BajaNomad - Old Mill Motel and Sea Food Restuarant next door...

Old Mill Motel and Sea Food Restuarant next door...

Pompano - 3-3-2006 at 07:14 AM

Wednesday night last we stayed at the Old Mill Motel and ate in the adjoining sea food restaurant.

The motel's rooms are nice, although spartan. We had a ground floor room...cost was $40 US. As always, we knew the area would be cool at night, so we brought a warm comforter and our own down pillows. I recommend you do the same. Plus bring some fluffy bath towels of your own. The fireplaces there have been cursed by a bruja and smoke up the rooms, so we opted not to bother with firewood, etc. Plenty of HOT water made for a refreshing shower after the drive from Bahia de Concepcion. (By the way, we listened to a great book disc while driving..which made a long trip shorter.)

While we were there a large group of motorcyclists came in with thier support vehicle...a noisy diesel...like mine. The diesel driver was very considerate and asked me if we would be bothered by him starting the engine the next morning at 6 a.m. I said no...I would be up anyway and join him in a duet. Thankfully, we would be a ways away from the other rooms with sleeping guests.

We drank our complimentary Pacifico from the the motel owner, dressed for dinner and went next door to the sea food cafe with a nice view of the harbor and fishing boats. We both ordered the platter of crab followed by a flan dessert. It was a very good meal for 280 pesos which included 3 c-cktails. We enjoyed the company of a large black pooch who was pretty familiar with the place...a mascot, perhaps?

I would rate this motel and cafe as a great stop on the the Baja Road....we will be staying there again. Just don't expect to race in the three-mile gravel road from the main highway...it's a little rough, but worth the time.

Bruce R Leech - 3-3-2006 at 07:22 AM

yea and how about that crab ? it is so good and fun to eat.

platter of crab..after a couple of Pacificos....

Pompano - 3-3-2006 at 07:31 AM

These crab were delicious! but I am afraid the camera-man was a little off focus .......opps.

[Edited on 3-3-2006 by Pompano]

Bruce R Leech - 3-3-2006 at 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano
These crab were delicious! but I am afraid the camera-man was a little off focus .......opps.

[Edited on 3-3-2006 by Pompano]

looks like the tequila was good also :lol:

Phil S - 3-3-2006 at 07:58 AM

Pompano. We used to stay there many years ago. Coming down usually during their wet season. The road was always a mud runner trip. Thank goodness we always were driving our 4x4 & made good use of it. One time pulling a small Wells Cargo 10' trailer, loaded to the 'hilt'. That was an interesting 'pull'. The food at the restaurant was always excellent. We asked for the older units on the right as you pull in. Cheaper was usually the name of the game while we travel Baja, and these units were cheaper. However. After one night where we got 'assigned' the last unit, that sits by the communal fireplace, some folks decided to 'party' well into midnight. I had to get up and ask 'how much longer they would be partying, as we were deciding to join them or not, and that would require getting up. Many apologies & come on outs & join us. But apparantly an elder said, "come on guys, it's time to hit the sack anyway". Was quiet after that, and we slept to 8 that next morning. I have fond memories of that "run" to Old Mill for so many years. But after the last slipping & sliding, my wife says, NO MORE. You said "gravel road" in your comments. Does that mean they have added gravel to the road????? Or do you not go in via the junction by the power station on the highway? If not, where do you take off of Hwy 1?

Phil S...make that 'dirt' instead of gravel...

Pompano - 3-3-2006 at 08:24 AM

You are right...they had added no gravel that I know of to that washboard road. Just my Up North expression for any trail not blacktop. And yes, we exit the highway and turn off at that power station..next to the junk yard. The first Old Mill sign to the south should be ignored in favor of this one.

I have been in that position of trying to sleep while others party nearby a few times myself. Most often I could get up and outlast them all, but lately the old legs need more sleep..so we pass on the invites to join...and they quiet down fast when I haul out the tape of a snarling doberman.

