Marina and More

Today I decided to take a trip out to the marina here in town. It is a bit of a bus ride, but not all that far. Lot's of boats, as you would expect, and more bars than I could reasonably hit in one day. I will be back again at least once and probably twice.

274) Brando's

The bar is pretty much right on the water. It has a pastel ceramic front and a light wooden top. The bar has a palapa top to it and the supports are wrapped with Christmas lights, although they weren't turned on at this time of day. There is a red tile floor and it is open all around. There are a couple of televisions, but they were turned off as well. There are two blue-felt covered pool tables off to one side. A great view of the sailboats and yachts in the harbor. The bar had comfortable blue cushioned wrought-iron stools. Although I only had a beer, my wife and friend had non-alcoholic drinks, a lemonade and a clamatoe concoction of some kind. The bartender was like a chef, tasting here concoctions and then adjusting the ingredients as she saw fit. A real pleasure to watch.

I had a Pacifico, and the bartender did not taste it.

275) El Fogon

This place had their bar set well back from the water. It also had nice wrought-iron barstools with soft cushions. Needless to say, the comfort of the barstools gets to be a matter of concern at times. The back area where the bar is located had a tan tile floor and the walls were orange and yellow painted plaster. The much larger front area had a red tile floor. This area is open air with a white plaster ceiling covering half of it and a bright orange awning covering the rest. There is a lady griling tacos on a small grill in the front and after finishing my beer I joined my wife and friend to have a few. Quite good.

In the back by the bar was a table with a little fish-bowl containing a small turtle. The small son of the proprietor explained that it was his pet but I didn't quite catch its name.

I had a Pacifico.

276) Port Hole

A blue ceramic tile-front par with a black and silver faux granite top. Tan linoleum with pastel flecks covered the bar. The walls were painted blue with clouds on one of them and white smears on the others. Maybe the artist grew weary of his work. Blue glass fronting bare bulbs above kitchen type cabinets were behind the bar. There was a bit of a flamingo theme to the place, from the one peaking through the port hole on the sign, to the plastic flamingos in front, and down to flamingo glasses and stir-sticks. This was a very friendly little place being run by two Canadian women. They also sold ice-cream. The cooking channel was on and the patrons as well as the help, and us, seemed to take great interest in the shows. My friend was particularly interested in the segment about how to cook steak.

I had a healthy gin and tonic and my friend had a shot of tequila that was definetly poured with a heavy hand.

277) Las Palomas Doradas

This was a really nice place with a very nice wooden bar and a glass and wood liquor cabinet. Mirrored pillars and nice paintings of Mexican scenery and village life on the walls. There was a wooden buddha sitting on the bar that has an Indonesian rather than Chinese look to it. A shelf above the bar held Mexican crockery and some Mayan type statues. The place had very nice tables and chairs. The tables were covered with white tablecloths and then had smaller white tablecloths on top of those. Elegant place-settings completed the look. There were sprigs of coleus on each table and a large potted ficus near the back wall. There was also an very ornately framed mirror on one wall.

I had a refreshing frozen margarita.

278) Fajita Banana

My last stop in the marina, at least for today, was this sports bar. It had a fair amount of sports memorabilia about the place and several televisions. Mexican music videos were on the one behind the bar, a Mexican soap opera was on the one in the back, and various sports shows, primarily soccer, were on the rest. There were behive type of light fixtures, fairly common in Mexico, above the bar with yellow bulbs. We got to stare at a purple and yellow Camel cigarette sign behind the bar with the cautionary "FUMAR ES CAUSA DE CANCER" warning. The bar it said was made of some cement/plastic like surface with a bamboo front.

I had a chilled Tradicional tequila.

279) Esmeralda

On the way home we kind of took the wrong bus. It would have gotten us back to where we wanted to go, but in a round-about way. When it took a left off the main road back we got off. It stopped right across the street from the bullfight ring and in front of a little, up a narrow staircase, bar. Today was the day of the weekly bullfight, but it appeals mostly to tourists. The caliber of the bullfighters are probably the equivalent to a very minor league baseball team. The top fighters fight in larger cities with some of the best in Mexico city. I have never been to a bull fight here. The bar is open air on three sides and overlooks both the bullfight ring and the busy road that our bus was originally on. It also afforded a nice view of three of the four cruise ships that were in port. The place has a fairly new pool table. Just a two stool wooden bar in the back but lots of tables about the place. After finishing my beer at the bar I sat and joined the others who were served a plate of cucumber slices with their drinks. Once, a few years back, my wife locked herself in the bathroom here and couldn't get out without assistance. We don't talk about that much anymore.

I had a Pacifico.

280) Maguelito's

We walked across the street and caught the "right" bus back into town. On the way back to our place from the bus stop we passed this fairly nice place. It is also known as the Treehouse because it is a two story affair built kind of around a large tree. It is pretty much right across the street from Steve's. It has a dark wood bar fronted by bamboo. The stools are also nicely padded. The back of the place has wooden plank floors and the front has mexican tiles. There was some interesting artwork on the walls that looked to be made out of a combination of leather and rope. The walls were bright red and there were shelves with old books and other assorted stuff on the walls. There was a dart board on one wall but, given its proximity to the bar and tables, I am not sure if it is used very often. There is a nice waterfall in the entrance and you cross over a little wooden bridge to enter.

I had a Don Julio reposada and we all headed home for sunset at the pool.

281) Boca Bento

We went here for dinner but I had a drink at the bar before joining my companions. This is a fairly new place. Last year it was the 180 and it had a swimming pool that customers could use and live music a couple of days a week. The pool has been covered and there is now a roof over what was an open-to-the-air area. The bar was a very nice wavy wooden topped affair with a light cement front. There was a very nice wrap-around mural that is somewhat hard to describe. Not exactly abstract, but not realistic either. Bright colors, people smoking cigars, some of which looked like calypso drums, wine bottles, etc. It had a bit of a Cuban look to it and was painted in 2004 by someone named Maciaf (if I read the name right). Their beer and martini glasses were kept chilled in a refrigerator behind the bar.

Although a bit off of the mission statement, the food was delicious and I will, in all liklihood, be returning.

I had a gin and tonic and that was the end of my trek for the day.

Not a bad day at all and down to 719 left to go.