So after spending last winter moving
Estrella around quite a bit here in Mexico, Josh and I decided to spend this winter exploring our favorite places from last season, but at a MUCH slower pace. We left La Cruz in early November and ended up here in San Blas, a little town north of La Cruz and south of Mazatlan.
Needless to say, we have spend the past month or so in San Blas finding no shortage of ways to entertain ourselves. First off, we started brewing our own liquor again. But this time around, local pub owner Billy Bob allowed us the use of his galley and equipment in order to produce larger quantities of our liquor.
Josh has thus far run his homemade still three times at Billy Bob's pub. This particular set-up produced a liquor closest in taste to potato vodka.
The other two distillations produced liquor close to gin. The most recent batch Josh flavored with cinnamon sticks for proper holiday liquor.
Other daily activities include riding our bicycles to the beach. The local horses also provide a viable means of transportation in San Blas and oddly enough, produce the greatest number of traffic jams in town.
A few days ago we hitched a ride in our friends' (Charles and Lori's) VW bug and went driving on the beach. Rocky outcroppings interrupt the otherwise sandy beach and frequently we could see the remains of structures destroyed during past hurricanes. I should note the (mostly intact) house we are standing next to belongs to another friend here.
The columned building on the left is the San Blas cultural center, which was the original customs house when San Blas was one of the ports of the Camino Real. The Camino Real was the Spanish "royal road" between Veracruz, Mexico City, and San Blas. The Spanish empire used the road to transport cargo to San Blas and then onto the Baja California missions, western North America, and the Spanish colony in the Philippines via galleon. Consequently, extensive galleon building took place in San Blas.
The marina here in San Blas is one of our favorite in Mexico. Behind
Estrella is a large estuary that continues inland for another fifteen miles. The bird viewing from the marina is fantastic!
Our Christmas tree for 2011. The giant Pacifico bottle was purchased at Carnaval in La Paz in 2008 and had proven to be the perfect vessel for flowers.
The marina also has a lovely pool which is rarely used, except when Josh and I decide to cool off and read there in the afternoon.
We have also traveled inland to Tepic, the capital of the state of Nayarit. A two hour bus ride from San Blas, Tepic sits in the sierras and is full of museums and churches of historical significance.
Over the past five years, Tepic underwent a city-wide beautification project. New parks have sprung up and I found myself on an elliptical machine near the main river, (which is dry at this time of year).
Needless to say, we have spend the past month or so in San Blas finding no shortage of ways to entertain ourselves. First off, we started brewing our own liquor again. But this time around, local pub owner Billy Bob allowed us the use of his galley and equipment in order to produce larger quantities of our liquor. 
Josh has thus far run his homemade still three times at Billy Bob's pub. This particular set-up produced a liquor closest in taste to potato vodka.
The other two distillations produced liquor close to gin. The most recent batch Josh flavored with cinnamon sticks for proper holiday liquor.
Other daily activities include riding our bicycles to the beach. The local horses also provide a viable means of transportation in San Blas and oddly enough, produce the greatest number of traffic jams in town.
A few days ago we hitched a ride in our friends' (Charles and Lori's) VW bug and went driving on the beach. Rocky outcroppings interrupt the otherwise sandy beach and frequently we could see the remains of structures destroyed during past hurricanes. I should note the (mostly intact) house we are standing next to belongs to another friend here. 
The columned building on the left is the San Blas cultural center, which was the original customs house when San Blas was one of the ports of the Camino Real. The Camino Real was the Spanish "royal road" between Veracruz, Mexico City, and San Blas. The Spanish empire used the road to transport cargo to San Blas and then onto the Baja California missions, western North America, and the Spanish colony in the Philippines via galleon. Consequently, extensive galleon building took place in San Blas. 
The marina here in San Blas is one of our favorite in Mexico. Behind Estrella is a large estuary that continues inland for another fifteen miles. The bird viewing from the marina is fantastic!
Our Christmas tree for 2011. The giant Pacifico bottle was purchased at Carnaval in La Paz in 2008 and had proven to be the perfect vessel for flowers.
The marina also has a lovely pool which is rarely used, except when Josh and I decide to cool off and read there in the afternoon.
We have also traveled inland to Tepic, the capital of the state of Nayarit. A two hour bus ride from San Blas, Tepic sits in the sierras and is full of museums and churches of historical significance.
Over the past five years, Tepic underwent a city-wide beautification project. New parks have sprung up and I found myself on an elliptical machine near the main river, (which is dry at this time of year).
