Baja Run 2011 – Day 6, Cabo San Lucas - Illustrated Edition

Leaving La Paz was pretty laughable. Some wanted the free breakfast at Club El Moro; some wanted to get going. Some were packed and ready to roll; some seemed to take awhile.

It’s been noted by more than a few that this was too big a crowd. It was. We concluded during this run that the difference between what I was attempting and “herding cats” is that cats aren’t deliberately malicious.

Well, as previously mentioned, today was to be different. On this leg, a few of us split off from the rest. El Jefe ditched most of the group. <g> Or, more accurately, five couples plus Mike and Alison that we picked up in La Paz defected, left later, and rode directly on into Cabo.

Connie and I, with two other couples in tow, planned an interim stop in Los Barriles. Three couples on four bikes. All excellent riders, and all very comfortable riding together. (In fact we’ve put on many miles together including 2,000 miles and 31 passes riding The Alps (yeah, *those* Alps) for a couple of weeks back in 2005.) It was not surprising that it turned out to be just a GREAT day.

On th' Road - East Cape


We had had pretty much perfect February desert weather, cool to the north, warmer as we moved south. And mostly spectacularly clear (and totally dry) skies. This day we encountered some cloud cover, but nothing the least bit threatening.


I am particularly fond of the beauty of El Triunfo.



At some point I did tell the entire group that the big chimney in town was the crematorium. And I think a couple of them believed me. (Hey, isn’t that what the tour guide is paid for?)

Now for a bit of background regarding our next stop…

Quite a number of years ago (by my reading of the calendar, it was over a century ago), Connie and I were heading south through Baja and made a stop at Malarrimo in Guerrero Negro. It was just another magnificent Baja afternoon; we grabbed some tasty beverages at the bar and headed to the tables out front. To our good fortune, we were welcomed to share a table with a most delightful Gringo couple, JoAnn and Russ, who live in Los Barriles, and we became instant friends. They were heading directly home and we were moseying south. But when we got down there we looked them up. And have stayed in touch, visited when we could, and remained good friends ever since.

It should be noted that it was through this friendship that I met Jimmy Smith, Jr., and Connie and I got to know Steve Chism, too. (Interesting slidelight: several decades ago, Steve lived up here in Jackson.)

Before this trip, we had made a date with JoAnn and Russ to get together for a late breakfast at Plaza del Pueblo in Los Barriles on our way through.


l to rt: Moi, JoAnn, Connie, Russ (with JoAnn's VW Bug behind us)



What fun to rekindle this wonderful friendship. And as I knew, my riding buddies (the two couples who had tagged along) thoroughly enjoyed meeting Russ and JoAnn as well. Well, the visit was way too short (as I knew it would be). One of the serious prices to be paid for this big organized trip accommodating numerous time constraints was not having enough time with our friends in Los Barriles. Just a compelling reason to return before long.

In no time at all, we hopped on the bikes and headed south to the end of the world (well, if you’re traveling by land, anyway). Next stop: Cabo San Lucas.

We had seen the others go by up on the highway as we sat at Plaza del Pueblo. I had suggested we meet in Cabo at the Harley Dealership. It’s not much of a dealership (and I’d hate to have to get service or even parts there) but it’s a nice destination for a rendezvous and some drinks overlooking the yacht harbor. Oh yeah, and we were able to get those two replacement kickstand springs. (We bought all six that they had in stock.)

Getting to the shop (by motorcycle) is a bit of a challenge, and though I knew exactly where it was, I forgot how to get in there. It’s not the least bit intuitively obvious, and there’s just a very small sign directing you around the mall, to a narrow sidewalk, to the pedestrian walkway out by the shops and boats. And then you get to dodge the foot traffic as you ride down the sidewalk.


This is actually heading out from, not into The Harley Shop / Bar


(Can't figure out what went wrong with this pic.)


Wiling away the afternoon at The Harley Bar



The less said, the better



The hub of Cabo, smackiedab between the harbor and the hotel.




After wiling away a bunch of the afternoon overlooking the water, we headed just a handful of blocks away to check into The Hotel Mar de Cortez. And once again we found it to be very nice accommodations.

We did dinner at The Galeon. Nice place (I’d been before), somewhat upscale. And they were very relaxed about our large and somewhat boisterous crowd. Hope we didn’t distress other diners too much. I’d swear when I was there before (several years ago) there was much more of a view of the city and the water. I suspect that area has been built up quite a bit in the meantime.

Well, if you happen to be in Cabo, you might as well party. And though (or is it because?) The Gigglin’ Marlin harkens back to a former era, I felt it was an obligatory stop. And I will say we had a better time there this time than I've ever had there before.


Julie, doing what you do at The Gigglin’ Marlin



But we were a bunch of well lubricated folks from our late 40s to mid 60s. And frankly we brought the party with us.


Too bad alcohol doesn’t make us better dancers



Place was dead before we came in. We attracted some more folks to come in and hang awhile. And the party left with us, too.

Now I expected our best partying of the night would be later (after 10:30), over at El Squid Roe. I remember when that place totally rocked. Silly, drunken Gringo, slightly raunchy, great fun party. And it’s not me that’s changed, so much as it’s that place. It used to be a really good party bar (by my measure) and now I couldn't see that they were distinguished in any way. Just heavily amplified recorded music to dance to with no theme or real interaction with the crowd. They had it and broke it AFAIC. They still had a MC up on a scaffold but all he was doing was maybe queuing up the very loud music and then singing along or just lip syncing. Seemed like the youngsters were having a good time but I found it totally boring.

Next morning, a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, checked out and rolled on out of town, doing "the loop" with a brief stop in Todos Santos.

So here’s the truth: Cabo is decidedly my least favorite place in Baja (I don't count TJ) but in the past I've always enjoyed a late night party there. My wife has always cared way less about the place than I.

As we were leaving Cabo, sez me to her: "I've just lost my last reason to come here (Cabo)."

Sez she to me: Good!

Quote:

Originally posted by Barbarosa This is actually heading out from, not into The Harley Shop / Bar (Can't figure out what went wrong with this pic.)