There are several tiny gift shops sprinkled throughout San Carlos. While they do carry typical t-shirts, hats and sunscreen, many also sell items from local artists. Each has its own special flair. Lillian's is run by a woman living upstairs. When you arrive you have to ring the doorbell for her to "open up shop". [...]

Recently we journeyed north to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.  While expats can find turkeys in the frozen section of Sam’s stores south of the border the last Thursday in November has no significance in Mexico.  Mike and I began mentally planning for this holiday travel in September. At that time, our [...]

Wherever you are in the world there is often a uniqueness to that location.  The Dallas - Fort Worth area presents sporting events, amazing barbecue and cowtown rodeos.  New York offers Broadway shows, sightseeing of some of the most iconic structures in the world and fall in the Catskills.  In Los Angeles you can dip [...]

Advertising for the Festival de la Calaca The last weekend in October the City of Guaymas held a three day cultural event, Festival de la Calaca, Festival of the Skeleton.  The timing of the affair is based on it being the weekend prior to the celebration of Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead.  [...]

Friday night after a long week of retirement and we have dinner plans with friends, Amy and Steve.  Sounds pretty normal, right? You’re imagining perhaps a local restaurant, a little music, a bit of relaxing conversation...well...not exactly.  Imagine this instead, your friend calls that day to finalize plans and suggests, “Let’s get hog dogs and [...]

Traffic increased over the past few weeks which can only mean one thing...the snowbirds are migrating south to San Carlos.  By month’s end I anticipate it will take me seven long minutes to drive to a location that up until this mass influx of residents took a mere five.  It’s interesting observing neighbors who lived [...]

The first glance to your left from the Mirador Scenic Outlook. There are many beautiful locations in San Carlos but one that literally rises above the others can be found at the Mirador Scenic Outlook.  From there you can truly see the beauty of the Sonoran Desert embracing the Sea of Cortez. This area was [...]

The Soggy Peso Bar and Grill is located at 27°58’ N 111°06’ W. Feel free to drop by when you have a few hours to kill. Late one afternoon, we joined our neighbors and friends at a nearby “beach hangout”, the Soggy Peso.  It’s the consummate beach bar complete with a slight breeze, swaying hammocks, [...]

Magnificent, distinctive pearls found in the Sea of Cortez. In the 1600’s Spanish Conquistadors sailed into unknown waters that would later become known as the Gulf of California and/or the Sea of Cortez.  There they found native Yaqui and Seri Indians adorned in beautiful iridescent pearls. In their desire to take these treasures back to [...]

Growing up, my dad often used what I considered to be “technical terms” when talking about what I thought at the time were simple processes.  For example, when boating, “Ignition off!”, instead of “I took the key out,” or “What’s your ETA?” instead of “When will you arrive at the house.”  But the one I [...]