Mazatlan: Food, Fun, and Insider Tips

On this episode of Her Travel Expert, I’m joined by fellow travel writer Catherine Parker from Carful of Kids to unpack our whirlwind week in Mazatlán. From feasting our way through endless restaurants to tackling every activity we could squeeze into seven days—not to mention hopping between some seriously gorgeous hotels—we break down what surprised us, what we loved, and what every traveler should know before planning their own trip. Catherine brings her signature insight, I bring my sarcasm, and together we dish on everything Mazatlán does best. Tune in for real talk, hidden gems, and a whole lot of travel inspo.

Meagan Wristen
Welcome back to another episode of her travel expert. I am so excited because my friend katherine parker from car full of trips is joining me to talk about our most recent trip we’re on together to mazatlan mexico welcome to the podcast Catherine Parker.

Catherine
Megan, it’s so great to see you. It’s been what? At least a few weeks.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, it’s been like I guess two weeks since we were in Mazatlan

Catherine
Yeah, but that’s like four trips ago, right?

Meagan Wristen
I know. Yeah, basically. So that was my first time in Mazatlan.

Catherine
Mine, mine as well. And actually all along the coast, I’ve been to Cabo and then I’ve been to Guadalajara, which is a little inland, but the first time like on the, what they call the Mexican Pacific.

So yeah, first time.

Meagan Wristen
Well, is Puerto Vallarta considered part of the Mexican Pacific or is that too far south?

Catherine
No, because it’s on the, well, I don’t know. I’d have to get off the map. But yeah, I think Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, because they’re not up like in the Sea of Cortez. Does that make sense?

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, no, it does make sense. So I’m like you, I’d been to Cabo, been to La Paz, but and the only place like on the true West coast that wasn’t Baja that I’ve been to is Puerto Vallarta, which is lovely. So, but I mean, before we like do a deep dive into Mazatlan, are there, are there a couple of words you could say to describe the trip overall?

Catherine
It’s on my list. Well, if you don’t go to Mexico that often, it is not Cabo and it’s not Cancun. So don’t have those expectations.

Meagan Wristen
I agree. I don’t speak a lot of Spanish and i was really struggling. So I found it.

Catherine
i I have a 400-day streak on Duolingo. so But I mean, what does that translate into actually speaking? I can understand things. i can read things. But for me to…
speak back and forth. It’s like, uh, hello, you know, and introduce myself. So,

Meagan Wristen
I thought you did pretty good. You were definitely doing better than me.

Catherine
well well, the menus were a little more challenging than I thought they were going to be.

Meagan Wristen
Okay, the menus were really challenging. I’m glad you said that because I feel like I’m from Texas. I can read a Mexican food menu. It was like three days before I got, yeah, it was three, i think three days before got an English speaking menu for whatever reason.

Catherine
We are fluent in Tex-Mex.

Meagan Wristen
And so every meal was like a surprise until I got an actual menu in my language. I was like, oh, that’s not exactly, I was like close to what I thought I ordered, but not what I, but not what I thought I ordered.

Meagan Wristen
So kind of frustrating.
Was there anything that really surprised you?

Catherine
The construction.

Meagan Wristen
oh yeah. They’re building everywhere.

Catherine
Yeah, not only was there a ton of like, there’s this whole area they call the Gold Zone, which is kind of the tourist area. It’s along the water. i mean, you have those stunning West Coast sunsets, kind of like you would in like LA or San Diego. Same kind of vibe, huge high rises. And what I thought was interesting is their marketing to Americans because the prices are in US dollars. So yeah. And I mean, where they are having a where they’re having a lot of hotels built, it looks like it was primarily condos that were being built right there along the water.

Meagan Wristen
i’m trying to remember because at one point they told us how many hotels they had coming in and they named off a ton. I want to say like 11.

Catherine
Yeah. Cause it was that one that was ate another eight, another 800 room.

Meagan Wristen
There’s going to be a new Riu and it’s going to Massive.

Catherine
So that was the big one. Then there were like some smaller properties, but. Really, honestly, all those high-rises we saw were condos.

Meagan Wristen
So, I got in a day before you for whatever reason. I had to come in a day early and I ended up staying at the Dreams near the airport, which is not in town. So it’s a long way from everything there is to do there, but it’s the Dreams Estrella Del Mar and it’s brand new and it’s pretty big. It had, I think four or five separate buildings and I really liked staying there. it was all inclusive, but Uh, once you’re going, like if you want to do activities or go to restaurants in town, you would never want to stay there. It’s way too far out. So I think the thing that surprised me the most was the horrific traffic.

Catherine
Yeah. Just the way, if you look at the map, the way the city is laid out, it’s kind of like there’s a peninsula and it looks like there was one or two roads and that’s where, that’s like the gold zone.

Meagan Wristen
We spent a lot of time in traffic.

Catherine
Well, this and this is what kind of win my takeaway was. It is a large city. It’s almost like 900,000 people on the beach. So it is not a beachy destination, which kind of this like revolves around all-inclusive resorts and all of that.

That’s more of kind of a Los Cabos area. where And so, yeah, I mean, we were in the middle of construction traffic, people going to school, people going to work. So yeah, there was, and and I’m sure there are highways because we were on that one to go to the airport, which is Like inland, but yeah, along, right along that, the boardwalk and stuff, it was just, wasn’t it just one way each direction?

Meagan Wristen
I think so, but it was just stop and go. It was, so it’s a really long town. So, I mean, I don’t know how many miles of beach the town stretches across, but it must be, i don’t know, a lot, 20 miles long or something. But, yeah, just going back and forth on there. And maybe that was poor planning because we went to one activity over here and then we drive back to the other part section and town. It’s just like,

I’m like, man, we spent hours in traffic during the week. So I did not like that. What I did like, though, was the main hotel we ended up staying at.

So by the time you got to town, I had switched to Pueblo Benito Vantage, which is a hotel brand I never heard of. The Pueblo Benito brand was totally new to me. I’ve never stayed at one. I really liked it.

Pueblo Benito Vantage Mazatlan

Catherine
Yeah. yeah It’s, it’s, it was a new to me brand as well, but they have, they have a larger hotel in Mazatlan. And then this was their new boutique property that had just opened up. And I thought it was stunning. I mean, it was in the historic center. I think what it 22, 23 rooms. It had that from the from the outside. And we haven’t got to the historic area or the center is what they call it. It’s the colonial, the original colonial zone. So it’s like all 19th century buildings and they have like cobblestone streets. But from the outside, they’re all kind of like,
I mean, they’re pretty and they have nice details, but they’re kind of plain. and And now that they have all these up lights and then they have like party lights along the street, so it’s really pretty.

But what’s really nice, is I think it’s those courtyards that were…

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, I mean, I was shocked as soon as I, because when we pulled up and I was getting dropped off, I was like, oh, this isn’t, this isn’t what I was expecting.

And then they open that door and you walk in and you’re immediately like, it’s got this beautiful like archway that does lead into an open courtyard.
That’s just beautifully presented. And It’s really well done. Ivy everywhere and plants and everything.

Catherine
they had bougainvillea, they had orchids. I mean, they had these huge ferns. I literally was taking pictures of their pots because I was like, ooh, look, that’s what I’m going to do on my patio. I’m going to do, but yeah, everywhere there was plants. Did you notice that no one was ever watering them?
Like, I never saw anybody.

Like, where is the people watering these plants? Yeah.

Meagan Wristen
Maybe just not the day we’re there. I don’t know. Because I spent a lot of I kept going hot tubbing. Like, they had a pool and a hot tub and in another, like, kind of beautiful outdoor courtyard area.

And hung out, up there you know, i’m just, like, chilling and nobody ever watered those plants out there and they were everywhere.

Catherine
Well, and it was like two courtyards. So there was that front courtyard. just You walked through kind of a corridor and then the lobby and the restaurant were one side. And then, I mean, it probably was like 20 feet or something. And then you went in the first courtyard and that’s where they had tables and there was a bar out there and you could eat out there. And then they have that fountain.

And then there was basically, you walked through the bar, the open air bar, and then that was the more recreational courtyard with the hot tub and then the pool. And then the pool was surprising for the area. I mean, it wasn’t, it wasn’t a large resort style pool, but it was really nicely done. It was really tropical, lush landscaping. And I thought it was, I thought it was great.

