depot.....that is why we decided to stay outside of town in lovely little La Jolla.

 
 Photos....http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=16xvaj2z.3h45qwov&Uy=-v2r4fa&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0
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