Filled to the Brim
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Published: February 8th 2016
"A good friend listens to your adventures. A best friend makes them with you..." ~" Well that old saying about 'making hay while the sun shines' applied to us on the last few days of our trip. Friday was overcast so we did the tour of the CEDAM, the nautical museum. Outside the museum there's a big cannon and a giant diving bell welcoming you to the museum. While the museum is small, it offers free admission and packs a good punch of information on the region's ship wrecks.
The museum's floor is designed with fine sand over wooden slats which I think is intended to bring you back in time, making you feel perhaps you're on an old steamer ship. The museum does a great job of showcasing artifacts, memorabilia, maps, and the explanation of various shipwrecks such as where they were going & why, and who was on board along with the survivors stories etc. There were showcases of recovered coins, utensils, wine goblets, guns, swords, sewing needles, rum bottles, tools, guns, ship replicas, and early scuba diving gear. There was also a great display of Mayan pottery & art.
One of the wrecks
I found interesting was the S.S. Golden Gate, one of the largest and fastest steamers on the West Coast in its day, and was under contract by the US Department to carry mail, goods and passengers between San Francisco and Panama. (This was after the California gold rush of 1848 so many fortune hunters were landing in the area). Al snapped every single artifact in there but ironically enough not the darn Golden Gate ship replica which was so cool. 😞
In 1862 the Golden Gate ship left San Francisco heading to Panama with 338 passengers and $1.4 million in gold on board. While the GG had a very safe record, that good record would come to a very horrifying end...
Unfortunately a fire broke out in the engine room, which quickly spread, and if not for the efforts of the captain who steered the ship as close to the shores of Manzanillo Mexico before dropping its lifeboats and preservers, there would've been many more casualties. Although when the heavy boats were launched, those already in the water were crushed between the boats & the ship. Many people jumped overboard with gold stuffed in their money belts which
of course weighed them down, and those quick thinking enough abandoned the belts when they started to sink. Although only 166 people out of the 338 survived, many were seriously burned, and/or injured. Apparently a black cook on the boat jammed his pockets with gold and as he jumped he was heard to say, "Well if I'm gonna die, at least I'll die a millionaire". (This statement of account was in the pamphlets we were given at the museum).
Apparently only $1.2 million of that gold 'apparently' has been reclaimed over the years. However, many people still dive this wreckage to see if they can find some of its treasure. Occasionally it's reported after a strong storm, people will find gold coins on the shores of Manzanillo. (May very well be Al's next diving spot. Ahem).
PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW Knowing our time was winding down, we enjoyed the last days swimming, lounging, touring, walking around, dining out, and the final night taking a soak in the hot tub listening to the band Wide Spread Panic at the resort next door. We had the pool to ourselves which seemed fitting before we left 😊 This band's
fans we've come to learn are as dedicated to them as the Deadheads were to The Grateful Dead. Wide Spread Panic were pretty impressive with their southern rock sound and really strong vocals. (We met one of their fans at the Cancun Airport & got the lowdown from him!)
After our soak we met up with Vicki & Tim (our new buds from Dallas) to listen to that fantastic husband/wife team of Dueto Candilejas. I don't know if they knew we were leaving, but man did they put on an extra amazing show that night for all of us lucky enough to be there. And Vicki and Tim - we must meet up in Mexico again sometime soon. You guys are a blast... 😊
Friday nights at Cafe Ole is all you can eat slow-cooked smoked ribs that have been simmering all day. Served up with homemade BBQ sauce, homemade potato salad & coleslaw and beans. WOW what a hearty and tasty dinner. And the owner Gayle (who I believe is originally from Philly) makes out-of-this-world pies and I tell you, people line up to get these pies to take-out, so by the evening the pickins' are slim.
(Flavors like key lime pie, apple-peach pie, chocolate swirl, carrot cake, bumble-berry pie, coconut cream pie, banana cream pie, you-name-it-pie & she can bake it.) And the berry pie we tasted with homemade whipped cream was pure heaven.
