Bougainvilleas were blooming in Mulege
Leaving our Mulege ocean spot, we had one further stop in mind, only a few minutes drive down the highway from where we were now. So we might as well explore Mulege a bit more before heading to Mulege Brewery, our Harvest Host stop for the night. Then it would be northward bound!
Mulege lighthouse
Everyone in our group had slightly different needs to resupply today, so we were all heading out to Mulege on our own, with the plan being we’d meet up at Mulege Brewery. I only needed to resupply a few items to get myself through until I was back in the USA, less than a week away now! Shopping was going to be at the “Super Market”(see last post about the quotes), I planned to park around there, shop, then spend the day wandering the streets of Mulege sucking in as much of that Baja vibe before I needed to leave.
Long-billed curlews
I was up early enough to get out and get some earlish morning pictures of the birds along the shore here. There were a lot of buzzards, with many other species hiding among them. The sun stayed out for once to cooperate with my photography. I managed to actually get a few good bird pictures just walking down the beach in the morning. Patience isn’t one of my virtues with animal photography. I can walk all day to get a photo of a landscape, but I chafe at waiting five minutes for a bird to get to just the right spot or strike the right pose.
But there were enough birds here that I didn’t have to wait for long to get at least a half decent picture of something. I snapped off a few more bird pictures then headed back to the rig to pack up for the short trip into Mulege.
Mulege was fairly busy with morning shoppers, so I parked a little ways down the road, in front of what like some some possibly abandoned warehouse type shop doors. I was trying to be careful to not park in front of business frontage and be in the way of customers. Parking in Mulege is a bit of a challenge, I had to go quite a ways down to find a spot I thought was OK. That made my trip to the “Super Market” a bit more of a pain to carry back groceries. Good thing I only had a small resupply to make it back to the USA in a few days.
In case you are wondering why I wasn’t stocking up on the Mexican cuisine I liked, a lot of it had already been bought, at least what I could buy. There are a surprising number of items according to US rules you can’t bring back, like pretty much anything in fresh meat, veg or fruit. Even my fruit dried snacks were not OK to bring back. So I was going to have a pretty empty freezer and an immediate trip to Walmart upon my return to the USA.
Hotel Hacienda entrance
But I was clean out of meat, so I braved the butcher in the “Super Market” for the first time ever, figuring out how to order four pieces of chicken in Spanish. I end up with leg and back pieces, which I am very familiar with. These were a bit bigger than I normally got, but not really any more meat – the chickens here were not as plump, so a piece is more bone and less meat here. The flavor was very nice and less fatty than most stuff up north. I said adios to the “Super Market” kitty and went trekking back to my RV with my last bags of supplies for my journey down here. Checking again to make sure my parking spot looked reasonable, I locked things up and trekked back, passing the “Super Market” on my way into old town Mulege.
My shop was the only thing on my list so I had lots of time to explore around. It wasn’t even close to lunchtime yet. Perhaps I would find myself a cosy little spot or a street vendor to grab a bite at. In the meanwhile, I go wandering down the main street, just randomly wandering, yet trying to make sure I hit most of the main streets to see what there is to see.
“Man lives on illusions and then dies of disappointment”
While I’m enjoying myself to some extent, I’m not really wandering into stores, or seriously poking the eateries for a potential lunch spot. I do take a picture of a saying displayed from a carving of an open book. I can tell it is something about man living illusions, and dying of something, but what I don’t know. Rather than type this all into my translator, I photograph it for later. It turns out to be pretty deep, although I’d say we live in disappointment long long before we die from it.
Bougainvilleas in Jardins Corona Park
I sat down under a Bougainvillea tree at Jardin Corona park, taking in the wonderful weather for the day. I’m not feeling like lunching on my own; if I’m going to spend extra money eating, I’d rather do it with friends. As if someone was reading my mind at that moment, Carolyn walks by the park heading further into town. I catch up with her, finding out she is picking up laundry, then perhaps having lunch somewhere in town. Funny how these things work out sometimes.
We end up at Las Casitas Restaurant, having been drawn in by the lush foliage decorating the entrance area. We walk to what we think is the back of the restaurant, but a patron points us onward, saying the place continues way further back. Indeed, the place is a long corridor, with the back end completely empty at the moment. We return to the front, not wanting to make the server tramp that far back for one set of guests.
A guest points us to the back
The front is just as nice, with gurgling fountains to relax by while you eat. It is the nicest decorated place I have been to down here, and that is saying something considering what we have seen so far! The food was good, but I don’t remember what I had – the looks of the place were so outstanding I forgot about the food! This restaurant also serves for a hotel attached to it, so not surprisingly there is some American style food on the menu, and the prices are on the higher end.
But it was worth every peso to sit in that garden setting! While it wasn’t busy when we were there, I think even at full capacity it wouldn’t be very noisy in there owing to the long thin corridor broken up by a turn to muffle the sound. There was so much decoration to look at that we lingered a bit after lunch just to soak it all in.
Carolyn tries the door
After lunch, I decide to grab a ride back with Carolyn to my rig. Walking down the street, we encountered what looks like a very nice but abandoned building, looks to be former business long gone now. While I wouldn’t try it on my own, Carolyn gave the front door a push and it opened no problem, so we both stepped in to see the inside.
The main room, could have been a restaurant
Inside is also quite elaborate, although the roof is long gone, leaving only the durable beams and brick walls. It is fancy brick, with fireplaces, and decorations molded into the walls. It’s a pretty big place, there are several rooms to walk through, plus a side garden that is now very unkempt. It seems in good enough shape that you’d think you could just re-roof the place and start a new business here catering to the uber-rich RVers coming down here.
Pray for wide roads
The drive back to my RV is not without a narrow road encounter, probably the tightest squeeze I have seen, Carolyn had to pull in her mirror and even with that only had a sliver of room to pass the large truck that was also not parked right up against the curb. You need to park up against the curb here people, especially if you are anything larger. Again, I’m glad for the six inches narrower body of my rig, although I have the same mirrors and would have to pull them in too.
Jardin Corona park
I get dropped off at the entrance to the old town so Carolyn can try and get some cash from a local store (no bueno, only doable with a Mexican card). Walking back to my rig, I see it is much busier over there now, and what I thought was abandoned warehouse was actually the entrance to a shop that I’d blocked off from the street. Thankfully I’d parked a ways a away from the door, but I’m sure the business owner was annoyed I was blocking his business from the street. I was in a hurry to get out of there before someone came over and yelled at me, but that was not to be. A caravan of RVs was coming into town, creating a nice traffic jam right where I was owing to the big speed bump everyone was slowing down for. But I managed to get out eventually without a boo from any local. I even had a delivery van helpfully park further away so I could get out easier. People really are more courteous in these smaller Baja centers.
Nice new building
Even with the tight quarters in Mulege, it had been a nice visit there. Having some nice company to explore with certainly added to the fun! But it was time to head for our last stop point south, Mulege brewery. This is supposed to be a Harvest Host camping spot, but really is more of a parking lot you can just take over with a few RVs. It was quite busy when we arrived, so we parked across Highway 1 at a large pullover. It turns out that is perfectly fine to stay at for the night too, so we went into stealth camping mode and setup for the evening.
Meat pizza was delicious
I was not expecting to find an American style brew pub in Baja, but that is what we found. The place is quite new, and nicely decorated. The co-owner came over to chat with us and suddenly everything made sense. He partnered up with a fellow Mexican beer brewing enthusiast to open up a pub down here, thus the American style pub. But I have to say, it is a very well done version and at this point, I did not mind ordering a pizza, it was probably one of the foods I missed most being in Baja.
The bar, with beer taps at the back
The co-owner was training a new server, not just in service, but service in English, which us poorly speaking espanoles appreciated. You’re not getting cheap food here, but considering the new shiny everything here, something has to pay for that! Then there was the beer. Carolyn ordered a non-alcoholic brew that she pronounced as the best she’s ever had. I had a sip and I’d have to agree, this actually tasted good, like a fruity beer without the buzz to go with it.
I went with the “Playa los Cocos Robust Coconut Porter 6%”. It lived up to it’s name – not too bitter, nutty with a hint of coco and creamy smooth. I got two “1l growlers” to go, I was so impressed with this brew. I say that in quotes because it turns out they can beer on the spot for off sales, how cool is that? I can say having had the cans since then that the porter stores quite well for at least a few weeks in a can – one was shared back in the States and still found to be very tasty. I can only hope that this brew pub stays around for many years. Judging by the visitors we saw that day, they are going just fine!
These dogs did not shut up ALL NIGHT across from our spot
We explored the neighborhood just north of the brewery with the fading light, checking out all the little stores there. Dogs followed us everywhere except into the stores. Sadie went into the stores usually without complaint. Some stores do not allow dogs, look for signs and ask first. Part of the freedom down here is there are fewer laws (followed?), for the most part people make their own rules about the little stuff. My dad came to Canada in part because it had fewer rules at the time than Germany. Now, I feel like moving to Mexico to get away from the rules in Canada. But I have not encountered the corruption talked about here – I’m sure it exists and might change my mind about wanting to migrate away from the rules.
Dawn before we turned north again
Having slept OK for a stop along the side of the highway, we packed up and prepared to head north. It was going to be a short time for me accompanying the group, then a sprint to the border and to Texas. Coming back into Mulege, we see a sign for the Hotel Serinidad, with a road going off, nice and wide and straight to the hotel, so much easier than the back alley we went down. Although we’d still have had to go around the hotel down the narrow road by the water, so it wasn’t the biggest miss we had. If I am back there again, I need to check out if there is a way we can cross the runway with an RV…
But in the meanwhile, north we travel again, back to the land of the not so free as they think they are. Join me next time for some final relaxing away from the water and the people, then a mad dash to the border and onto Texas!
