January 6, 2016. Lots of food in Baja!

ILOCATION:  Another day at rental house in Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico

WEATHER:  Another beautiful sunny day. Highs around 80

It seems like we ate all day today!

Meredith made delicious shrimp and grits with chorizo for breakfast.  After a leisurely morning watching for whales from our living room, we went into town.  First stop was a boutique hotel with a rooftop bar. George chatted up the señorita bartender.

Then on to eat at a less touristy restaurant.  Again,  the quantity of food is amazing, even when we share.  Meredith ordered a "vampire", a tostado thing.  Gautham got a tamale.  Alexis got a different kind of ceviche type.  George and I shared some tacos.  All very tasty.

Back home we relaxed a bit, then walked to a little Italian restaurant near our house.  The owners are from Italy, and we communicated in Spanish.  Fun!  We shared a plate of Italian eglgplant  with mozzarella and tomatoes.   The chef invited is in to look at his tiny kitchen.  Italian bread was baking in the wood oven.

DINNER:  Italian-style fish.  George grilled more of the Mahi Mahi fillets, and Meredith made an Italian sauce to accompany it.  Also a nice salad full of avocados.  We drank a bottle of outstanding French wine Meredith and Gautham had bought from a distributor in Michigan. 

January 5, 2016. Beach time in Baja

LOCATION:  Rental house in Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico

WEATHER:  Beautiful. Sunny. Highs in low 80s

Today was beach day.  The ocean in front of our house has riptide currents so swimming is not recommended.  So we packed up the car with beach gear and drove to the nearest swimming beach called Los Cerritos.  On our way, we thought we'd stop for a small lunch in Todos Santos.  We have discovered that "small" is hard to do in a Mexican restaurant.  

Gautham and Meredith split an order of machijete.

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The "small" order was a huge mortar-style bowl full of raw octopus and shrimp in a spicy pickling broth with slices of avocado and cucumbers.  George had an equally large bowl of seafood soup.

Stuffed, we drove on to the beach.  

The girls found a beach bar with umbrellas to cool off.

Back home, we enjoyed another beautiful sunset.

DINNER:  Meredith made bouillabaisse with more of the Mahi-Mahi and some shrimp.  She added some chorizo, too.  Turned out great.

January 4, 2016. Chillin' in Baja

LOCATION:  Rental house in Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico

WEATHER:  Beautiful. Highs near 80

We relaxed around the house, enjoying some good books, Alexis with hers in the hammock....

We almost struck out in the afternoon trying to find a place for happy hour.  First we went  to a oceanfront beach club, only to be reminded that it is closed on Mondays.  Then, to another restaurant purportedly excellent for while-watching.  After driving down an impossibly rutted and curvy road to our destination, we found that it is closed between lunch and dinner.  Back to town, we found a place famous for its chiles rellenos.  We shared a platter of them and agua chile, similar to ceviche with octopus, shrimp and scallops.  

Back at the house, we enjoyed our own whale-and sunset-watching from the house's rooftop deck...

The sunset was fantastic....,

DINNER:  Since we weren't too hungry, Meredith just made some fish tacos.....with our endless supply of Mahi Mahi.

January 3, 2016. Beach and Mezcal in Baja

LOCATION:  VRBO  in Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico

WEATHER:  Beautiful. Highs low 80s

George has an ongoing case of tourista, staying in bed most of the day.

Meredith, Gautham, Alexis and I walked to the beach in front of our house.  The beach is beautiful, but the riptides are very strong, so swimming is discouraged.

Left to right.....Daughters Alexis and Meredith, and son-in-law Gautham.

In the late afternoon, we did a mezcal-tasting at our house.  Alexis had arranged this experience online. She found this couple that purchases mezcal from  small "mezcaleros" near Oaxaca and is trying to establish a business to distribute it.   They came to the house bringing 6 different kinds of artisanal mezcal, and some chicken and pork cooked in banana leaves.

The mezcal reminded me of a smoky, peaty Scotch. 

They explained the mezcal making process while we munched on different courses.  Meredith made bean/chorizo tostados, jicama salad, Indian rice, and fried fish roe cakes.

We did the tasting outdoors on the patio and watched the sunset.  A really unusual and fun experience.  

January 2, 2016. Exploring downtown Todos Santos and turtles!

LOCATION:  Rental house in Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico

WEATHER:  Beautiful. Highs near 80

Meredith, Alexis and I did the 3-mile walk into town.  George and Gautham met us in front of the iconic Hotel California Hotel.  

There is some controversy as to whether or not this is the hotel made famous by the Eagles song.  The attached gift shop with t-shirts,  certainly wants you to think this is THE hotel.

The town is cute with lots of restaurants, art galleries and boutique hotels.

We had lunch in a cute restaurant.

Then, we found sone back streets with  George's Taco Stand!

Then in the evening, we walked to the beach near our house to watch a turtle release.  Conservationists collect and incubate the eggs, protecting them from predators, then release the babies into the ocean each evening during this time of year.

What a neat experience!

DINNER:  We took a rest from the Mahi-Mahi.  Meredith made bean/chorizo tostados as an appetizer, and cheese-stuffed poblanos over the leftover Hoppin John.  Muy sabroso!

January 1, 2016. Happy New Year from Baja!

LOCATION:  In VRBO house in Todos Santos, on SW coast of Baja California, Mexico

WEATHER:  Cool.  Highs in 70s

We had a lazy day today,  staying in the house most of the day.  It is a lovely house to relax in. View of the back of the house......

George has tourista, so is laying low.  We don't  know why he got in and no one else did.

Meredith made ceviche for us for lunch in the gourmet kitchen from yesterday's Mahi-Mahi catch. 

We enjoyed sitting  on the patio,

And on the upstairs deck off the master bedroom.....

We made a fire in the fireplace in the evening and planned some outings.

DINNER:  Meredith made an appetizer of fried roe cakes.  I made Hoppin' John with black-eyed peas (for good luck ).  George grilled some of the Mahi-Mahi filets on the grill.

December 31, 2015. Fishing Trip in Baja

LOCATION:  At rental house in Todos Santos, on SW coast of Baja Peninsula

WEATHER:  Cooler and cloudy.  Highs in low 70s

The rental property manager lined us up with a fisherman who agreed to take us fishing.  The panga, small fishing boat, only fit 4, so I stayed back.  We got up early to meet the fisherman at 6:30 AM.

It was a pretty small boat to go out in the ocean!

There aren't any ramps; the fishermen just push their boats  in.  Let the fishing begin!

Everybody caught a fish.  4 big Mahi-mahis.

Back at the house, Meredith and Gautham showed off their catch.

 

Then, we cleaned a lot of fish!  We will be eating fish everyday!

We grilled this big guy whole on the grill outside.  Good eating!

Besides the fish, Meredith made jalapeño poppers.

We drank champagne and opened Christmas gifts, mostly items each of us is getting rid of!