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- A Little History
- Birds, birds, birds
- Morning Activities
- Our Dinner with Guillermo
- Celebrity Amenties
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Cabo San Lucas: Celebrity Amenities
For the wrap-up, I’ll just tell you a little more about the area and the impact of celebrities. We didn’t actually see any celebrities, that we knew of, other than Santa Claus, but were told that Sly Stallone, Julia Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson, several prize fighters and many lesser stars have houses at Cabo, most of them high on the hills to the west of our hotel, an area called Pedregal, which I mentioned previously. We ate dinner in the area one evening at the most “authentic” place we went--not at all touristy and serving local specialties. I wouldn’t be surprised if this particular restaurant is part of the celebrity circuit. We were kindly accommodated even though we did not have a reservation -- who knew we would need one on Tuesday evening before 7:00!! I think we got to eat because they knew we would not linger like the Mexican nationals.
The restaurant was La Fonda. (La Fonda basically means restaurant, I think, although I found one reference that said it meant “boarding house.” There’s a really cool LaFonda in Sante Fe NM, too, and there it’s the name of the hotel AND the restaurant. Who knows?) We had a wonderful meal starting with Cream of Poblano soup. It was very smooth and foamy, like it had been blended at the last moment before the goodies were added. The goodies were squash blossoms and a very soft jack cheese in chunks in the bottom. Very unusual, very good. We did not have the chapulines (fried grasshoppers), but what we did have was excellent. The margaritas (with Damiana) were exquisite, but expensive to our minds (I think about $8.00 each).
The only hitch in our experience here was taking a taxi home. The (English-speaking) receptionist, after calling, told us not to get in one that stopped unless it said Verde and the driver was Carlos. Well, the person who came was not Carlos. And he could not understand why we wouldn’t get in. And because we were not in the tourist area, the cab company saw no reason to send an English-speaking cabbie. Confusion ensued. Eventually the receptionist, who thought she was safely rid of us, sorted us out. We got back to the resort and tipped not-Carlos well. We noticed that he stayed for quite a conversation with the bell captain. We were hoping they were friends _before_ commiserating about the crazy old American ladies.
There are a number of observable influences of the celebrity presence in Cabo. I’ve already mentioned the sushi. I think I can safely predict, though, that cream cheese is not often served in/on sushi in the U.S. or Japan or China, although it appears to be an integral presence in Cabo. Interesting short sushi article here. We also were impressed with the table-side purse stands at LaFonda, at the Sea Queen and all the better places. This is a wrought iron stand about 3-1/2 ‘ high with arms for hanging purses, or canes, I suppose. Can't have those $500 Gucci bags sitting where people walk!
Another thing we noticed was the high-end booze. If you order a Bloody Mary, they ask you if you want Grey Goose. If you order a bourbon-seven, they ask if you want Knob Creek. If you order a g & t, they ask if you want No. TEN by Tanqueray. We never did. I mean if you’re drinking something on the rocks, it might matter, but with tomato juice and hot pepper sauce??? Who cares? Part of conspicuous consumption I guess. Any way we mostly drank margaritas or pina coladas. Which don’t matter very much.
We also noticed this trip a great proliferation of spas and spa services. For example at the Playa Grande, we observed what we thought was a private Jacuzzi on the 4th floor of the building across from us. When we asked Guillermo, though, he said it was part of the Playa Grande spa, the part that featured a seawater treatment. The spa world is adamant that seawater cannot be duplicated, so these indulgences are only available on a coast. The price description listed it as “Thalasso Therapy.” I can’t remember what it cost, but enough that we didn’t consider it. Maybe $75. There also was a gym with pretty good machines and weights and classes throughout the day, some of them on the beach. I observed, but did not join, a yoga class at 7:00 am. It looked pretty legitimate, unlike the one I participated in at Nuevo Vallarta a few years ago. That one was led by a cutie who clearly was more into jumping jacks and such.
As another sign of up-scale sensibilities in our resort, the main bar was decorated with glass works by Dale Chihuly, according to Guillermo. They were good pieces in the right vein, stylized sea flowers/animals in perfect bright tropical colors, and I pretty much believed him. But the resort wasn’t built until the late early 90’s at the earliest. Would the Chihuly studios have been taking on small commercial installations at that time? Well, we know it’s an incredibly prolific “franchise.” Anyway, Chihuly is a Northwest boy who “made good,” and here’s an interesting chronology of his life and a sampling of his glass pieces.
The last thing I want to tell you is not really related to celebrities, but has to do with Mexican specialties. I always try to buy salt and vanilla, because both are supposed to be very good here. For salt, you have to go up into the desert (Todos Santos is a good choice), but all the tourist traps have vanilla, so in my mind, it’s one of their primo products and I wanted to know which were good and which were rip-offs. (Just so you know, I do not use synthetic vanilla under any circumstances. Even dirt poor, I will do without first.) So I asked the, um, camarero grande (my rendition of Spanish for maitre d’, sorry, it just didn't seem right to use French) at the Sea Queen. He thought not at all and said, “Well, the Coca-Cola company buys all of our vanilla, but there’s some at the little shop next door that’s pretty good. It’s what we use. Look next to the tequilla display.” So I did. The brand is Copali and it’s made in Vera Cruz, where most of Mexico‘s vanilla is produced. I'm not even sure they grow any in Baja Sur. Never mind; this one is excellent as a “fresh” vanilla. I haven’t tried it in baked goods yet, so I’m still withholding judgment.
That’s the end of the things I have to say about our last trip to Cabo San Lucas. Our next trip will be the Jeffi birthday trip later in May, but it's still a surprise so you'll have to wait to learn where we‘re going when the travelogue begins.
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