Playa Bruja: Bob Hits the Ground Running

Bob’s first full day in Mazatlan was quite busy! We began the day by taking a leisurely walk along the beach. The day was slightly overcast, but warm, and the winds were calm. After our walk we grabbed towels and reclined at the pool. Bob’s newfound flying friends from Washington, Barb and Kathy joined us at the pool. After checking in the night before, they had gone to their Master Suite in the “new” part of EB, only to find that they were dissatisfied with the room. Apparently, the construction had just been completed and there was an unpleasant chemical smell to the place, either from paint, or something else that had been sprayed. They asked to be moved. It sounded like the whole thing was an inconvenience, but eventually worked out for them, as they were moved to a more suitable unit at the front of the property. This experience demonstrates that you will sometimes find it necessary to engage in “negotiation” while in Mexico.

We spent a few hours conversing with the ladies at the pool. I then excused myself to have some private time writing, checking email, and completing some unfinished work from my business back home. Bob went about painting ceramics at the activity center with, now “our”, lady friends.

When I returned a few hours later Bob, Barb, and Kathy were putting the finishing touches on their artwork. Guests who engage this activity have a nice choice of objects to decorate. Bob painted a small bowl, Kathy a plate, and Barb a small, rectangular box, with lid. Each object had a design outline, which was filled in from a palette of colors. All three of our “artists” had been creative in their endeavor and were preparing to give their projects to staff for “cleaning up” and glazing, when I arrived back at the pool.

Before leave the ceramic painting area, the ladies invited Bob and me to accompany them to dinner at Playa Bruja, a “local” eatery about three kilometers from Emerald Bay. On a past trip, Angel and I had heard of the place, so I was eager to experience the Playa Bruja food and atmosphere. The restaurant specialty is purported to be their lobster. We agreed to meet the ladies in the lobby at 6:00.

At 5:45, Bob and I left the room to head down to the lobby. As we headed out the door, Bob had his camera in one hand, his belt in another, and his pants still unfastened. I was rushing him out the door, as I needed to exchange some dollars into pesos at the front desk, so I could have tip money and cab fare. As the door closed behind us, we both noticed the beautiful sunset that you see pictured above. I took a quick shot with my Canon Elph and Bob took one with his Olympus point and shoot. Bob’s picture turned out “spotty” as he hadn’t turned off his flash. I showed him how to adjust his settings to turn the flash off, and he shot another photo, which turned out perfect. A photo hint for those of you who are interested: When shooting sunset photos, or night photos where you need detail in distant objects, turn your camera flash off, and go with only the available ambient light. If shooting near objects, such as people or plants, leave your flash on. Some point and shoot digitals have settings for night shots, fireworks, etc… if yours does, experiment with those settings.

So anyway, Bob gets his photo. I turn away from him and start walking down the hallway. A gentleman is approaching us, coming from the opposite direction. I greet him with a strong, positive, “Good evening!”. At the same time, Bob shouts out to me, “Thanks, Ted!”, a declaration of his approval for how his photo has turned out. The hotel guest I have just offered greeting gives me a strange look as he passes, and says nothing. As he passes me, I turn around, and Bob is fumbling to button his pants and fasten his belt. I realize that the fellow I just greeted is likely wondering what Bob is thanking me for. Sheesh, I can’t win.

After safely reaching the lobby with no other incidents, I exchange $50. We gather Barb and Kathy, and have the staff get us a cab. Our driver is Ramon. He charges us 50 pesos for the trip. I give him 70. He offers to be available in a few hours to take us back to EB. We thank him and enter into Playa Bruja. The restaurant is Mexican rustic, and casual. No music is playing as we are seated. All window seats are taken in the large open air seating area, but we score a nice table and I don’t feel crowded. The ladies are seated opposite Bob and me at the rectangular table.

Within a few minutes our server arrives and asks what we would like for drinks. The ladies order a margarita and a pina colada, respectively. I order a Pacifico, and Bob follows my lead. When the drinks arrive, we discover they have doubled. We have managed to inadvertently end up at happy hour!

We order our food. The ladies each order a guacamole salad, and decide to split lobster for two. Bob picks the large garlic shrimp. I go for the “always safe”, shrimp fajitas. The ordering process gets a bit complex, as the ladies’ request for guacamole salad, although it appears to be a clear option on the menu, is in fact, “not a possibility” to our server. He tries to tell the ladies that guacamole “ensalada”, though printed on the menu, does not exist. They are a bit baffled. Kathy engages in a little verbal jousting with the server. He looks perplexed and mildly frustrated with his new gringo amiga. Barb intervenes. Evidently, she has come up with a solution to it all, as she jumps up and whispers something into the servers’ ear. The server nods his approval and off he goes with our order. I breathe a sigh of relief. It turns out that Barb has told him to bring two green salads and an order of guacamole on the side. So goes the ordering process at eateries in Mexico.

When the meals arrive we all signal our approval and begin eating. My plate comes a few minutes later than the others, but is of good quality and flavor. Though I told the server twice that I wanted corn tortillas, I get flour. I decide not to gripe and instead take the “no worries” approach to the evening.

Bob’s dish turns out to be the winner when the table is polled. The ladies are not overly impressed with the lobster as it lacks flavor. I’m guessing that the flavor is more a factor of preparation, than it is the lobster. In my experience, lobster is usually quite flavorless, unless grilled or drenched in garlic butter. I think theirs’ was just boiled and served with little seasoning.

After eating the main course, we converse, share a bit about ourselves and our travels, and listen to the “now playing”, live music. It is being presented by a male solo artist at the front of the establishment. His music is quite pleasant, we all agree, “kind of” Peruvian. He plays guitar and a flute-like instrument, simultaneously. No vocals, but a mix of contemporary tunes and oldies by such artists as the Beatles.

The ladies order and split a piece of chocolate cake. Everybody is still working on their drinks. Our server is next to our table and preparing a Spanish Coffee for the guests seated adjacent, and to my right. I’m not exactly sure what is in this brew, but from what I could observe it looked like egg white, beat by hand to a solid peak; vanilla sugar, sprinkled into a glass, then flambeaued into a caramelized syrup; some sort of liquor … rum?; and coffee. These ingredients are prepared tableside with great precision and showmanship. A note: Bring your extinguisher and fire retardant clothing if you intend on close observation!

After watching the free entertainment, we continue talking and polishing off our drinks. Kathy shares with us that she has, in the past, been actively involved in ice dancing. This was true until her home ice arena collapsed into a local Tacoma lake! She eventually gets around to asking Bob and me if we are dancers. We both nervously fidget around a bit and respond with “No”. My lovely wife will verify my response as being God’s honest truth. Kathy temporarily ignores our answer and goes on to tell us about how much she enjoys dancing. We find out, she is quite accomplished in all types of dance, and has performed in a variety of professional venues, as well as acting in the instructor. I’m starting to sweat. Kathy finally, “ThankGod!”, coerces Bob into “taking a lesson”. I avoid embarrassment, and get a pardon to do what I am good at, chronicle the event. Evidence is posted photographically in this blog.

After “the dance”, we collectively waddle toward the front door, after a brief stop at the girls and boys banos. Barb mistakenly goes through the door marked Ninas (little girl’s room). We all chuckle a bit, and I snap a photo of her exit, catching the signage on the door, and her incredulous expression as she is remarking that there was no seat on the toilet.

We “gather ourselves” and go for the front door where I hail out “Ramon!”. Ramon immediately appears out of the darkness. He rushes to the taxi, where he opens the rear door for Bob and the ladies. I grab the shotgun seat and we screech off toward EB, sharing our Playa Bruja experience with Ramon in Spanglish. He responds to us in Englispan. It’s a short ride, and I give him double his rate, without telling Bob, who would likely “not approve”.

We snap a few photos in the lobby. The ladies walk us to our building. We thank them for the invite. I thank Kathy for the great blog photo of her and Bob dancing, and we wish them “Hasta luego!”. It’s only 9:00. Bob and I retire to the “home”patio to enjoy a cigarro, and reflect upon the day. Another good one! We both agree. After our smoke, we brush our teeth, and I tuck Bob in, so he can comfortably read his book. I turn on the television and check out the latest news from the states. A few minutes later I look over at Bob. He’s fast asleep. The poor guy had a long day. I glance at my watch. It’s 10:00.
I drift off, the TV still on, but feeling secure, in that Santa and Angel know, that today I've been a "good boy and a friend".