Alamos | Mexico

Quite a few of us San Carlos people went on a bus trip to Alamos for a few days, put together by Mark Mulligan, a local performer from San Carlos.

This is the City Hall, a massive building. 

Inside, there is a plaza for plays or other functions.

The city has many interesting buildings and architectural points.

 

It's not uncommon to see the residents riding horses in the street.  In San Carlos, sometimes we see kids riding to school bareback.

This massive church, La Parroquia de la Purísima Concepción,  is near the town square.  The building was started in the late 1700s and finished in 1826.

As massive as it looks from the outside, you see only a small part when you walk in the front door.

Opposite the church is the town plaza, with this gazebo.

Interestingly, the inside of the gazebo is quite ornate.

 

A friend and I took a walk to the cemetery, which was quite interesting.  As you can see on the right in this photo, there are graves that are stacked 3 tall.  We didn't find any names or dates on any of these.

 

 

 

 

This was the view from our room at the Hacienda de los Santos, a very nice resort with multiple pools and wonderful grounds.
 

 



An old open carriage was on the grounds.

The grounds were very large, taking up 3 parcels of land and has been family run.  The food was great and everyone was so helpful and pleasant.

Seems that I may have taken more photos of the Hacienda than the town! 

On the way back to San Carlos, we were treated to a stop at a local brewery that makes Bacanora.   It was started as a type of moonshine, but has now been regulated.  Below is a shot of the actual processing system.

The agave fronds are fermented in these vats inside the building.

For such a small operation, they produce some fancy bottles of the product. 

This ladder was outside,  I just love rustic things like this.  Down here, they make things last and they know how to fix just about anything, as well as sometimes making their own tools.  A big difference from our "throw away" attitude in the States.

 

Busy in San Carlos | Sonora | Mexico

 

I have been busy since my last post, there is so much to do here.  Super moon as seen in San Carlos above, about a week ago.  I'm not sure it looked any larger to me.

 

 

Really rough living here......  This was taken last weekend at the beach.  A friend and I had snacks and were listening to live music.  Like I said, really rough living!  They have tables under the little palapas, redone since the hurricane damaged most of them a few months ago.  The photo below shows the inside, looking straight up, they look quite sturdy. 

 

My friend has a dog and I was babysitting the furry guy below, so we took them to the beach.  He doesn't get out to the beach much since he doesn't even like to get in the car with his owner.  He got his feet wet and had an interesting change of scenery.  And he was totally exhausted when he got home!

 

San Carlos is all about musical entertainment, so Mark Mulligan organized a concert with the Foresteros band from Hermosillo, a large city about 2 hours from here.  Everyone had a great time last year at their concerts, and we had a great time again this week - the Foresteros rock!  Mark plays here most weeks and is quite popular in this area, as well as in the States.  He's the only one without long pants on.

 

We had another clean-up-the-beach this week and dispatched a 2600 pound load to the dump.  This area looks much nicer, but still needs some detail work.  The Sea of Cortez (aka Gulf of California) looks very inviting, but the nights are turning cooler in this area and the water will soon be too cold to swim in.  For me anyway!

 

Fun Time in San Carlos | Sonora | Mexico

One of the musicians in our community organized a concert on the beach the other day.  Other trips have been organized in previous winter seasons, but this is the first one I have attended.  We boarded a bus to go to a nearby area called Cochorit, I love it when I don't have to drive.  When we arrived, we had a massive beach, the beautiful Sea of Cortez, multiple shaded shelters and a bar already set up. 

  

It was all very picturesque and we enjoyed the water and beach while the musicians were setting up.  We also ordered food, which was prepared in true Mexican style. 

Mark Mulligan was our leader and organizer and he played solo as well as invited a few other local musicians to join him.  The Twins, so named because they are twins, joined in; as well as the son of one of the twins. 

Susan King got into the scene to play drums, just not her usual set of steel pans - but she looks like she was having a great time.



The conga line kind of fizzled when it hit the water.......

This photo shows only a few of the crowd, with the musicians in front.  After this photo shoot, we all boarded the bus back home to our vehicles.  A good time was had by all.   I will be looking forward to the next concert trip.

San Carlos, Mexico | Music on the Beach!

Mark Mulligan, in the colorful shirt covered with chiles, is a musician who has played gigs in San Carlos for years, as well as venues in the States.  This is the second time during my stay here that he has brought the band Forasteros, from Hermasillo, about 2 hours north of us, to play a concert for us at La Palapa Griega, which is located right on the beach.  They have been quite a hit in this little town. 

This last concert was attended by over 250 people.  As usual, the festivities started at 5 PM and continued to 8 PM.  During this time, the serving staff was kept running to provide drinks and food to everyone.  The photo below shows a great way to see the concert, just a short distance from the beach.  We got to sit right on the beach - since the restaurant isn't big enough to seat that many people, tables and chairs were set up on the beach near the stage.  Great ambience!

The band is billed as playing country music but they include music by the Eagles and Jimmy Buffett as well.  They sure know how to put on a good show, as you can see when two of the guitar players joined the audience for a line dance.



I got a kick out of this guy's guitar.  Obviously, he is a fan of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show and the Charger that was featured with the 01 painted race-car-style on the doors.

 

Thanks to Mark and everyone else involved for bringing us a fun evening!

Mark Mulligan was instrumental in developing the organization here called "Castaway Kids".  This organization, all volunteers, raises money to provide school scholarships to needy kids, provide food, clothing and shelter to families in emergency situations as well as other projects.  A thrift shop bearing that name also provides funds.  Anyone interested in learning more about Castaway Kids can find information on their website at http://castawaykidsmx.org/