Meagan Wristen
Really peaceful.

Catherine
I will that. I would say this. That is a hotel for adults. That is not a hotel for kids.

Meagan Wristen
I’m pretty sure it’s adults only.
I think, I think when I looked it up, cause I was like, there’s no way you stay here with kids. No way.

Catherine
Right. They’ll look at the pool and go, okay, where’s the slide? You know, so there’ I loved it. Don’t get me wrong. But, you know, kids and pools, that’s a whole and nother subject.

Meagan Wristen
So, I mean, we stay in a ton of hotels. Was there anything that stood out in particular about this one?

Catherine
Okay, well, I had an outdoor shower and I, and you didn’t.

Meagan Wristen
I didn’t even have a window.

Catherine
So my window just looked out over kind of like the corridor. And so you went through, it was basically the center part was where the bed was and it was a canopy bed.

It was beautiful. It was laid out really well. It was like travertine on the floor. dark wood furnishings and then there was a large dressing area and that was really lovely the room to me felt like an all-inclusive luxury property type of like layout and then i went then there was the bathroom and then through the shower the shower had two doors so it was it was a glass and and closed so there was one glass door and then you went through the other glass door to the outdoor shower and it was fabulous.

Meagan Wristen
Okay. there There was another guy that was with us on the trip and I saw a video that he posted just the other day and he had a balcony. With a view of the town. I was like, didn’t have a balcony. didn’t have an outdoor shower. Like I, and I really liked my room, but I got gypped.

Catherine
Well, sorry, Megan. Yeah. Cause there were plants out there. So literally, I mean, you know, there’s like bougainvillea going up the, uh, up the walls of the shower. So it was nice. I mean, i really was like, how do i get this at my house? But then I’m like,

Come on, Catherine. You got three kids to educate. You’re not getting an outdoor shower. ands yeah

Meagan Wristen
Valid. That’s valid. Well, I guess I didn’t need an outdoor shower. I spent all my time in the hot tub. Every every free moment we had, which was almost none, I’m like, run into the hot tub.

Catherine
But with your Pacifico, is that what you’re drinking?

Meagan Wristen
I mean, sometimes, whatever I have.

Yeah, there was a minibar, and I think that’s what was in the minibar.

Catherine
Well, because there was a mini bar. And they had Pacificos in there. i I mean, I know Megan’s like go-to is Aperol Spritz, but you know, I did, I think I did see her with a Pacifico and the Pacifico in the can.

Meagan Wristen
Now, had the Courtyard Bar ever been open, I would have gotten an Aperol Spritz and taken it to the hot tub, but it was never open.

Catherine
So, and they’re, and they’re made, they’re brewed there.

So the, the Melville restaurant, which is the one that we had breakfast in, and then we would meet there for cocktails. That one was staffed all the time. But it was, yeah.

Meagan Wristen
My gosh, and that was such a good bar. Super interesting cocktail creations.

Catherine
It was not big. I mean, there were what, three?

Meagan Wristen
That was itty-bitty.

Catherine
Yeah, three or four seats. But those bartenders were like passionate mixologists.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, and so, and I am really bad about just, I want an Aperol spritz. I don’t want anything else. And so, like, the first couple nights, that’s what I had every time. But as we’re sitting there and I’m watching them just, like, craft these cocktails, and it’s, like, some of the most unusual stuff I’ve seen, I’m like, well, I’m going to need to try that. So, I can’t remember what any of them were called, but it was a really good cocktail menu. Yeah.

Catherine
Yeah because the guys were doing, a couple of the guys we were traveling with were doing like variations of old fashions and nicaronis. So it was kind of like a Mexican twist on both of those. so And they were doing their own garnishes, Megan. They had dehydrator.

Yeah, they had a dehydrator. They were dehydrating their own garnishes. And i’m like, I need to do that for the holidays. Maybe if I…

Meagan Wristen
You know what? So even if you don’t stay there, i would highly recommend hitting that bar.

Meagan Wristen
you don’t even have to eat there, but go to the bar and have a cocktail, like a pre-dinner drink or something.

I don’t know. Before you go to one of the other places. Oh

Catherine
Yeah. Well, because it’s really within walking distance to that main plaza.

And so that I’d have to I like totally have to read the name of it because I’m not really good at…

Meagan Wristen
I mean, it’s like their main plaza in the, what do they they call it? The historic center. Machado Square.

Catherine
Yeah. The historic center.

Meagan Wristen
And that was a really neat area. We ate kind of right around that area a few times.

And that it was like decorated for Day of the Dead.

Catherine
And they had that they had a gazebo there and that’s where like a band was playing. And yeah, it’s like one of the main areas to to walk through. And the whole area was really safe and pedestrian friendly in that area.

Heavy Military Presence

Meagan Wristen
you know what? It did feel really safe.

Catherine
Well, that’s because everywhere we looked, there were armed security personnel and police.

Meagan Wristen
You know what? That’s a good point. That’s the most military I’ve ever seen in a town in Mexico.

Catherine
I have been to other towns that are kind of more that way. But, yeah, you have to be comfortable with the fact that it’s like they’re basically going full camo. Like, they’re going to have black jackets on.

Catherine
it is They’re going to be carrying active. Yeah. Plus, then there’s also, because they were on the trucks, like on the Tundras and the Ram 1500s.

Day of the Dead

Catherine
and then you saw just a lot, especially remember when we were at the parade? for Day of the Dead.
There was a lot of security presence there.

Meagan Wristen
Which I guess makes sense because, I mean, there were hordes of people there.

Catherine
It’s a huge deal. It’s a huge event.

Meagan Wristen
And it’s interesting, too, because I’ve been in Mexico for Day of the Dead before, and this blew my mind. This was beyond what I experienced in Cancun. Yeah.

Catherine
And I had been in San Antonio, Texas, the basically a few days before. And what I saw, I mean, they everyone had altars. I mean, and for people that haven’t been to, have done any day of the day, because that’s kind of really super regionalized at this point.

It’s kind of a big deal in Texas. But people will put up these altars and then they put like, and they ofrendas. And then they put pictures of their loved ones, even their pets. And then they might put like the food that those people liked. And then they’ll put flowers in like really rich colors. So it’s like traditionally marigolds. There’s usually some candles. So, but it’s, it’s not macabre. It’s not depressing. It’s actually kind of very celebratory. And I think that’s what some people don’t get. i mean, these things are, the altars are bright and they’re everywhere.

I mean, I went through Mexico city on my way there. There were like two or three altars there. I mean, in the airports, just like,

Meagan Wristen
in the airport wow I I was surprised how big some of them were because I mean we saw some that were like my height and then had we saw some that were like

Catherine
Yeah, like 20 feet tall.

Meagan Wristen
over it over a story tall, I was like, my goodness. So I regretted not bringing a picture of my mom to put on one of them.

Catherine
Right, yeah, well, you know, there’s always an extra.

Meagan Wristen
I know, that’s true. so Yeah, you can participate.

Catherine
Yeah, and so that is a tip. I mean, if you’re going through Day of the Dead, basically, like, print out some pictures that you can, you know, add at there. Yeah, so.

Meagan Wristen
You participated with your headdress.

Catherine
Yeah, I did. Now, do you know what? They told me I i got a look for that, too.

Well, we were walking around after the, like, after the parade and we were doing all of this because, okay, so I have to explain it. A lot of times people wear… Well, that was a big surprise for me is how much face makeup they were wearing.

Like it was full on like Katrina face paint you said where they look like skulls, but they’ll put flowers and there’s like rhinestones and stuff they put on. I mean, super professional looking face paint.

Like I would not…
I would not even try it, right? Because it’d be like, oh, that’s going to be a hot mess. It’s going to roll off my face and be awful. But anyway, so yeah, there were people in these costumes. Some of them were lit up.

I mean, they had these huge like hats, like sombrero type hats. And that was what I think the biggest thing that I ran into is the fact that people were, it was such a participatory kind of event that you don’t get like in the U.S.

You know, the U.S. sometimes it feels like it’s a little bit like adult, right?
Halloween and it there it is a whole separate like because we were there for Halloween

Meagan Wristen
Yeah. And I wish I had known, cause I would have probably bought something to wear you know, try to participate a little, but I had no idea. so

Catherine
Yeah, I mean, I just brought mine along because I had done it in San Antonio. and And then I, yeah, it was basically silk flowers. And it’s like a hair garland. But it’s in call it like fall colors. So yellows and reds and oranges. And then there’s some gold. i had some gold spiky things in it, which is kind of traditional.

