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Published: March 31st 2013
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We've spent the past week in Melaque (San Patricio-Melaque) to be exact. The village takes its name from it's patron saint, whom we call St. Patrick. The history behind the name is quite amusing. During the Mexican American war of 1846 - 48, a unit of Irish Americans were sent to this area to fight for the United States. As we all know, Irish immigrants in America were not well treated in those days. About 200 of these soldiers deserted and joined forces with the Mexicans. They became known as the San Patricio's (or St. Patrick's) Brigade. We were told that many of these fellows became wealthy local land owners after the war. Given that common soldiers are generally poor, my personal theory is that the Irishmen fell in love with the beautiful dark eyed Spanish beauties and they (the beauties) with the freckled redheaded gringos from Ireland. The way Mexicans dote on their daughters, these guys probably became the lucky sons-in-law of wealthy landowners.
In any case, Melaque spends a whole week celebrating St. Patrick with daily parades and nightly fireworks. It seems that everybody gets into the act including groups of Aztec dancers. The color green is evident
Norma, Deb and their dog Frieda outside their restaurant, Pata's.
Norma's family owns most of the properties on this street. Deb is from Denver. They met in Denver and decided to move to Norma's home town and open this restaurant. Their place gets Trip Advisor's top reviews.
I'd take the weather in Melaque over Denver any day too! but not in beer. Mexicans do not drink draft.
The south end of Melaque and it's touristy neighbor Barra de Navidad share a beautiful sandy but totally unwalkable beach. I've never seen a beach quite like this one. The upper level has sand so hot and soft you burn your feet and sink almost to your ankles. Even, several feet lower, at water's edge the sand is much too soft for easy walking. One morning we walked the a couple miles between from our campsite at Melaque's south end to Barra de Navidad and back. I'll never do that again!
With the number of hotels, bungalows, RV parks and restaurants, clearly both villages are popular with tourists from both north and south of the border. We enjoyed our time here but will probably not return for more than a day or two. The place simply does not appeal to us.
Our campground, Laguna del Tule is one of the best in Mexico. The manager speaks excellent English. Prices are reasonable. Bathrooms are clean. Showers are hot. There is a nice mix of Canadians and Americans. The park is within convenient walking distance of town. There is a
nice on-site restaurant and bar. Happy hour is from 2 to 5 with generous 2 for 1 drinks. They have a lovely pool. It has swim-up bar. Writing this, I realize why I don't care for the place - it's like an all-inclusive except most RVers generally cook in their rigs. Except for a couple of sandwiches, we have eaten all of our meals in town. Burritos here, tacos there....preferably where locals eat.
On our last day in town, we walked to the north end to view the former Casa Grande Hotel. This large luxury hotel situated on the city's best beach was built in about 1965. On October 9th, 1995 the area was hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake centered in Manzanillo, a large port city just a few miles to the south. The resulting tsunami destroyed much of the town. As there is some dispute over who actually owns the property under this hotel, it was never rebuilt. On the street side, the property is surrounded by chain link fencing. Squatters, with signs proclaiming the property as "ejido" (community property), occupy some of the rooms. The building is accessible from the beach but we were advised not
to get too close.
Monday, after the St. Patrick's celebration we drove north about ten miles to La Manzanilla. We had driven thru here on our was south. The place totally captivated me. Funky little hippy beach town with camping in the sand, lots of palapa restaurants and veggie stands. To get to the campsites, we had to drive past some sort of swampy estuary populated by alligators. We chose the first of several campgrounds. The place was populated by a few Canadian RVers who had wintered here and several Mexican families camping in tents. The bathrooms were substandard. Ray was not happy with my choice of location.
La Manzanilla has an awesome walkable beach. Hard packed sand extends for miles. It must be low season for tourists because most of the beach restaurants were closed before sunset.
This morning we said goodbye to the beach and headed inland. We won't sleep to the sounds of the pounding surf for the next couple of weeks. We gringos have had our fun. Now it is time to give our spaces to the locals. Most Mexicans take vacations between Christmas and New Years and during Holy Week (Palm Sunday
St. Patrick's Day in Melaque.
This gal and her dog went all out. thru Easter Sunday). The holiday week is called Semana Santa. Semana is the Spanish word for week. I don't know what the translation for Santa is. In any case, businesses close or operate with minimal staff. Schools are closed. Everybody heads to the beach.
In fact, we're told RVers are usually evicted during this time as park owners at the beaches can make a lot more money off local Mexican families they can get from north American tourists. Most Canadians are ready to head home anyway as they generally leave their homes in October or November. To maintain their provincial health insurance, they can only be out of Canada for six months at a time.
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Michelle
non-member comment
I like it :)
I miss being there! I'm glad you made it to La Manzanilla, our favorite beach.