To the Beach!
Yesterday, as the world was reading about Merida and the cheap real estate here (what? you haven't read the New York Times article yet?), some of us lucky residents decided to get out of Dodge for the day. It was a beautiful day for the beach and one of the multitude of benefits of living here is that the beach is not far away. So off we went!
And not just any beach, either. A wide, white sandy beach with no one telling you to put your dog on a leash. The dog is happy, the shells are plentiful, the water is warm and the sun is bright. Try walking two dogs without a leash on a beach in California, unless of course you own a house there. Even then you might have problems.
Of course, there's always a shadow, a cloud to every lining, so to speak. So it would be remiss of us not to mention that it's also a beach where you can find bugs the size of a pack of cigarettes. Thankfully, the bug we found was only moving feebly at the time of this photo. I would not want to meet this bug in a dark alley. It appeared to be some sort of flying cucaracha. Nice!
But we didn't let half-dead gigantic bugs mar our perfect day. Oh no! Not only was it a beautiful day at the beach, but it was a beautiful market day at the little town of Hunucma on the way back. The town was out in full Sunday market regalia, with beautiful be-hatted old men warming benches in the town square and young men putting the final touches on the temporary bull ring for la corrida later that day. The women were dressed in their cleanest huipiles and doing their Sunday shopping, the children were playing and the air was crystalline and clear under a cloud-spotted blue sky. What could possibly be added to make this a perfect picture?
Why, cochinita, of course! The best cochinita tacos on the Peninsula, at least that morning. This was the second time we'd eaten at the little house on the side street behind the mercado, and the owner recognized us. He serves cochinita at little plastic tables on his front porch, while his wife supplies the plastic dinnerware. He cooks his cochinita in the ground in his backyard every Saturday night to be served on Sundays. It's his own recipe with naranja dulce, he says, that is good for the stomach. I don't know how good it is for the stomach, but it sure is fine for the tastebuds! You just haven't lived until you've had a few cochinita tacos, dripping with naranja sauce, topped with a fresh habanero slice from the habanero just picked off the bush in front of you. And all washed down with genuine world-famous Mexican Coca-Cola! Now, that is Yucatan Living!
Comments
jt 16 years ago
when you visit Calif. again. take the dogs surfin.. I see dogs all the time on the beach .. no leash.. they don't have the manpower to enforce and don't... I know what the sign says , but not many at all comply, and the local enforcement does not really care from what i am told... come visit your pet rock again....lol....hope all is well there... j
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Gerben 17 years ago
Hello, probably way to late, but this article came up while browsing. Casa Quixote was bought by us (Dutch family) in March 2006, we opened in July 2006 under the name of Hotel Yakunah.
In the meantime (now;10/2007) we've opened another 3 rooms on the 2nd. floor. Visit our website for all details: www.hotelyakunah.com.mx
Greetings: Gerben, Elke & Michelle (daughter)
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Working Gringos 18 years ago
Hola, Marcia!
The beach in the foto is the beach at Sisal, to the west of Progreso. In our experience, the beaches of the Gulf are very changeable... they look very different depending on the weather, direction of the wind, etc.
As far as we know, Casa Quixote was sold and we think its now called Casa Isidora. We could be wrong... anyone?
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Marcia 18 years ago
Hola!
I realize this article is over a year old, but it's new to me! As is 'Yucatan Living'. Great information. I have read some negative info on the Merida/Progreso areas in the Mexconnect forums, and from International Living, (Although, to be fair, I.L. has changed their tune in the last year or two) so it is excellent to read an alternate and more positive view. Thanks.
We visited Progreso, hoping to purchase a small hotel, about 4 yrs ago. Didn't work out for various reasons, and we haven't had a chance to get back. I don't recall the beach in Progreso looking as appealing as the one you pictured in the article, giant bug notwithstanding! Where is the giant bug beach?
Also, does anyone know what happened to Casa Quixote, in Progreso? I can no longer find any info online.
Thanks again,
Marcia
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Andrea 18 years ago
Hi!
I just wanted to say that first of all we've been enjoying your site for quite some time and it helped us make the huge decision to come here. We are living here around the corner from you on calle 47 for the next two months. We hope to get to meet you while we're here. We got to meet URL today because Arvi comes to help us twice a week. When he was done today he told us he was going to be walking URL next. So he stopped by and let us meet him!
Andrea & Darrell Smith
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