This year we have rented a different beach house for the month of December. We are lucky that Tom and Linda won’t return to San Miguel until January. Until then, we will enjoy their beach home, commonly known as Casa Siesta, and its magnificent views of the Atlantic. We are even allowed to use their long tube snorkels. Thankfully, we are experienced long tube snorkelers. Sam will use Linda’s three foot long red snorkel and I will use Tom’s yellow four-footer. To understand this unique sport you should read our blog post “Going to the Beach” dated January 14, 2010. The reader is also invited to read the January 2010 post, “Global Warming and San Miguel de Allende” to have better understanding of the environment here.
Today we enjoyed French fries at Stubby’s beach French fry stand and chatted with our friend Mercado Ramirez. Both are experiencing a pick-up in business now that the northern snow birds are starting to return to the beaches of San Miguel and the most sought after Port of San Antonio.
From our beach house roof top you can see the Atlantic and hear the waves crashing. With the wind blowing just right you can even hear the laughter coming from Mercado’s restaurant. Surely, he is serving up some cool drinks to guests anxious for shelter from the tropical sun.
The town square is abuzz about the boat races scheduled for Saturday, December 11th and, Sunday the 12th. I have attached pictures of a couple of the boats being readied for the races and a copy of one of the posters plastered all over town. As you can see, the boats of the two favorite drivers are on display in front of the main church in San Miguel.
In colonial towns the matadors are superstars but not here at the beach. Here we are excited to see two hometown boat racers compete. The more experienced driver is Barco Jacinto. He will race in his usual #13, El Diablo Negro.
The less experienced new comer is Lancha Gomez. Lancha will pilot his new yellow # 5 speedster with the green alligator head on the front, El Gator Verde.
Both racing boats feature Mercury powered engines. This has caused somewhat of an uproar around town as everyone knows that Mercury is highly toxic and it pollutes both the ocean waters and the fish we eat. As occurred last year, I now expect Al Gore to be invited to town to speak about pollution and global warming.
Weather conditions call for warm Atlantic waters, windy conditions and somewhat high seas. All this and an altitude of 6,400 feet above sea level will surely result in an exciting race.
I can’t wait to stand on the shore of the Atlantic and watch the race. I know Stubby and Mercado are excited too because with the Atlantic races come more beach tourists, more free publicity and, of course, more sales. In fact, Stubby has added a new product line to his offerings. He now offers cigarettes. I expressed my displeasure with this move but Stubby said, “Don’t worry. They’re organic”.
Great post! It all sounds so nice .... it is 19 degrees here, but the sun is shining (do you believe it!!) and that makes it a lot easier to live with :-) Have fun at the races, enjoy the ocean and the walks on the beach. My money is on El Gator Verde .... like the gator on the front :-)
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