00:18:53.48
Meagan Wristen
I’m going to pop a picture in so everyone sees it.

00:18:56.12
Catherine
Do you have a picture?

00:18:57.35
Meagan Wristen
Yeah, of course I do. I’ve

00:18:59.84
Catherine
You’re so funny.

00:19:01.61
Meagan Wristen
got lots of pictures of you, Catherine.

00:19:03.01
Catherine
and well. We should say we’ve known each other for what, like 10 years. And so we’ve been on, yeah, more than a handful of trips like together.

00:19:11.12
Catherine
So, well, you know, I mean, and that’s the deal when you travel.

00:19:11.52
Meagan Wristen
Yeah, some have definitely been better than others. Yeah.

00:19:17.23
Catherine
Well, we travel like we do is you just don’t know what you’re walking into. And i I don’t do a ton of research on the front end of these trips because i kind of want to experience it because you can over research where you’re like, feel like you’ve done it.

00:19:30.24
Meagan Wristen
Well, what we were on is like a familiarization tour. So they have an agenda. They want to show us certain things and experience certain things. So all the things that we did and everywhere we ate, everything we talk about, we didn’t pick that out. So some of it I would do again.

00:19:48.68
Meagan Wristen
a lot of it. i mean, like for me, a lot of the restaurants were such heavy seafood. I don’t eat seafood.

00:19:55.57
Catherine
Yeah. Well, it was lot of seafood for me.

Catherine
I mean, and so the different… you know Megan grew up up in kind of more you know the panhandly area. I grew up in the Houston area, so it’s on the Gulf Coast and we eat fish because it’s just like…

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, you had access to fresh fish. I had zero access to fresh seafood.
And because of that, I eat very little of it.

And I have a little bit of an allergy. So we went to one restaurant. It was like one of the first restaurants we went to, the Morisco’s Beto.

And it started with like shrimp dip. And I was like, and the dip was good, but I’m not just going to like chow down. And then I was like, hey, what else are we going to have? And she’s like, oh, we’re having, it was like coconut shrimp, barbecue shrimp, shrimp some other way.

I’m like, oh, and yeah, yes.

Catherine
Well, don’t forget, we there’s a lot of ceviche, too.

Meagan Wristen
Shrimp ceviche and shrimp cocktail. I was like, I’m like, if I eat that much shrimp, I’m going to get sick. So it was good.

Catherine
Yeah. Yeah. So people who who have an intolerance or an allergy, kind of depending on where you fall on the scale, that’s something you’ll definitely have to research. But we did run into pork.

Like, and well se yeah, we’ll talk about on the food tour.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, wait, I definitely think they do.

Catherine
But yeah, there are, you just have to do research. If you don’t like, you know, shrimp and fish. Yeah, there is definitely stay away from the, those restaurants. Because it seems like they specialize.

Meagan Wristen
Like, I think shrimp is a really big deal there. Remember during the food, during the food tour, they actually took us to see a shrimp boat and it was all about like, they go out for like a month to two months.

And then once they filled it up, they come back. And I learned more about shrimp than I’ve ever known.

Catherine
Yeah. Well, and that was, I mean, she was, she was a bilingual guide. And she was originally from Mazatlan. And it was, it was probably one of my favorite things that we did. Because not only was it learning about the food, it would it was, we went to what, like five different places, I think.

And we’d sample one thing. But then we learned about the beer, which is Pacifico. And then, and then the Berea.

00:22:15.68
Catherine
Remember the Berea tacos? Yeah.

00:22:17.69
Meagan Wristen
Oh, the Beria? Yeah.

00:22:18.78
Catherine
period Did I say it wrong?

Tomatl Food Tour

Meagan Wristen
but We’re talking about the Tomatol?

00:22:22.49
Catherine
Yeah, here. Let me go to my my notes that I spent days working on

00:22:25.85
Meagan Wristen
Well, it’s kind of spelled weird. It’s T-O-M-A-T-L.

00:22:29.44
Catherine
Yeah, that’s… I’m going to stumble over all of that, definitely, for sure. But yeah, shee’s she’s a she’s a local. She’s lived there. i think she spends half her a year there, and then she went someplace else.

00:22:42.27
Meagan Wristen
It’s super educational though. I mean, you know, we went and learned about the shrimping industry and then we went and had shrimp.

00:22:43.97
Catherine
Oh, 100%. hundred percent

00:22:48.66
Meagan Wristen
And then like the Pacifico you mentioned, we went to their, where they make it

00:22:54.24
Meagan Wristen
And we drank the one that they bottled there on site, even though you can’t go into their factory, she still took us like to kind of like a grocery store. Kind of.

00:23:01.74
Catherine
A bodega. I don’t know if they have, that’s what I would call it. I’ll be like, Oh, it was like literally a bodega, like right there. Those I, well, cause I looked back at those as i was telling some about They’re like so little seven, seven ounce beers.

Lady beers.

00:23:15.78
Meagan Wristen
me I’ve never seen those before, but…

00:23:19.18
Catherine
Because they’re only, they’re like from that area only. So that’s because they brew that, because they make Pacifico or they brew Pacifico a lot of different places in Mexico. But for those little bitty tiny ones, that was the only spot that they did those. And it was literally like two sips and it was gone.

Well, me. I don’t know about everybody.

Meagan Wristen
had heartburn. I couldn’t finish it.

I can’t handle these food tours where I eat food I’m not expecting to eat.

Catherine
I don’t know. threw that beer back like I’d been out mowing the yard. So, mean, I was like, oh, I’m sorry.

Meagan Wristen
I mean, it was hot.

00:23:52.35
Catherine
Was I supposed to sip that? Can I have another plate?

00:23:56.13
Meagan Wristen
It was really hot. When the food tour ended, we ended at this restaurant, and I can’t remember the name of it, but at the end of it, they brought out like a taco, and I just want to eat the taco, but you pour soup over it

00:24:07.72
Catherine
Well, that was broth.

00:24:09.29
Meagan Wristen
Yeah, they poured broth over it, like gravy.

00:24:11.45
Catherine
Okay. It wasn’t…

00:24:12.52
Meagan Wristen
It was actually surprisingly good, but I never would have ordered that.

00:24:16.80
Catherine
andte Did you like it though?

00:24:18.09
Meagan Wristen
I didn’t. I liked it a lot. Yeah, I would get it again.

Catherine
So, it’s like, they I had to research because I didn’t know what it was. It’s like, they call it a taco Dorado. So it’s like a fried taco. And I think ours had pork in it, right?

It was either pork or chicken. I think it was pork. Maybe it was beef.

And then, so they stuff it in the tortilla and then they like fry it, which means I think they put like on a skillet. And so it’s like really crispy. So it’s not like a soft taco, but it’s not like a taco from Taco Bell. It’s like in a crispy shell. It’s like been cooked. And then they put lettuce on top and there was tomatoes and then there’s some red onions. And then it looked like queso fresco or something like that and limes.

And then they came out with that broth and then you poured the broth over it. And then…

Meagan Wristen
And it’s like a full coffee cup of broth. I mean, you soak it.

Catherine
But it wasn’t soggy, but we ate it really fast. So you just sit there and eat it and you eat it with a fork or a spoon.

00:25:16.68
Meagan Wristen
I know, was surprised.

00:25:20.51
Catherine
So it’s not like something you’re going to pick up with your hands.

00:25:22.73
Meagan Wristen
Right. It was really good.

00:25:23.78
Catherine
But it it was completely, it was at a new to me.

00:25:24.22
Meagan Wristen
It was strange, but…

00:25:27.93
Catherine
I think it’s pretty local to that area because I’ve never seen it anywhere in Mexico or anywhere next to the border states here in the States.

00:25:38.95
Catherine
So i would totally eat that again.

00:25:42.17
Meagan Wristen
I lost my questions. Hold on. I got to pull them back up.

Lighthouse

Catherine
We didn’t talk about the lighthouse.

Meagan Wristen
I mean, the lighthouse was super cool. I didn’t like the way it was like, kind of told to us about what to expect. Cause the gals like, Oh, we’re going to climb to this lighthouse.

Catherine
Oh, so.

Meagan Wristen
It’ll be 300 steps. no, no

Catherine
And I think. Everything, okay, there is a lighthouse on top of a hill. And the lighthouse is only like, I don’t know. I went back and looked it up. It’s like 22 meters tall.

It’s operational, so you can’t even use it. So you’re not visiting a lighthouse. There just happens to be a lighthouse there. It’s like, here is Lighthouse Hill. We’re climbing to the top of this hill because there’s stuff to do up there.

And there just happens to be a lighthouse. I mean, so that’s, that was kind of like one of those lost in translation moments I fel

Meagan Wristen
I mean, there were 300 steps eventually, but they forgot to mention that you’re going to hike up the hill and then get to the steps.

Catherine
Okay, so look I looked it up on all trails.

Meagan Wristen
hello Okay.

Catherine
1.4 miles.

Meagan Wristen
Up one way.

Catherine
I have to go back and look that. Well, I, okay, you went you cheated and you you didn’t climb back down.

Zipline

Meagan Wristen
No, I ziplined down. And it was a really good zipline. Real good.

Catherine
I climbed back down.

Meagan Wristen
should have ziplined. I told you.

Catherine
I did not. Okay, so I have some boundaries. Zimplining in Mexico is on the other side of the boundary. and I’m like, but I have a video of you going down and you might’ve been like squealing or something, but it will it, it looked in. Okay.

It look intense.

Meagan Wristen
I didn’t squeal because I’ve got, I had my 360 camera. So I’m just posing. I’m like.

Catherine
Okay. I’m not one of those people that praise a lot. I said a little silent prayer for you and your camera. Cause I was like, Oh man, Megan is going to be so pissed if something happens and the camera does not end up with her at the end.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, no, I had like a death grip on that camera.

Catherine
Well, it wasn’t the death grip. I was like, you’re going fast. There could be crosswinds. I mean, you basically are on top of this hill. And then she’s ziplined all the way down across this open water.

Meagan Wristen
The water. Yeah.

Catherine
Yeah. Yeah, like water. And I’m like, because first of all, I did research that. So was like, am I going to do this? am I going not? And then there were really not good pictures on it. And then I saw it and I’m like, nope, mama’s not doing that.

Meagan’s like, woohoo!

I was the first one to go. i’m like, let’s go.

Meagan Wristen
i like what do you mean you’re not going to go? i taunted and mocked to you. I’m sorry.

Catherine
it’s It’s okay. I mean, I completely was okay with that.

Meagan Wristen
But know what? I asked, but I was like, Hey, does it auto break at the end? And again, there was like a translation. Cause I, I, I don’t know how to ask in Spanish. Does it break at the end? But finally somebody translated for me and they’re like, Oh yeah, i auto break. So it’s not like I had to do anything at the end. All I had to do was sit down and hold that camera and smile. So, and enjoy.

Catherine
Does that mean you did not have a break at all?

Meagan Wristen
Now there’s a break at the end. So a lot of zip lines. So I’ve done a lot of different zip lining. And so what’s become more and more common is that at a certain point, it kind of catches you and it breaks you and just slows you down and you come to a stop. So

Catherine
when I looked at your video, yeah, it did look like you swung at the end and then they like some guy caught you.

Meagan Wristen
yeah, so I, so when I hit the break, which was an auto break, it kind of like swings you because it’s not like you’re just going to stop because that would, you know, so you kind of swing and then you come back and then they get you and they pull you up to the platform so you can step kind of up. You have to step up on the platform so they can unhook you and then you step down and then they take off the harness. So I have ziplined all over Mexico and I’ve never had an issue. So highly recommend.

Let’s see. The other adventure thing we did while we were up on that lighthouse was that they had a, they called it a bridge, but it’s not a bridge. It’s just like one of those glass walkways that hangs out over the water.

You did that.

Catherine
It was like a platform.

Meagan Wristen
You’re very brave.

Catherine
Well, I mean, you see those a lot.

So it was like a platform and and you just walked out on it.

It was glass. They made you take your shoes off, which is something I don’t have to do all the time. And, yeah, I mean, it was cool. but we had reservations, so we were able to skip the line.

And so if you want to do that, I highly recommend the reservations because I was sitting there doing some research afterwards. So basically there’s a line all the time.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, it was a long line too.

Catherine
Yeah. I mean, we were there at nine o’clock in the morning. That’s another tip.

Go early.

Meagan Wristen
Cause you got to hike up the mountain to get there. Yes. Go very early.

Catherine
Yeah. And take water. And I think I only had like one bottle of water. And really, it kind of was a two bottle of water deal.

Meagan Wristen
You’re right. I mean, you’re absolutely right. so same thing for the zip line. You can book it in advance. And when we got up there, they’re like, who are y’all? We didn’t know you were coming. Nobody told us, even though we were part of like a media group.

So that kind of took a while. And finally, like they they got it like approval to let us go. So then you sign forms. So they do have wi and they had like a three page waiver form that you sign and fill out and all that good stuff.

But what was cool is like once we ended, We’re down. And then they put us in a, you’re like part of the observatory now, which is where these birds are and the whale museum.

And so we walked down like a couple steps after zip lining and get in a, what is that? I, vernacular.

Catherine
The vernacular? Yeah. Yeah.

Meagan Wristen
And it took us to the top of like an old housing structure or something there kind of like on the cliff. and we had brunch there, but apparently that’s like a private thing, but then they have like this bird sanctuary. So we saw all these parrots and toucans and flamingos and,

Catherine
Well, they have a bar there that’s open. It’s called like the Sky Bar.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, I didn’t know that.

Catherine
Well, it was a little early. We were there at nine o’clock in the morning. So i don’t know if the bar.

Meagan Wristen
Specifically asked for a drink and I didn’t get one.

Catherine
We might have had champ like like a mimosa or something.

But I think the bar opens a little bit later in the day.

Meagan Wristen
Okay. I mean, that make sense. It was really early.

Catherine
Yeah. Okay. So i have but I have a question about the zip line. Was there any kind of restrictions like on age or weight?

Meagan Wristen
They weighed us. They did weigh us.

Catherine
Okay.

Meagan Wristen
So they do have a weight restriction. I don’t know what it is. I’d say it’s pretty high based on, you know, some of the people i saw participating.

Catherine
Yeah. Is that the norm? Like when you go zip lining places, is it?

Meagan Wristen
No, I don’t think so. I have… I mean, I’ve been weighed off and on. Like, I always think it’s super creepy at like a water park when you get weighed. I’m like, man, i don’t know if we should be on this ride. But a ziplining, no. i don’t think I’ve been weighed very often.

Meagan Wristen
So… That’s a great question. and then age, I doubt there’s an age restriction unless it’s like a young child. I mean, Jonah was four years old the first time he ziplined, but we were in Honduras.

We’re in like a third world country. So nobody else is going to let a four year old ziplock, but there’s no rules in third world countries. But Mexico, and Mexico, maybe part of Mexico is third world.

But when you’re in the tourist towns, it is absolutely not third world. So you’re going to run into like,
the same restrictions you would in America or Canada, to be honest. So I think, but yeah,

Catherine
yeah i Yeah, I’d have to go because I was doing a little research for like my article and I didn’t really run across those. But then that was kind of another part that I found. a little hard about this destination is the websites weren’t up to kind of our our standards on information like right there. And I’ve heard from other people that the US has really like comprehensive website. They basically are answering every question you’d ever want.

So that you know ahead of time, because evidently culturally, we like to know ahead of time. We like to have all of our answers to all of our questions. So I found that the websites weren’t really.

Meagan Wristen
That might be a whole town thing. Remember when I asked the PR lady, are we having dinner tonight? She’s like, I don’t know.

I’m starving. i need more information.

The answer was no. We’re not having dinner, but there will be finger foods in a few hours.

Getting to Mazatlan

Catherine
We lost weight that day. Well, and that’s the deal is because when you’re traveling in you know, I’m flowing on Aeromexico.

Get load of this, peanuts on the airplane. I know. i’m like, whoa, what is this? Like legit peanuts. So I flew through Mexico City and all, because it’s really hard.

You flew on the nonstop, right, to get to Mazatlan on America?

Meagan Wristen
That’s why I came in a day early was to get on the nonstop. So flew American.

Catherine
Yeah. So that was not, I live in Austin. That was not an option. i had to go to Mexico City first on Aeromexico and then run there. The good thing was they were running big jets. So it was a 737 for both flights.

On American, you’re using American Eagle. So, which makes sense.

Meagan Wristen
That’s true. It really small. I got upgraded to first class.

I was so excited. Yeah, there’s no meal on American Eagle first class. i was like, hu oh, well.

Catherine
Yeah, so, but, I mean, it it kind of is what it is. You know, it’s just not, it’s not Cancun where you can choose from, like, three or four different air carriers.

Even, like, even Cabo. Cabo’s got non-stops out of Austin. So…

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, I think Mazelan just isn’t as popular as a destination. And honestly, if your Spanish isn’t that good, probably wouldn’t recommend you go there. or i would say go to Cabo or go to Cancun. I mean, it’s just going to be easier for you to took get through your vacation.

Catherine
Get on. Yeah. Well, and to do, cut this is kind more of a cultural destination. i felt like, you know, to go to an all-inclusive is really, it it is a great first, second time trip to Mexico. i have like zero hesitations. You take your kids, you know, they’ve had one semester of Spanish. They can order a taco.
And it’s, you know, as long as you arrange transportation, it’s easy peasy. I mean, everyone, basically everybody speaks Spanish. Spanish i mean and English. But yeah, this this destination, it was kind of a struggle.

Meagan Wristen
Well, I mean, even in La Paz, La Paz is more of like a boutique destination. They don’t have the big all-inclusives and everybody speaks English. i don’t remember there being an issue there, but I guess this was the most like Mexican part of Mexico I’ve been to, I guess. so

Catherine
Yeah. Well, but but there were a lot of Canadians there. And so I think that is another big

That’s another big market. Well, because don’t know.

Meagan Wristen
That’s true. That’s a huge market for them. They have more flights going into Canada than they did America. I forgot about that because they showed us a graphic and it was like, yeah, we have all these direct flights. and It was like all these places in Canada. i’m like, what’s this about?

Catherine
But there’s, yeah, it’s seasonal. So they were showing up basically when we were showing up. Cause yeah, that’s another thing.

The Weather in Mazatlan

We were there in late October. It’s hot.
No, no, no, no. it was I think it was nice there. at theirre you know In the summertime, it was like blazing hot. They were saying it was like 40 to 45 Celsius, which is hot. That’s like over 100 degrees.

So it is, yeah, I would say this is a seasonal destination, which is probably why it’s not as popular in the U.S. s because the summer is the big travel time.

I’ve never been to to Cabo in the summer. I’ve been in late May and I’ve been in the fall, but I haven’t been there in like July.

Meagan Wristen
Hmm. I don’t recall if I have been or not. I don’t know.

Catherine
But and another thing is where Cabo is like a desert, this felt tropical.

Meagan Wristen
I will say though, on the first day of my trip that you you missed, they had a bell at the resort that they’ll ring if they spot wells. And so they’re ringing this bell and I’m like, what is it like lunchtime? What is this? and then And then everybody pops up and they’re like, I’m like, what’s going on?

Catherine
Are there cocktails?

Meagan Wristen
So I’m like, so now I’m looking. and I’m like, and then I saw a well. i was like, oh we’re whale watching. like And then they rang it a few more times because they just more and more wells. So this is a huge well destination coming up like probably now it wasn’t it this the well season hadn’t started while we were there i think what was it november 8th or something we even they took us well watching with the well museum people the moon ball yeah

Whale Museum

Catherine
but Yeah, Moonba. Yeah, which is like Spanish for the Whale Museum, basically. Because they’re called Balins or Balins or something?

Meagan Wristen
So the, the well safari kind of a bust. Our boat broke down. And I think a few people saw some dolphins in there. And if they were in the front, i didn’t see anything. So, I mean, it was cool to go out like, and then I think if you go during the season, you see probably a ton of wells.

I mean, I saw some of their footage on on Instagram. and It’s like phenomenal. was like, Oh, that stinks that we didn’t get to see it. But

Catherine
Okay, I will, I have seen whales, but it was in January, and I was up the peninsula a little bit.

Yeah, but yeah, we were there. i mean, they put, what are they, got like an audio phone or a hydrophone or something into the water, and they’re like, oh, yeah, that’s them.

And I’m like, oh, okay. And you’re like nodding, and I’m like, I don’t hear anything. But, you know,

Meagan Wristen
Yeah I heard something once, but then when they said it when they passed it to me again, I never heard anything else. So, I mean, i wouldn’t know if a whale was screaming at me or not, to be honest.

Catherine
How far away were they? this Those whales could have been in like Hawaii, you know?

Meagan Wristen
They said they were by the other boat that had to been at least like five miles away.

I mean, don’t you think? I don’t know. the but The other boat was so far away, they were like in the distance. I could barely see them. So I didn’t really like the whale museum, though. I thought that was really well done and I learned a lot.

Catherine
Yeah. Well, because it was all kind of right… Right there. i mean, it was a big chunk of things. and Would you call it walkable? We went on separate days, so it’s really hard to say, like, could you walk from the the observatory there? Because they were really close. I don’t know. But.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, no, I think it’s kind of all part of the same.

So I think the ideal day is you go up the mountain to the lighthouse.

You do that. You do that. You do the hike. You do the glass bridge. You zipline. As soon as you get off the zipline, you’re at the observatory. You don’t got to walk back down and then take a car.

Then you’re at the observatory. You see the birds. And then they’ve got like these like walkways through the trees. And you just kind of like meander down and then boom, you’re at the well museum. So yeah.

Catherine
And so that’s pretty much like the majority of the day, or at least a good half of the day to do all that.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And I like the room at the Well Museum where it had like a like an x-ray machine, like you could move this plate back and forth.

And so you could pull up a well or a dolphin and it pull it up. And it’s like a picture of the well you chose. But then as you move the plate, it turns it into like an x-ray.

So you can look at like their heart or their bones or whatever, their brains.

Catherine
Oh, yeah. that was I forgot about that. That really cool. I like the the VR experience where you were… And I don’t know. I can’t remember if we picked them out or whatever. But there was this, like, put on the headset, looking around. And then there was this ginormous squid. And it looked like it was going swallow one of the other riders. And so I’m fascinated with, like, these deep sea squids that they thought were, like, mythical. But now they’ve, like, seen them. And so now they’re real… I mean, when I say deep sea, they like, there’s not any light down there. And so they have those. And so it was a lot of that. I thought that was really cool. And I thought kids would think that was cool too.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, no, it was a great, I thought it was a really good museum.

Catherine
And they had reading. Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it’s, it’s like one of the top whale museum or is it the only whale museum? just dedicated to like whales. There’s the scientific name because you’re also dealing with like other things, but Megan, you didn’t mention what whales you get to see there.

Meagan Wristen
Sperm wells?
Was it humpbacks that we were trying to see?

Catherine
Well, that’s the that’s the main species there. Because in the Pacific, you have like the grays and the blues. and But for Mazatlan, it’s the humpbacks.

And then they go between like that areas where they breed and and eat and raise the babies. like The babies are born there. And then they go…then they migrate back up to Alaska.

Meagan Wristen
You know what? Remember they had that really cool exhibit at the whale museum too, where you, they had like a fake camera and you take a picture the whale tail.

There’s like an online database at different people and it matches the tails through like facial recognition, except like I guess it’s tail recognition. And then you can see everywhere the whales been. I thought that was really cool.

Catherine
That way… Well, because, right, there had been one that they had done in Mazatlan that had been over there off the coast of Japan.

And then up to Alaska. Like, it had done this giant triangle. I’m just like, wow. So I don’t know if they knew that the migration was that extensive.

And not every whale does that, but that one particular whale did it.

Aquarium

Meagan Wristen
yeah man it was hauling I let’s see another educational thing we did was go to their aquarium they have a massive aquarium in Mazatlan that they’re very proud of and we got to hang out with the penguin several penguins

Catherine
Were you there when we had the encounter with the snake?

Meagan Wristen
No, absolutely not.
I left. hello

Catherine
Yeah, because we taught we we held a snake and then there was like a little deer in that. Because Mazatlan is like the land of the deers. That’s what it means. And so then they had a little deer for us to do there. But actually the facility is old. It was built in 1980. It’s just the fish part that we were in, you know, the, with the poured concrete that was opened in 2023.
So yeah, yeah, that, that portion it was, cause they had those huge saltwater tanks and then they have a penguin encounter.