A couple, maybe three, years ago we actually pulled a 32 ft. 5th Wheel to the motel's campground through a monsoon along that muddy trail. The motel owner was in awe (or disbelief) that anyone could..or would..bring in such a monster in the middle of the night in that rain! But we were committed and had to keep going ahead..if we were to stop we would have been there a month! (I think my wife wanted ME committed after that sidetrip.)

We got to know the place well..as we used to hunt brandt geese there long ago. This year the owner told us the hunting seasons have been all screwed up and made ridiculously expensive. No more hunters frequent the motel now in the season. Too bad.

Road to motel park and cafe/bar ...bumpy, wet, slooow.....

Pompano - 4-8-2006 at 08:26 PM

Is this the Old Mill motel in San Quintin?

Gypsy Jan - 4-8-2006 at 08:53 PM

If I am on the subject, I will post some stories about that place.

Pompano - 4-8-2006 at 08:55 PM

Yes. Gypsy Jan..they are all in the same general area. Fire away....

San Quintin - Part I

Gypsy Jan - 4-8-2006 at 10:08 PM

I ventured to deepest darkest Baja with a friend in the early 80's.

As a spoiled OC child, I said - What, no paved roads? Why is it so dark after dark? Why aren't there any restaurants that look like something I know? Why does the electricity go off at 8:00 pm at the motel? Why can't I take a shower? Why is the motel so ugly? Why is there trash all over the place and why don't they clean up the roads? Why are there all these small cardboard shacks?

I exaggerate, but maybe not so much.

I was so preoccupied with my perceptions of what is acceptable and obsessed that I might get my shoes dirty that I never stopped to listen to the music of the universe.

We bumped down a dirt road to a motel somewhere on the San Quintin bay. At that time it was operated by a retired, A-list Hollywood star.

The dining room was classic rustic. Several stuffed game heads looked down on a comfortable gathering area with tables scattered throughout and there were quiet corners for reading, playing games, etc.

The room was full of big, bluff Americanos that had flown/driven in from somewhere who drank, smoked and bragged about their days of shooting the brandt and fishing.

I was fascinated - I thought that I had been dropped whole into a Hemingway story.

[Edited on 4-9-2006 by Gypsy Jan]

[Edited on 4-9-2006 by Gypsy Jan]

Sharksbaja - 4-9-2006 at 12:03 AM

Quote:

The dining room was classic rustic. Several stuffed game heads looked down on a comfortable gathering area with tables scattered throughout and there were quiet corners for reading, playing games, etc.
The room was full of big, bluff Americanos that had flown/driven in from somewhere who drank, smoked and bragged about their days of shooting the brandt and fishing.

soooooo.... times haven't changed much! :lol:

San Quintin - Part II

Gypsy Jan - 4-9-2006 at 10:06 PM

Fast forward to the early 90's.

We trailered a small motor boat down on a 4th of July weekend with the kids.

The motel that I remembered was gone.

We checked into the Viejo Molino, a nice basic room with a kitchenette.

On our way in, we stopped for lunch in town, everyone we talked to seemed nervous and unsettled. As we drove through we saw storefronts and cars with windows broken and there were armed military groups patrolling.

There had been riots in the streets the day before.

Later, it was explained to us that the farm workers hadn't been paid because the owners didn't like the rate of exchange (they kept their money in dollars and converted to pesos when needed).

The Viejo Molino was clean and attractive, with a line-up of U.S. wannabe, kind of strip mall-ish additions to the side.

There was a restaurant reminiscent of a '70's fern bar attached.

The owner of the restaurant told us that he had operated a famous disco (in the '70's), "Sunshine..." on the corner of Katella and Harbor, next to Disneyland.

He also bragged that he was on the forefront of bringing gambling back to Mexico, that they would build a bridge out to the island on the bay, where the casino would be and that Mexicans would be banned - that only foreigners would be allowed entry.

I haven't visited San Quintin since then, but I think nothing of that sort has happened.

pompano,your fuzzy photo up above...

eetdrt88 - 4-10-2006 at 07:26 PM

reminds me of a few nights i've spent down the road at cielito lindo where the margie's are tasty and the mariachi music is loud..we always end up staying there when we go down the pacific side and I almost always leave the next morning with a case of the crudo(hangover) :no: