CABO san Lucas…what to say….
Our next stop was our vacation-in-the-vacation, the part where we drop our bags in a hotel and pamper ourselves like normal people on vay-cay. We’d both been there separately in the past, but something was different this time around. To be fair we were about half a month into the journey, and maybe a little road weary, but we sadly have to report that Cabo feels sinister, or empty…soulless? It’s really hard to put our finger on it. Unfortunately it seems the narcos have inserted themselves and their violence in the idyllic cape town. Although we didn’t experience it directly, we think that might be responsible for the pall about town.
All that said, we still partied (hard!) at one of Daniela’s favorite old haunts from her cruise ship days, checked out the iconic landmarks, and had one of the best (if not the best) meals out of our lives.
“This land is full of ship memories but I’m lying if I say I wasn’t excited about a different kind of experience. Less shots involved… ” d.
“Cabo holds fond memories for me, but it just feels different these days…it’s weird.” a.
***
WE checked into our hotel, Bahia Beach Club, and got ready to live that Beach Club life. The hotel is far enough outside the club zone to be chill, but well accommodated and a fish taco’s throw from the beach. We were exhausted after the past couple days traveling from Zicatela beach, over the mountains, and flying from Oaxaca, so we just chilled on at the closest beach club for a while before grabbing an early dinner at the excellent hotel restaurant, and hit the sack early.
Fun fact, randomly it’s the same restaurant (called Bar Esquina) Adam filmed a big fight for Real World San Diego many moons ago.
***
THE next day we grabbed breakfast, and headed out for a very important task: day drinking at The Me Cabo. When Daniela was working on cruise ships this was the place they’d all come to party on the few hours of freedom they had when docked.
So yeah, we partied. Haaaaaard. We started with a bottle of champagne at one of the cabanas but soon enough made friends in the pool and mezcal started being poured. Daniela had said back in the day The Me’s swim up bar was the place they’d blow off steam meeting fun people, and today was no different. Our new friends David (Adam’s tattoo twin) and his fiancé, Kevin, introduced themselves, and we joined their group of for the rest of the afternoon. They were all really fun, and we made plans to link up later before we eventually opted to head back to the hotel for a disco nap.
IN a poignant coincidence, after we said adios to our new friends and bumbled our way up the beach to our hotel, the very Carnival cruise ship Daniela had worked on was pulling out, destined for it’s next port of call. It was emotional to see the symbol of her old life, literally drift away while she was able to stay on land and continue to enjoy the destination.
***
WE got back to our hotel, but that nap turned into a hibernation. Between the booze and the travel exhaustion we slept straight from about 7PM until the next morning. Yeah it was actually pretty insane, but AH-MAZE-ING! Obviously our drunken plans to meet up with David and Kevin never happened but the sleep was much needed.
“Well… it didn’t take long… Just like old times, The ME did it again! Salud!” d.
“That was the most glorious 15 hours of sleep I’ve ever gotten.” a.
***
WE woke up the next day disoriented, but otherwise feeling great. Already our last day in Cabo, we checked out the usual things you check out when you’re a tourist in Cabo. We walked to the marina and got breakfast at Solomon’s Landing, a “Top 5” breakfast joint according to the interenet “experts”. It was….fine.
IT’s easy to check out the iconic Arco and beaches around it. Just walk the mainland beach, and plenty of locals with boats are there to give you the quick tour around the rock formations, drop you off at Lover’s Beach, and pick you back up at a pre-ordained time. We don’t know if it’s a climate change thing or hurricane thing, but what used to be a good sized stretch of sandy beach know as Lover’s Beach is now a tiny cove. On the other side is Divorce beach, which although it remains a huge stretch of foot searing white sand, the rough surf prevents anyone from cooling off in the water.
El Arco
***
ALTHOUGH by now we were a couple weeks past the actual date of our wedding anniversary, we’d never had a chance to properly celebrate. Adam stumbled across what seemed like a pretty dope spot, so that night we got dressed to the 9s, and headed out to El Farallon. The place is sick, please go one day. To get there you literally drive through a tunnel to get to the ocean side of a mountain outside of town. Once through the tunnel, it’s like you’re in a some other world.
From the moment we exited the taxi, we were treated to a couture experience, with all our preferences and desires casually coaxed out of us on the walk through the grounds by a hospitable maître d’. The restaurant is built into the rocks just above the crashing waves, and once sitting you’re hovering just above the spray of the churning sea. You pick your fish from the display, add a few scrumptious sides, away you go to soak in the wonderful food, ambience and live music as the sun slips into the Pacific.
No two ways about it, this place is a hidden gem that’s absolutely world class.
***
THAT night we walked around the party zone for a bit, bit honestly it felt like a ghost town. It was early, and the low season, but like we talked about before- it just felt off. We opted to have a couple drinks at the hotel bar, and get a jump start on our next leg of the trip…
Back to the main land. On to Guadalajara.
the good life concept 