Meagan Wristen
Well, they did a phenomenal job. Very beautiful.

They had a lot of animal encounters.

Catherine
They did have a lot of animal encounters.

Meagan Wristen
And then let’s say, you know, it was like all over the news about how they’re going to ban animal shows in Mexico or they have banned animal shows in Mexico. So you might be like, oh, what a bummer. I really wanted to see a sea lion show.

I got great news. You can still go watch the sea lions exercise. And when they exercise, it looks a lot like a show.

Catherine
well i Well, they were exercising, and it was also educational.

So I don’t think that they’re doing tricks, but they kind of still were exercising with balls.

Meagan Wristen
You didn’t think that was a trick when it held the ball on its nose and it was like swimming around? No?

Catherine
I don’t know. I mean, maybe if they put a costume…

Meagan Wristen
“It was working out.”

Catherine
Maybe they used to have costumes, and now they don’t wear the costumes, and now they just to wear, you know…

Meagan Wristen
When it told you to clap for it, you know, seemed like a show.

Catherine
Maybe it’s because it it was on the old script and it just couldn’t like un… That was part of its performance.

Meagan Wristen
We did see a lot at that aquarium, though. Like, did you have a favorite section?

Catherine
The touch tanks.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, with the stingrays and stuff. Yeah.

Catherine
Well, because there were…

Meagan Wristen
I’ve done that before. I don’t want to touch on a stingray.

Catherine
Well, there were sea urchins too in there. Oh, it was the puffer fish. Because going to be… Those are the toxic ones.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, yeah. I was surprised you could touch them.

Catherine
I know. I’m like, oh, look at this. I think at my daughter lived in Japan for a year. i’m like, look, in Mexico, you can touch puffer fish. So one finger.

Meagan Wristen
I didn’t do it.

Catherine
I didn’t zip line. We each all have our boundaries. Evidently.

Meagan Wristen
That’s right. Yeah. Mine are stinky animals. so that’s why That’s why I didn’t meet the deer or see the snake because the minute we walked in and turned the corner and I could smell the deer, I was like, I’m out of here.

Catherine
Marine, marine anything. And I’m, yeah, yeah, that one section.

Meagan Wristen
I could not take the smell.

Catherine
Okay, it to me, it smelled like a rodeo.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, rodeo smell horrible.

Catherine
like if you if you If you go into a livestock show, it’s just like, that’s Mel. And that’s what I would say it

Meagan Wristen
But I will say if you’ve got kids, if you’re going to Mazelan, taking your kids, I think the aquarium is a must. And i would definitely do some of the animal encounters because there’s just not a lot of places where you can do that.

Meagan Wristen
So it was really cool.

There were some kids in our penguin encounter and they were just like over the moon.

They were so happy. So, and then of course we did after that, we rode the pulmonia.

Pulmonias

Catherine
I don’t know. Something like that. Pomeronios? I don’t know. i could spell it for you.

Meagan Wristen
Pulmonia. I think that’s how you say it. So which are like these open air taxis. They’re not taxis, but they’re like these little cars.

Catherine
I call them golf carts. They’re like, they’re bigger than, they’re like street legal golf carts.

Meagan Wristen
Honestly, yeah, but they’re bigger than golf carts.

Catherine
Honestly, I’m surprised that there has there’s not a market for them in like Sun City. Because couldn’t couldn’t you see like retirees again driving these things?

Meagan Wristen
Yes, I can. I see it.

Catherine
Because they were cute.

Meagan Wristen
well and i think like i think for most of y’all y’all got like kind of a tour they gave you like a like talk to y’all and pointed out attractions or played music and because the the guy in front of me was getting like a full-on tour and they were stopping to take pictures so then i could get pictures too which was great but my driver was mad at me because i was using my selfie stick my nine foot selfie stick and videoing it’s like what are you doing it’s like I think he felt like I was a safety hazard. He was not happy with me, but I got some great footage.

Catherine
you know what? We were asking him how to drive it. We were asking about like what it was like.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, what’d they say?

Catherine
So, well, it’s not really complicated. i mean, basically it’s like a break and, you know, a gas pedal. And I think they top out at like 30 something miles an hour.
and then that’s just like kind of it. But they were really popular in like the gold, the gold zone and then the historic center. yeah they were.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah. Just for like zipping around. Yeah.

Catherine
zipping around going in between stuff. The only thing is, is you have to pay cash. So they don’t take cards yet. But, but, but, but they said that’s on the to do list.

And hopefully in the next year, they’ll be able to take a card.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah. Aren’t they trying to figure out like an app thing?

Catherine
Yeah, it was something like that.

Should You Rent a Car?

And that was my big thing. I was like, okay, all this stuff is kind of spread apart. I mean, not hugely, but you’re not going to want to walk everywhere. So i was like, how do you get around with… And it just this where we were staying didn’t seem like it would be really great with a rental car.

Because I don’t know where you would parked.

Meagan Wristen
Absolutely not. The cobblestone? So here’s why I would tell most people not to drive in the central historic area. The curbs are not your normal curb.

The curb is like… almost twice the size of a normal curb.

I mean, it’s very much that old Mexican square.

So you’re you’re making very hard turns. And you’re probably, you know, depending on what size vehicle you have down there. if So if you do run a car, make sure it’s a small car so you can navigate. I mean, there are places to park. But i probably i probably would tell people not to run a car.

If you’re staying in that particular area.

Catherine
I think that whole, because yeah, they they were really narrow. I think it was for horses and carriages.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, back in the day.

Well, that would make sense. I mean, these these curbs are crazy. I mean, yeah, I felt bad. From where we were staying, it was like, what, a three-minute walk to the beach, two-minute, I mean, and so I would walk down to catch the sunset every day day that I could, and one of the times I was walking down, there was a drunk guy in front of me, it’s just like, I mean, he’s holding on by a thread, he fell off of one of these curbs, and I’m like, that’s a substantial fall, I was like, should I help him, I mean, I don’t know him, so I kept walking, but I was concerned, but not, you know, I was like, should have known better. Like, so that’s also something to keep in mind. Don’t get drunk and fall off of one of them. Cause it’s a two foot draw.

Catherine
Well, was he a local guy or was he a tourist?

Meagan Wristen
Girl. I didn’t get close enough to see. i don’t know.

Catherine
Was he good looking?

Meagan Wristen
i don’t know. i saw it was from behind. it had been good looking, maybe I would helped. Single. They’re like, Hey,

Catherine

Where are you from?

Presidio Restaurant

Meagan Wristen
One of the things I really liked was a place that we had lunch down there in the central historic, that Presidio

I think the Pulmonias dropped us off there. and it reminded me of like, if you’ve been to the ruin bars in Budapest. So again, it looks like nothing from the outside. Like it just looks like you’re getting dropped off on some barren street and then you walk in and And it’s just this open air, beautiful restaurant, like dripping with ivy and other plants. And it was beautiful.

I had a pork shank there that was beautiful too.

Catherine
Well, and I think there I think there was like several full grown, huge towering trees. So the whole area was shaded. Yeah. So it wasn’t just like a couple of little plants.

I mean, it from what I heard about it, it’s it’s like the legendary place in Mazatlan. And it has been, and it feels almost kind of European, you know, kind of, yeah, it’s a very,

Meagan Wristen
Well, it’s stunning.

Catherine
And then they had different areas. So the the room we were in was almost felt like an antique like greenhouse. But then there were some open areas with umbrellas and and market tables. And then there was like a bar. And yeah, it was very well done. It was very picturesque.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, I would highly recommend, if you only take one of our recommendations, go eat there. Oh, but no, i’ve got and I’ve got another recommendation for the ladies.

Venados Baseball

Meagan Wristen
I’ve got one more. you know what it is?
The dancing. So we went to a baseball game.

The baseball team, the Venados, that’s their local baseball team.

And apparently they have two dance teams, one female and one male. We didn’t see the female, but we saw the male dance team and they’re like,

I mean, like strip dancing. was highly entertaining.

Catherine
Well, but classy. I mean, they didn’t take off their pants, right? But their shirts came off.

Meagan Wristen
no and their shirts were just like open. They didn’t take their clothes off.

Catherine
No, one of them did.

