April Part 6: Cruise Day 5--Mazatlan

On April 5, we awoke to find land outside our deck. We got to watch a little as we approached Mazatlan. Brian was still asleep, so I messaged Gabe on the Carnival app to come hang with us until the other boys woke up. 

After we were all dressed, we got some breakfast and headed out to explore the city. Since we had done most of our big excursions in Puerto Vallarta, we planned for our two other ports to be a little more low key. We caught the tram that took us out of the very industrial port, and then grabbed a couple of taxis to take us to the historic district. 

Our taxis dropped us off near the Plaza Republica, across the street from the Catedral Basílica de la Inmaculada Concepción, a beautiful historic Catholic cathedral. 

We looked around the square to gather our bearings and watch the birds and street vendors. 

Then we headed over to walk reverently through the church. It was so beautiful! I wanted to take pictures of it, but even more, I wanted to be respectful. We made a half loop around the perimeter and then sat down to reflect for a moment. Little did I know that we had inadvertently arrived for a service! We sat quietly, trying to pick out words we understood, and then when the kids got restless and there was a small break, we quietly left, leaving a little donation in the box. After getting outside, I mentioned how I wanted to take a picture but I wanted to be respectful, and I was surprised to discover that I'd accidentally taken two, one that was too blurry to show here and this sideways one. Oops! 

 After our mini church tour, we bought donuts from a street vendor because they looked so good, and they were!

As we ate our donuts we walked over to the Mercado Pino Suarez Mazatlán (Indoor Mexican Marketplace). Brian mentioned that there was a sign asking vendors not to sell things on the sacred ground of the church, and we realized that we bought our donuts within the church gates. We really failed at respecting the church! 

The market was so busy and had so many things to look at that I was super dizzy within five minutes, despite my physical therapy to rid myself of getting so dizzy by too much visual stimulation! 

I tried to keep the kids from touching everything with their donut hands, and as soon as they finished their donuts, I made sure they all wiped them with a Wet One. Rachel wanted to get some sunglasses, so we stopped to try a couple. 

Mexicans tend to be quite aggressive with their sales, and it was always hard to leave a shop. I got bullied into trying on a dress. I insisted it wouldn't fit and she insisted it would. She said, "You're not a big lady; just tall." I should have just bought the dress based solely on that comment, but I didn't and I made her a little upset. I like a little more sleeve on my dresses. Maybe I'll get my arms super toned and come back for it. I was also the first to break our #1 rule for Mexico: All six of us stay together. Oh well. We felt safer than we had expected, and this market was crazy! 

I wanted Mazatlan to be a little more of a cultural experience, and so I really wanted to go to this market to show the kids how Mexicans buy their groceries because it is totally different from in the U.S. The meat is not as protected and is on full display right across from the clothing stands. 

The fruits were sold in their own stall as well, and another stall had candy. Each one seemed completely unconnected to the others. 

After everyone was satisfied with the market (and buying the trinkets and things they wanted to), we walked to the beach, following the directions of one of the shopkeepers. We found the city structure so interesting. The sidewalks were different heights. Some buildings looked so well taken care of right next to other buildings that were falling apart. 

Brian said it reminded him of the Imagineering Story on Disney + where one of the imagineers talked about designing Animal Kingdom and trying to make it look like real places in the world where nobody is in charge. "If someone was in charge here, they would fix this." One building had rubble in front of it. No idea how long it had been like that, but nobody seemed interested in fixing it. 

We finally made it to the beach. We rented chairs from a beach vendor (There are vendors everywhere in Mexico), and watched the kids play in the big waves. Brian and I joined the kids as well, and I accidentally walked right into the ocean with my phone in my pocket! I discovered my error right away, and Brian ran it ashore for me. It seemed to be okay, and kept functioning normally the rest of the day. 

We could here brass bands playing in the distance, which was pretty funny to us. They sounded like a marching band, and we'd never heard that while hanging out on the beach. There were loud restaurants nearby as well. 

When we couldn't stand our rumbling stomachs anymore, we walked to the street, and I hailed a taxi. This one was a pick-up truck with seating in the truck bed. He blasted really inappropriate music, so we tried to laugh instead of listening to the vulgar lyrics. 

Our drive back to the port took us along the shore, past places we'd heard about in our Mazatlan Research, and we were so grateful for the scenic drive. 

All too soon, we were back to the port and had to wander through shops to get back to the tram to go back to the ship. We made one final search for sunglasses. Gabe wanted some too. 

It's a good thing we stopped because Rachel found these ones, and they were perfect! 

We went back to the ship and got a late lunch. I had been telling everyone that I was really good at stacking a soft serve ice cream cone, and so I had to prove it. I wish I could tell you that I hadn't eaten this whole thing, but I felt bad wasting it, so yes, I ate this whole thing. 

After finally getting my turn in the shower, we were pulling out of Mazatlan, and I got another picture of Rachel 

and me leaving it all behind. 

We were in for another beautiful sunset. 

I don't remember what else we did that night. We had an early and short day in Cabo the next day, so we turned in pretty early. 

I could tell that Brian needed some alone time with me, so we went out together after Gabe and Rachel were in bed. Brian wanted to go get dessert from the Vista. We had eaten somewhere else for dinner. We got a table and ended up sharing one appetizer, one entree, and two desserts! I was so full by the end! We did get to see the dining staff do their little dance, something we had wondered if they did on this ship since we saw this show nearly every night on the last ship. 

Best

Gabe: Camp Ocean (kid's choice and Encanto)

Rachel: Shopping (getting my mirror) and jumping waves

Michael: Beach at first

Devri: Watching the kids play at the ocean

Brian: Playing in the ocean with the kids and Devri

Leta: Watching people play in the ocean and having a chair to sit on

Worst

Gabe: Getting pinched by a crab (so he says)

Rachel: Throat hurting and going to the cruise ship all sandy 

Michael: Beach afterwards, swallowed too much ocean water and sand in my swimsuit

Devri: Getting dizzy in the market and then not being able to find a hot tub back on

Brian: Trying to get away from the children in the Mercado Pino Suarez and being grumpy about it

Leta: The music in the back of the pickup taxi on the way back.

Here's what we wrote together that night, about this day:

Disembark in very porty port and took tram into city. Took 2 taxis to downtown. Visited Cathedral. Sat down and ended up being in a service. Left in a break, but still in the middle of the service. Bought donuts within cathedral gates, like heathens. Felt bad, but donuts were delicious. Went to market, bought stuff, Devri got super dizzy, Brian lost it (but not really because he's Brian), walked to beach (ten minute walk of seeing lots of falling apart homes as well as well tended homes. Side walks and then side walks disappeared. Traffic still interesting. Like Charleston and Ensenada had a baby. Ruins right alongside functioning buildings. Sidewalks were different levels. 

Strong waves at the beach. Rented 3 chairs. Bands playing nearby... As in a brass band. People trying to sell us stuff. Weird green centipede sea worms that looked like grass. Taxi back to port was pickup and we sat in the back. Music was loud and terrible, but the drive along the malecon was beautiful.