Beth, Syd and I arrose for sunrise on the roof of the hotel. It was a beautiful spot and just seeing the town as it was waking up and the small fisherman boats coming and going was serene and lovely. Very few seemed to be up in the town except for the roosters we could hear in the quiet of the dawn.
We then went on a walk thru town thinking we might find the coffee and bake shops open. Neither were open, but wanting to walk some of the side streets, we traversed down to the river side and back up other streets to the ocean side and back to the hotel. We saw more beautiful flowers, boats parked in and out of the water – and what happens when someone has seen English language use contraction of n’t and didn’t get it right, shouldn’t have tried, and now I don’t know if you actually eat there or it’s not really a restaurant since it is spelled restauran’t.
I missed buying some cinnamon bread from one of the street vendors, so when we saw a dude selling bread, we stopped him to see what he had. He didn’t have my cinnamon bread, but he did have rolls that were like our Hawaiian bread we get. We purchased one of his rolls and walked in the surf back toward the hotel’s street.
As we got back to the hotel, the night shift guy was just receiving a delivery from someone. It turned out that it was zacahuil for us for breakfast. It is like a tamale stew in a banana leaf. It included a bag of the pickled onions, japs and carrots. We had some of that with our Hawaiian roll and coffee.
It was getting hot again, so we then headed with our coffees to the pool to hang out with out feet in the cool water.
I went in search of a post card in the shops in Tecalutla. None were to be found. It would seem that no one sends post cards or letters much in Mexico these days. Not sure if that is due to instant communication through phones or what.
We went into Gutirriez Zamora looking for the cueritos tortas (pig skin sandwich) that Lalo loves and wanted me to try. This is again a city built with hills and countryside to one side and the river to the other. Some hills were so steep that the photos we took make us look gravity defying.
The places he knew that sold the sought after sandwich, were all closed, so we went back home. As we passed through another street in the town, I recognized that it was where the cemetery was, so they stopped so that I could have a visit. I find the history in cemeteries fascinating in any town. We also visited another of the family hotels and some fun spots around the town.
We got home in time for the family big meal. Today it was tortilla soup. Followed by plain and adobo thin pork chops with beans and rice with carrots and potatoes. One of my favorite meals. So good, I forgot to take any photos.
We were heading back to the city of Veracruz for the night and everyone was anxious to get us on the road so the we wouldn’t be driving on the “scary highway” at night. We said goodbye and gave hugs to the Aunties and Willie with promises to return to see them again sometime.
This highway is the one with all the little towns/stands/little farmers markets along the road. This highway also has long stretches of countryside where people speed along as fast as they can. It also has it’s share of potholes and it is a route for seemingly every double tandem tractor trailer rig in the state. So, picture a two lane highway curving up and down the countryside, people going at various speeds along the way and everyone passing even when the views of oncoming traffic cannot be seen. It was a bit like a roller coaster ride that sounds and feels unsafe and you wonder if you should have gotten on that ride. Actually, I always felt safe with Lalo driving. It was seeing the acts of the other drivers that was astounding. I mean. I might have held my breath a few times when we were overtaking a tandom trailered semi that was weaving all over the road ahead of us. It was definitely not the all day site seeing non-hurried drive that characterized our drive to Tecalutla.
It was dark by the time we made it into the city. We checked into our hotel and dropped off our bags and headed over to the family house there.
It was Mexican Independence Day. We watched the speech and toasted with a lovely tequila. I had looked up a bit about their Independence Day and unlike ours, where we celebrate when we signed the documents as a done deal, in Mexico, the day is the beginning of the struggle for independence. It is the day of determination, hope, and togetherness.
Miranda went and put on her Independence Day dress she wore to school that day. So cute.
The Plans for the next day is onto some of the Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Towns)