Meagan Wristen
Or they might not like drop them down a little bit, give you like a little peek.

Catherine
No, those guys were spending some time in working out, and I think they were also possibly professional dancers. Because those their abs were ripped, and they knew how to roll them.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, they had to have been.

I mean, it was like Magic Mike. I was like, I’m like, what is happening?

We’re at a baseball. Honestly, the whole baseball experience thing was crazy. So we ate at the restaurant in the stadium.

And it’s like pretty chill when we first get there. But then like a full on band sets up. What do you call those bands?

Catherine
Like a mariachi band.

Meagan Wristen
Now, if it’s more than a mariachi band. It’s like a, there’s another word for it when it’s that big, I think.

Banda?

Catherine
Oh, yeah, the banda. Yeah, because that’s a local thing there, that banda. I was reading about it. Because it’s kind of a variation from the Germans. So it’s got like a Yeah, well, because the Germans showed up like 100 years ago.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, that makes sense.

Catherine
And so that’s where the beer came from. And then the banda music, which is kind of an accordion and some… like well Did it have like a trombone?

Meagan Wristen
Oh yeah, it had a trombone.
there Every band we saw had a trombone. Trumpets, tubas.

Like, yeah, and it was the trombones with the buttons. You never see them. I was like, and they got down, man. They were just blasting. So we’re like, we’re eating, we’re watching the baseball game. The band’s going nuts. Like the mascots come up and like now people are dancing with the mascots. Like things are just getting crazier and crazier. And then the male dancers start and we’re like, what kind of baseball game is this?

Catherine
Well, it’s a good thing we didn’t stop because it was kind of like in between innings and go to the bathroom because that would be like the cue. Okay, everyone has got to go buy beer and go to the bathroom and then we would have missed the extra dance.

Catherine
But do you think the guys who were with us were uncomfortable?

Meagan Wristen
Don’t care.

Catherine
yeah I will say I was like, well, this is the best baseball game I’ve been to in a long time.

Meagan Wristen
I hope so.

Catherine
So, it but, the and it was open air. was like an open air stadium, but new, like brand new. So it was.

Meagan Wristen
It was a beautiful stadium, you know? Yeah. And it had a restaurant on both ends.

Catherine
Oh, did it?

Meagan Wristen
Yeah. I noticed that like directly across from us.

If you looked all the way over there, there was another, restaurant and they said it was the same exact food as what we had. So.

Catherine
Yeah. I mean, was kind of like Mexican baseball fair, but yeah, the whole, that’s something I wouldn’t have done, but I’m glad that I did. And baseball is huge in Mexico.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, apparently I’m going to go to a baseball game every time I’m in Mexico from now on. Big fan. Yeah. I thought it was great.

Catherine
Yeah. Otherwise it’d been like, okay, we’ve seen it.

I think I’ve got the gist of it Can we go back? we go back to the room? But yeah. stuff And it was later.

I mean, it was like in the sixth or seventh inning that the guys came out. So hang out.

Meagan Wristen
I’m like, are they coming back out?

Catherine
Hang out for a while to make sure you see the guy. Otherwise you just missed like the whole experience.

Meagan Wristen
And apparently the women dance like that too, but they didn’t come out while we were there. I don’t know how we missed that. Maybe they were earlier. Cause I think we were a little late getting there.

Or maybe we left too soon.

Pirate Mansion Tour

Meagan Wristen
Yeah. Another really crazy thing we did was that Pirate Mansion tour.

Crazy just because he yelled so much. Like… it’s i like the concept i like the immer like the immersive experience so like you it’s an it’s like highly educational and you’re walking through and learning all about pirates and pirate culture and different things that historically have happened but our guide just yelled so much that it was kind of like whoa dude like you gotta calm him down like and one time he was like really close to my head when he yelled and i was like i just bolted.

Catherine
Yeah, yeah, that experience was a little loud. So I would definitely put a disclaimer on it. If you have someone in your group that’s got sensory issues, you know, sound, lights, this isn’t the activity for you at all, because it was loud.

Meagan Wristen
Don’t go.

Catherine
You kind of didn’t know what you were walking through, but each room was like a, each room set a stage. And, so it was educational and I, a hundred percent, you know, there’s certain things that women know about in that men know about and pirates has to be one of those things I didn’t really know that much about outside of

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, but somebody in our group knew a lot. So, and I will say also there, there was one room where they put a noose around one of the guys in our group. So I think, I think if you’re going to take kids, you’re going to ask them to not yell, do not scream during the the thing.

And I think they would probably, I mean, it’s like private. It’s your group that goes through with one guide. So I think if you request that, they would honor that. And then I would request that there be no noose. I know for our family personally, like, that’s not okay. So I wouldn’t want my kids to see that.

Catherine
Well, and it’s a totally different time that they’re talking about. This is hundreds of years ago. I’m sure that, unfortunately, it was brutal. But, yeah.

Meagan Wristen
It was brutal. But nowadays, the only people, you know, I just, unfortunately, we had somebody close to us that hung themselves to kill themselves. And so to me, that’s all I could think of.

And I’m like, but my kids weren’t there. But I was like, Oh, my God, what if the kids have been here? And like, this could have been very triggering. I don’t know. So I i would just that’s something. And then and then they were like, anybody can take a picture with the noose around them. I’m like,

Absolutely not. So I think that’s probably just, that’s something specific to our family that I’m like, don’t do that. So if your family has issues with that, request that they leave that out.

Let’s see what else. Let’s talk about something more fun than that. Cause that was kind of depressing. Let’s talk about that beach club.

Shekinnah Beach Club

Catherine
yeah, that was nice. This is our was our final day. so And it is… We had been there earlier in the week at night, which… It was just a private event, so I don’t even know if it’s open at night. But you really couldn’t… It’s so dark, you couldn’t see anything. So I’m just like…

Okay, there’s water here. i think I didn’t even know it was on the beach. It was so dark until someone was like oh yeah, the beach is like right there.

So we went during the day. We got there early. So it felt like we were the only people there.

It definitely got busier as we went along, but

Meagan Wristen
I would by 3 p.m. it was getting a lot busier.

Catherine
Yeah. Well, what I loved about it, if you’re not staying in an all-inclusive, this can be your all-inclusive pool experience. Because that’s really, for me, the big sell in an all-inclusive resort is those pools. Those resort pools. They’re beautiful. You just want to sit there and just, you know, relax. But that it had that kind of vibe to to it.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, super chill. Wait staff bringing you drinks and food. The food was really good.
The cocktails were good. Only had Aperol Spritz, but they were great.

Catherine
I think they a full menu, though, because we were having margaritas and and then all the Mexican beers. And what I liked about it, it was zoned. So there was a kid area. The kids hang hung out.

And remember that cenote? That was the adult room.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, that’s right. The adults area. I forgot about that. And there’s a sauna. It wasn’t on while we were there, but

Sometimes there’s a sauna back there.

Catherine
Yeah. And then they had a spa. They had a separate spa area with treatments. Were you with me with

Meagan Wristen
that’s right. And they were fairly reasonably priced, but you refused to do a couple’s massage with me because you’re selfish.

Catherine
Hi. Well, had just, it wasn’t much time. I didn’t have my card. i Who knows?

But it was kind of in a, yeah, it was in a hut, like right there. And then you could, you had access to the beach, which was nice. So I don’t know if you went down there, but I went down there and looked for some shells and I brought some shells back because there was this area where there were so many shells.

Meagan Wristen
I did go down there, but just briefly. So I got like footage and then I was done. Yes.

Catherine
Yeah, I came back with a handful of like almost like abalone kind of shells. It’s like, oh, look, going to make jewelry out of this. No, no, I’m not. I just took it and i’m like, oh, this is cool.

But yeah, it was. And then they was that one pool, the one you’re swinging your thing around. Was that an infinity pool?

Meagan Wristen
kind of weird but yes I did

Catherine
What was the footage like for that?

Meagan Wristen
well it it does like a 360 degree so with my 360 camera I got this crank for it and it’s called like the bullet effect and so I can swing it and so it’s just showing you everything that I can see like if I look all around you can see everything I see in every direction and it kind of slows it down so it’s just kind of like a really crisp, like fun look at the club.

Catherine
Well, because you’re walking along the edge of it because it overlooked the water.
I mean, it overlooked the beach. And so you’re…

Meagan Wristen
Yeah. So you can see, like, you can see the swings in the pool. You could see the cabanas. You could see the swings that weren’t in the pool and you could see the the ocean all in this view.

