Mazatlan–Feb 16, 2011

We woke up and looked out and it was FOGGY! And a bit chilly. Reminded me of Seattle, just a bit. We ate breakfast, checked with the front desk for the weather forecast, and gave it a couple hours. Dinah swam. Just before noon it warmed up and the fog burnt off and I convinced Frank that we would be perfectly safe taking a taxi into the city. We had a couple choices of which part of the city to see. I was mostly interested in the "old city". We considered taking a trolley tour, which would have taken us to the old city, the Golden Zone and out to the light house and such. That would have been $60 for the four of us. Not bad. But then we found a taxi that would take us into the old city for $2 a piece. That decided it. Frank was still apprehensive, but we climbed in and headed for town. Thanks to my sister Sharon I was able to communicate with the driver that we wanted to see the cathedral, the zocalo, and the mercado. I wasn't surprised to learn that the zocalo and the cathedral were right together, but, the mercado was just two blocks from the cathedral. What luck! We got out at the cathedra and wandered inside. "The Church of the Immaculate Conception". It was typically ornate and beautiful. Guadalupe was at the front of the chapel, way up high. Many beautiful statues throughout. Lovely chandeliers, ornate ceilings. There was a mass of some sort in progress. That was particularly interesting to Caleb and Dinah.

We stayed for a few minutes and headed to the Mercado. Thank you, Sharon, for teaching me the ins and outs of a wonderful Mexican market! It was very similar to the mercado in central Oaxaca. I warned Frank that he would see everything he could imagine there, in booths next to each other-- clothes, meat, bags, fabric, jewelry, produce, and brooms! He about turned and ran within a few yards! He doesn't like the constant pressure of people trying to get you to stop a look at what they have to sell. Caleb informed me that he " wasn't that hungry" every time I suggested something that might be fun to try. We found some mini bananas, not quite as good as the one in Oaxaca, but close. Caleb was the one that spotted the table cloth fabric. I made a beeline for the ATM to get 500 pesos and we had some fun. I got vinyl for one tablecloth and a Mazatlan bag. Dinah got an ice cream cone and Frank decided he could use a wallet. We found a shop with several wallets and he found one he liked for $11. Caleb also found a wallet. I bought Mexican white vanilla for Abby and Cori and bracelets, over at the zocalo for Sarah, Bekah, and Hannah. It was a wonderful couple hours.

One funny thing, between the mercado and the cathedrals was an upscale department store. Frank wanted to go in so we did. It smelled like JC Penney, and looked like JC Penney. We wandered through a couple floors. It seemed to sooth Frank! We took a little golf cart-like cab back to the port--$6 for all of us. We wandered through the mercado at the port. Same stuff that we saw down town, except no food. I came across a cribbage board. I didn't want to pay $28. I offered her $20. She came back with $25. I walked away. But it was a really pretty cribbage board-- very ornate. So, as Frank and the kids went through the port gate, I headed back to see if I could get the price down a bit. I offered $22, she tried again for $25. I told her no and she finally offered $23, which I settled for. 
        We were back on board by 2:30 or so. Took a nice shower, took a little nap, with a movie in the background. Then we headed to deck 3 to watch the ship pull out.                    

We were facing forward into the harbor. The captain proceeded to do a " U-ie" and we took about 10 minutes and then we were facing the other direction. As we pulled away from the harbor, we watched the Sapphire Princess do the same thing.

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely dinner, as always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then a great show-- an Elton John tribute. Joel Mason. Oh my goodness. Fantastic pianist, great voice and so funny. It was a wonderful show. I would cruise Holland America again just to see him perform. Google Joel Mason for more info. He’s great!

Or click this link. http://www.eltonjoel.com/

The Lost at Sea preview on that link gives you a glimpse of what we experiences.

Afterwards we checked on Dinah and Caleb and then watched Unstoppable in the Screening Room. Love Denzel Washington! Quite a wonderful day!