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Published: April 2nd 2009
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Edgar's Bar
Gentlemen allowed We don't feel very qualified to discuss the entertainment options in general because there are many options not appealing to us. So this is a review of the places we have tried and liked. Our house is between the Gold Zone (tourist area) and Old Town (historic center). Both areas have many restaurants so we are taking it upon ourselves to try as many as possible in both areas. There are thousands of eating places from street level to 5 star. Most have entertainment. The Mexican people are so musical that it is rare to find a place to eat where live music is not available.
We are quite a lot closer to Old Town and are drawn to the ambiance of the place since most of the restaurants are housed in the historic older buildings. The water front area of Old Town is called Olas Altas and there is a very good selection of restaurants and bars there from the Shrimp Bucket to a Greek place. We can walk there with the dogs in about 30 minutes. There is an old hotel called the Belmar where the bar looks out over the ocean. It is not at all fancy,
Topolos
Dine in the beautiful courtyard very basic in fact and if you drink beer you will do fine there. We found out quickly that it is not a vino blanco kind of place. The waitress had trouble keeping the smile off her face as she answered No! But they do have rum and coke. We ordered a gin and tonic, she smiled and said Si, and brought a rum and coke.
We strolled past a lovely little restaurant not far from the Belmar called La Cueva de Leon ( the Lion's Cave) where the chef specializes in traditional Mexican food. We were beckoned in by a Canadian kid working there for the winter. We had a drink and promised to return for food another evening. We got the full story about the young chef just opening this place and asking his Canadian buddy to help with the service. The meal, upon our return, more than lived up to the promise. We will go back and take friends.
The area around the Plaza Machado (cultural square) has many restaurants with good variety. They butt up against one another so that sometimes it is difficult to figure out where one ends and another begins. We have
tried a few but are still working on that project. Pedro & Lolas is the best known on the square with live jazz music. We went to an elegant place just off the square called Topolos with a group of friends, all Canadian, who we have met here because of RVing. The inner courtyard is a beautiful place to chat, eat and listen to the beautiful live music. Then there is Edgars Bar, not at all elegant, but intriguing in that it is a very traditional Mexican bar where women were not permitted entry at some point in the past. Now they have a sign, women welcome and in brackets (gentlemen too). Again, beer is the drink of choice there. There are a couple of guys sitting up front playing piano and guitar with the volume on HIGH. The men sitting at the bar look very rough and tough but ignored us completely. The waitresses wear very short skirts and smile alot. One of the bar flies asked a waitress to dance, she shrugged and danced and then came to take our order.
The other big attraction at the square is the Angela Peralta Theatre. The theatre is a
All we can drink
for 4 hours - YIKES source of great pride for the people here because it was totally restored a few years ago. We went to see the Mariachi Vargas, the world famous mariachi band from a small town not far from Mazatlan. Both the theatre and the performers were very impressive. If you are getting a picture of the mariachi on the beach in Mexico, think again. These guys are like opera. Fabulous voices, playing violins or guitars and telling their stories through song.
We also have gone into the Gold Zone by catching the bus that goes up and down the Malecon ( 17 km. ocean front walkway/drive). The 15 minute bus ride in an air con coach costs 8 pesos (80 cents) and drops you right at the door of where you want to go, if you are on the strip. For the most part we have visited two places in the Gold zone. The Purple Onion airs the Canuck hockey games and has great food and entertainment. Also we have taken visitors to Heather's Place. Heather is a Canadian who couldn't hack retirement and opened her place 4 years ago. She brings in entertainment in the form of impersonators and we
have been to see Roy Orbison, Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffet , Garth Brooks and Tina Turner. She puts out a good buffet for the show nights and the entertainment and meal are very reasonable. It will be many years before we can speak with experience about all the places in the Gold Zone - another work in progress.
Carnaval is the annual Mardi Gras of Mazatlan and is the entertainment highlight of the year - if you can stand it. Many residents leave town while it is on. The event spans 5 days of pageants ( yes there is a queen and king of Carnaval), parades, and parties. Music blares from special sites where concerts are scheduled. Parts of the Malecon ( beach front road) are transformed into seating and viewing areas for the two parades - Sunday and Tuesday. We attended the coronation of the Queen at the baseball stadium where she is crowned and a local singer Danielle Romo performed for a couple of hours. The parade on Sunday was said to be the best, so we booked into a 4 hour all you can eat and drink buffet at one of the beach front hotels and
had a prime view of all the festivities. The Tuesday parade wound through one of our favourite areas - Olas Altas - so we booked dinner there and watched again. The people watching the parade are more fun than the parade.
As tough as it has been, we are continuing in our pursuit of entertainment in Mazatlan. Every week seems to bring more surprises.
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