Catherine
Because that was a must. To me, that was a must do is to get on the swing and do a photo because it’s on the water
And then… You know, it’s something we didn’t do. I don’t think anyone, we had a private cabana. and and And it’s not like there was just one. They were like everywhere. and they had little tiny plunge pools, but I don’t think any of us got in it.
and the pool Yeah, and they were really, really kind of small. So we were basically in lounges and then just kind of taking a chill day because it was really busy.

It’s a huge city. We only went through two areas. So we went through the historic center, which is where we were staying, and that’s where the plaza and the cathedral and all that was located. And then there was like the golden zone and that’s where the beach club was located. And that’s where a lot of hotels are. That’s where the bars are. Oh, the Mazatlan letters. I think they’re up closer, you know, where they have it spelled out makes a great photo.

Meagan Wristen
Oh yeah, we stopped there.

Catherine
Yeah. That’s up on the, like the golden coast, but that’s basically the only areas we went to besides the airport area, which is where you’re, you’re all inclusive resort. And we visited that resort.
and for a tour as well.

Meagan Wristen
In the, yeah, the, in the golden zone, we visited, El Cid. And
ate at, I think it’s Marina El restaurant.

Which I get, is it in an all-inclusive resort? I think it is, but it might be, i think it was everything. I think they could, you do European all-inclusive or just nothing.

Catherine
All of it. And sometimes you run into those brands there, and I think El Cid is one of them. and I’ve stated a couple of them. And they are… to To me, they don’t really, they’re not one or the other. So they’re not like a boutique property that’s urban and really chic, but they’re not, they try to be an all-inclusive because they’ll have resorts and pools, but they don’t have these really large, really large properties. So it’s it’s kind of, they’re really compact.
And I don’t know necessarily what their price structure is, so how economical they are, but it’s a resort that’s been

Meagan Wristen
I don’t know. It looked really pretty.

Catherine
It’s hard to say when you’re walking around at night.

Meagan Wristen
I will say there are two restaurants that we ate at that we hadn’t mentioned. and Both of them were for breakfast. And one of them…

Catherine
The dessert cart! For breakfast!

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, the dessert cart. Yeah. So that was Ristorante Panama, which I had actually heard about is the only thing recommended to me ahead of time by somebody from La Paz recommended this restaurant. He’s like, Oh, it’s so good. You’re gonna love it.
I’m so glad you get to eat there. And it kind of felt like a chain. And I don’t know if it is or not. But it had like a bakery that you walk through as you enter. And all these desserts and all these pastries. But then you walk in. It’s a full-up restaurant. They had like a kid’s area where the kids could play.

And we go all the way to the back. We sit down. We had great breakfast. I had like machaca. can’t remember what you had. Did you have…

Catherine
I had chilaquilas. I think I had chilaquilas like four times.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, and Mazatlan does Chiliquiles more than two ways. Like typically in Mexico, you can get them red or green.
They’re doing like different different types. I can’t remember. Like creamy. Like…
Something. They were real good.

Catherine
I don’t remember. I think I had the green there, but yeah, it was… it ended They were really… It was really… yeah That’s one of those things you would have to have. And if you’re not familiar… i mean, in Texas, we have chilaquilas. So it’s…

You know, it’s kind of like, oh, great, we get to have like authentic Chilaquilas. But how would you describe it to someone who isn’t from around in like Texas or hasn’t been to Mexico.

Meagan Wristen
Oh, easy. Take tortilla chips, crunch them up, top them with chicken, eggs, green sauce or red sauce, salsa.
And then put some cheese on it. That’s usually Chiliquiles. So what was different is that they had like birria Chiliquiles or they had… Actually, the next restaurant I was going to mention, I did have birria Chiliquiles at the other place.

I just felt like the different places we went had more options. Like in Texas, you get red or green and that’s it. Or Cancun, you get red or green. So I liked in Mazatlan that they had.

more options and I and I should have thought to look up like what exactly they put in the chili killis but I had I had the berry of chili killis at a place called Emilia restaurant and i also had the chicharoni’s enchiladas and those were really good too so that I thought that breakfast place was great and I had like a watermelon mimosa or something and it was phenomenal so I hope

Catherine
Well, and then they also have the the cafe olla, which is kind of a spicy coffee that they make. I i had it an all-inclusive first, but now every time I see it on a menu, I have. So it’s got like oranges and spices. to me, it tastes very almost like Christmassy, fall kind of drink.

And you can have add milk to it, but you have to ask for that, con leche with milk on the side, but highly recommend that it’s really, it’s really tasty. But yeah, that one was a great restaurant and it wasn’t on the tourist track. I mean, there were a ton of residents that were there having breakfast. And it seems like it was like one group of old ladies. They were meeting to have, you know, like that was their outing for the week or whatever to get, to get together and families and everything else.

Meagan Wristen
Yeah, and we met the chef, and they were saying that it’s supposed to be like grandma’s cooking.
it was quite good, so good job, grandma.

Catherine
Well, because your drink, too, and then I had a drink, too. They do a lot of, like, I would call mocktails, but they’re just, like, of a juice-based drinks, and every one that I had was really good.

But then the fruit in Mexico is just, you know, like, top-notch. I mean, i don’t think I’ve ever had, like, bad fruit in Mexico, so…

Can you swim at the Mazatlan Beaches?

Oh, well let’s talk about is it a beach destination? Meaning, are you can you swim? Can you get in the water? Or do they just have a beach? Because Cabo is is not a beach destination except for a couple of pocket beaches. Versus you go to Cancun, the Yucatan Peninsula, and that is a huge beach destination. You go out, you get in the water.

Meagan Wristen
I don’t know that I can answer that question because, you know, the days I was at out at Dreams, it was a red flag. So that means don’t get in the water. People were not in the water.

Now, we did see people down when we went down for sunset. They were boogie boarding and surfing at the that main beach area right there near the Beatles statue.

Catherine
Because there’s a the boardwalk that runs basically all along that whole area, and they have a separate lane.

Well, it’s a boardwalk for walking, and then they have like a bike lane. So it’s a huge hangout.

Meagan Wristen
I know I was so bummed I didn’t bring my rollerblades. I really wish I’d brought my rollerblades. I could have exercised so much. there They have one of the best biking setups i’ve I’ve seen in any town ever.

So I thought I’d probably go for miles.

I don’t know how long it runs but it’s super long.

Catherine
So we we did see people there swimming, but they’re residents, so they know it.

With that said I wouldn’t have gotten in that water.

There were days there that it was really rough looking, you know, where they were cresting.

And I mean, it was beautiful for videos and stuff, but but they do put flags up.

Meagan Wristen
I’m a mediocre swimmer. So my recommendation would be if you are going to swim, you can get a blow up life jacket for kids or adults on Amazon.

And I would take a blow up life jacket.

Catherine
Yeah. Well, and they had flags out. So it wasn’t it wasn’t a question whether it was safe or not. They put up the flags.

Meagan Wristen
And I don’t think we ever saw a day where it was like, yeah, you can swim. So it was very windy while we were there. i mean, it was the very end of October, beginning of November.

Catherine
I think that’s when the storms start coming through. Yeah, like these Pacific storms. But again, who knows? I don’t. I don’t know what the weather is like there, but there were local kids out swimming. But yeah, I don’t know if I would let my kid out there.

Meagan Wristen
I would compare it to like we we went surfing in Todos Santos and I thought we shouldn’t be out here. i thought the waves were too big. I’m like one of us is gonna drown like we’re just taking a it was a beat down during that surfing class. So had we been asked to surf on this trip I would have been like oh I don’t think so.
But I guess I mean if you’re a strong swimmer yeah knock yourself out. i saw we saw plenty of people in the water yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. i really appreciate it. i had a great time with you in Mazatlan. and I hope our next trip’s even better. i wonder where we’ll go next together.

Catherine
We should manifest something. Europe? I don’t know.
I’m trying to manifest a river cruise, but aren’t you doing one of those?

Meagan Wristen
Yes. Our family’s hosting a river cruise, a Christmas river cruise over Thanksgiving break, not this year, but next with ammo waterways down the Rhine river. and you can, you can check out all that information on my website you can DM and I’ll get you the information.