Sat, Apr 6 - Exploring Álamos

 

 About 8 AM, I went out to the terrace where I saw some birds in the large tree with wonderful yellow flowers so went back and grabbed my bins.  I identified a Hooded Oriole and there were quite a few of them obviously loving the yellow flowers.  Steve Vollertzen (Diane the owner’s brother who lives in Phoenix) offered me some coffee which I gladly accepted.  Katy joined me and then Bob and we sat enjoying the view and the various birds in that same flowering tree.  We eventually got to the breakfast area where the cook (don’t know his name) was just waiting for us.  He brought us huevos rancheros that were some of the best I’ve ever had as he had crisped up the tortillas so that they were crunchy under the eggs and salsa - really excellent.  We also had a bowl of cut up fresh papaya. 

 

Caracara

We discussed whether to drive out to the local cemetery for bird watching but decided to drive part way out the alternative road that would take us back to highway 15D tomorrow.  We could go back to Navajoa but wanted to see if this smaller road would be okay.  On the map, it looks as if a large part of it is dirt but actually the part we drove was mostly paved and in good shape.  There roughest part was closest to town.  We may run into more dirt road tomorrow but it looks like a good option and brings us back to 15D farther south than if we returned via Navajoa.  We have about a 7 hour drive tomorrow to get to Mazatlán from here. 

We drove across a couple of arroyos - all dry at this time of year and saw a Cara Cara up in a dead tree.  After 15 miles or so I turned around and we headed back.  Coming from town, we had been on a short stretch of dirt road when it joined a paved section so we took the paved section on our way back to see where it went.  It didn’t go too far turning back into dirt and then pavement again as we wandered around the small streets of Alamos. I finally found a street that I recognized and we ended up back at the Plaza. 

Then we thought we would try to find the Mercado of Artisans that someone had mentioned.  It is back on the road to Navajoa but before the large building with a dome - those were our instructions!  From the Plaza, I followed a tram and 2 4-wheelers until they circled back and I kept going.  What we found was a much better way of coming into town than we had been on on Thursday so that was helpful.  We turned left onto the Navajoa road and drove past the building with a dome without seeing the Mercado.  I turned around at the big welcome to town archway with large Álamos sign and we went along until - there it was - the Mercado on the right.  Bob stayed in the car while Katy and I walked slowly through the open area of the inside mercado.  There were about 5 artists there with a variety of touristy stuff, nice embroidery, some fun painted hats and lots of ceramics - skulls, lizards etc. 

I found an embroidered pillow that I really liked as did Katy.  We told the woman who had stitched them that we didn’t need to pillow but just the pillow case which was well made with a zipper.  She removed the soft insert which makes it much easier for us to transport. 



We then found our way back to Serena Vista by reversing our steps and now approaching it the way I wish I had known about 2 days ago. We lounged around for a while until Katy and I decided we would wander back down the steps and explore the Plaza some more and of course that might require a stop at the gelato place since we had skipped lunch. 

We headed for gelato first enjoying some excellent chocolate gelato.  We were going to follow the walking tour contained in the Guide we both bought yesterday (the B&B owner is one of the authors though we didn’t realize that when we bought them!).  But neither of us had brought the guide with us so we improvised.  We walked along the side of the Plaza that we had not been down and then turned left to see if we could locate the ATM that we all needed.   

I had googled ATMs near me but hadn’t yet been down the street where it seemed to be.  We walked down following the directions going up and down the sidewalks.  The sometimes really high sidewalks are potentially treacherous as they are both narrow and very high but you can get away with walking down the street most of time too.  We got to an area that looked like a round about where the ATM should be and found the bank.  Being Saturday afternoon the bank was closed but there was a door just passed it that was open and had 4 ATMs inside.  So a successful trip to the ATM for both of us.  Next door was a very small farmacia which we also explored and found a couple of items we needed. 

We walked back to the Plaza passing a touristy shop that we had been in yesterday.  I really liked some of the painted straw hats thinking that they might look great on a wall at home.  These hats are very stiff so I’m not sure if anyone wears them but they are decorative.  We then walked all around the Plaza square checking out the street food and other entertainments available on a Saturday afternoon.  We found a bench somewhat in the shade and next to a booth where they were making very elaborate drinks. Katy and I tried to figure out what these were.  The closest thing I could find online was a Cantarito though that should have tequila in it and these were alcohol free.  The woman making them started with a clay cup.  She put ice in the cup and red powder (some kind of chile), then pineapple juice, lime juice, a stick that looks a bit like incense but with much thicker powdered stuff on it, then topped off with Squirt and slices of lime and lemon with a paper umbrella in the lemon.  They seemed to be very popular. 

We wandered back up all of the steps to the B&B and read for awhile on the terrace. 

About 5:30, we walked back down the steps and returned to Charisma where we were the only ones in the dining room.  We were determined to order small dishes tonight so that we a) would not end up wasting food and b) have room for more gelato. We started with Cuba Libres all around and then Bob and I succeeded by ordering a really good Cesar salad with freshly grilled chicken.  It came on a perfectly sized plate and we both enjoyed it.  Katy ordered the pizza on the appetizer menu figuring that it would be a nice personal size.  Well, the pizza that came out was one of the largest pizzas that I’ve ever seen.  Katy could barely eat a single slice as each slice was so large. 

The pizza was on a large plate but overlapped it by inches all around.  The kitchen crew will devour it so we weren’t worried but it was an impressive sight. 



Bob hadn’t been to the gelato place yet but it is part of the same restaurant/hotel.  You can walk from the restaurant through the bar and out to this lovely courtyard.  At the other end of the building is the gelato place where we finally had room for dessert.  Back up the steps and our last evening at the Casa Serena Vista.  We plan to leave at 7AM on Sunday for our drive to Mazatlán.