Cafe Ole was one of our favorite places to stop for a drink and/or a bite. They have the best drinks and food, but what makes it inviting is its staff especially Rachel! Kudos to Evo, Jorge, Adrien, and owners Gayle & Gary who made us feel pretty darn welcome and pretty darn sad to leave 😞
*If you want to hear this amazing guitar-duo that plays at Cafe Ole, here they are on you-tube click
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ADIOS Saturday we got up, packed and headed out early to the Bamboo for coffee and those fabulous apple turnovers and creamy hot chocolate. We hopped on our golf cart back to our condo to sit on the terrace taking in the last views. And while we sat there we both agreed this trip was
the bomb for us. As the above quote said, a best friend makes adventures with you, and I can say with all certainty that Al
& I sure made some memories that will long live on in our hearts and minds. ?
It all came together so perfectly; with Martha taking over the duties at home, (thanks buddy), and the girls keeping themselves going in their routine, and aunt Cindy popping over to make delicious meals, and Judith for all the school drives. And to the friendly staff of the condo, the welcoming waiters at the local restaurants & bars, the golf cart owner - everyone who had a special hand in our trip, thank you all from the bottom of our heart. You all will be responsible for the grin Al & I will wear for the next few months (even if coming back to reality is a b*tch).
And while parting is such sweet sorrow, we were excited to head back to the ranch to see our girls. I made my good-byes to Iggy, he seemed sad and went back under his rock. (Well OK it was overcast so he probably needed to get warm under his little home). Who knew I'd have such a strong affection for an iguana? And I've seen plenty of them in my day, but he
was like our own pet out on our lawn. He looked wise to me. I feel like he could tell me some stories. I'm thinking he'd say, "Girl, you have NO idea the stuff I've seen"!
Our evening flight home was uneventful except the plane was packed and hot. There was an elegant grand dame in her late 80s who sat right behind us, and wore these very loud bangles on her wrists. At first when I heard them jingle-jangle, I thought Santa and all of the reindeer were right behind us. The chiming ringing noise these bangles made was absolute startling. Before I could say anything, Al looks at me and says, "Dear God" and rolled his eyes.
Even with our earphones in we could hear the racket they made. I could overhear her & her husband talking to each other, and she had to repeat everything she said due to the fact he seemed hard of hearing. I would bet my bottom dollar the reason he was hard of hearing was caused by years of listening to those bangles. My sympathies went out to him.
At one point I took a peak at them, and
I saw them canoodling. Now when I commented on the 'canoodling' part to Al, he had a laugh over the word 'canoodle'. I asked him if he had ever heard the word before and he said he didn't think so. Canoodle means to "enjoy another's company, being close, kissing"...well you get the idea. This is a PG blog you know. 😉
So despite the noise, I had to smile to myself at this sweet little old couple, who even on a packed hot flight can find time to make each other feel special (even with all that clanging of bracelets going on!) Maybe when Al & I are flying back from Mexico 30 odd years from now, we'll be canoodling too. (Even if Al won't know what
canoodling means 😉
First time ever from getting off the plane, we hardly got up the ramp and it was all backed up. We saw half the people on the plane ahead of us, and then there was a big gap between the rest of us who were told to stay back. We thought for sure someone had fainted or had taken ill. It took a few moments for word to
spread that the first half of the plane were told to line up single file, put their bags down and be prepared to be sniffed by a dog for narcotics etc. Obviously it was a surprise to many (many of whom did not use the bathroom before exiting). I had actually read last month that Ottawa airport was hosting canine units from all over the country to conduct "train your sniffer dogs" courses.
So when it was our turn to line up this little sweet Springer Spaniel comes out, with the security/police guiding him, and as he went along, guess whose bag he stopped at along the way??? YEP mine. After giving it a good sniff, he finally moved on. (A gal next to me said, "Hmmm, what do we have in there!") After finally ditching those headaches while away, I could feel one creeping back up. Honestly...I don't even bring a pack of gum in and now my bags are being sniffed??!! Al rolled his eyes again, and I could hear the little voice in his head saying, "Only Sal...only Sal"...
Then the dog went down the back of us sniffing away again. Once he got back
to the front of the line, he repeated it again as the guard ran along backwards patting our bags quickly for the dog to sniff. You could tell parents with young kids were finding it hard to keep the kids settled but the little ones at the same time were happy to see a little dog. Overall I'd say we were held up 20 minutes before we even got to customs/immigration. However, we zipped through that line, got our bag, and off we went with no other delay. (And for those of you waiting for a big juicy story, NO I had nothing in my bag except probably the left-over scent of the sandwich I'd packed in my carry-on bag for Al that he ate on the plane!)
Dogs are brilliant and the sheer scale of their abilities are still being discovered. For starters, they can sniff out drugs and bombs. They can find people buried under rubble. They can guide the blind, assist people with hearing issues, soothe children and adults dealing with mental and health issues. They can rescue you from a fire, or alert you to one. They allow people with disabilities to live alone helping
them with daily chores like dressing/undressing, taking money out of ATMs, assisting with shopping, opening/closing doors, finding exits, finding empty seats, carrying shopping bags and on & on. They are even trained to dial 9-1-1. (Frankly who needs a spouse if you have a dog like that? (Er, not you Al...you make a good companion 😊
And probably the biggest discovery in the last few years is the ability of dogs to sniff out cancer and even find deadly bacteria in hospitals. I love this story about a dog who was sent to guide-dog school for the blind, & was so excitable & easily distracted that she failed miserably and was kicked out. But her owners knew she had a great 'nose' as she was a fantastic hunting dog who could hang onto a scent really well.
So for the next 7 years she was trained to detect bladder, kidney, and prostate cancer. She was accurate 95% of the time (better than some of the lab tests). Dogs have a double smelling system, and can detect parts per trillion (equivalent of one or two drops of blood in the size of 2 Olympic-sized swimming pools). Many owners have
said their dogs have pawed at them relentlessly to only find out that they had breast or lung cancer etc. And for young children with severe nut allergies, dogs have been trained to sniff their food first. Doggone it, isn't that amazing 😊 And frankly I was pretty darn impressed with that little spaniel who may not have weighed any more than 30-40 pounds but was doing that kind of high-level security work.
Bottom line - never estimate man's (women's) best friend, and try and be the best person your dog thinks you are 😊***************************************************************
So we got home to 3 wonderful girls who had polished up the house, and were waiting for us with open arms and big kisses. If you have to come home, well this is about the best greeting you can hope for. They said they really missed us, and Ava kept hugging me telling me she had reallllllllly missed us. So I mentioned she never told us she was really lonely on our Facebook video calls (PS you can call home for free on Facebook with video if you have WiFi), and she said, well if I told you I was lonely it would've ruined
your trip. AWWWWWWWWW. And her grade 5 report card was all As (excellent). I think Al & I should do this more regularly with that kinda greeting don't cha think? 😊 😊 😊
Update
*I dreamt last night I was swimming in a lagoon, with the sun on my face, and feeling the breeze of palm trees while I later lay on a lounger with a cold drink in my hand. Then I woke up, and realized I was home in my own bed. Wow, I thought to myself, what a heckuva dream that was. and if ONLY Al & I could get away alone and take a trip like that one day...
Yeah right, that'll happen when pigs fly by the window wearing tutus. 😊 The End.
(PS you'll only
get that last sentence if you read my first blog of this adventure!)...
Thanks for humoring me, reading my blogs, & for touching base via email & the travel blog) And thanks to TravelBlog for having a place for me to record my memories of our trips. (Now if only I had an editor to read over my blogs, fix the spelling errors/grammar...this is hard
work ya know!)
Signing off 'til we meet again,
Sal & Don Quixote (lots of photos below!)
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Sal and Don Quixote
Love the photos.!!!!Especially the Hammock one of you Sal, the one of Al about body surfing...and the cool planter one. I wish as a friend that I could make some of the adventures there with you...and with my own family. Indeed you are blessed....and work Ohh so hard on this beautiful blogs.