Back to the main road, we head away from the town, toward Nopolo, a Fonatur debacle here on the Baja. ( A little background: Fonatur is the Mexican government’s federal tourist development agency that is responsible for the development of Cancun and Ixtapa. They tend to go into beautiful, wild areas and plop down developments that either outgrow the area’s resources, or don’t take off at all. Which is what has happened here in Nopolo – nothing!). What used to be a goat ranch, is now platted out with streets and lots, but nothing is being developed, except for scraggy weeds on the land. Next to Nopolo, a little village called Loreto Bay has sprung up, with condos and houses close to the water and a few shops and restaurants. Definitely Gringo Gulch here. We checked online after we were back on board – and yeah right! We’re going to pay $250,000 US for a 1 bedroom 1 bath condo. Views or no views. This is Mexico, where infrastructure is not necessarily a word known here! But we can rent – for upwards of $1,000 a week. Hmmmm…..thought it might be fun to come back here for a while, but we might have to rethink that after all!
Heading back into town, our initial thoughts are to find a grocery store, but as we are driving on the outskirts of the town, there is a peculiar smell coming from the car. Probably just the brakes from overuse, but we sort of hate to think about breaking down here, so we take the car back to the rental agency – just shy of noon. Oh well, it’s time for lunch! We asked the girls at the rental car place where they would recommend for good local food – not touristy – and they said El Rey del Taco – the king of taco! Yes! They 
gave us directions and we wandered off through the cute little town to find the King….all closed up! Darn! On a Wednesday? Oh well. Back we wandered, to a place I had seen on the way into town called Cesar’s. Well, heck, if we can’t eat with the King, Caesar is 2nd best I suppose. LOL.
Open air, we sat outside at a large table and enjoyed our beers and Queso Fundido and a fish and pork adobo taco. Very tasty!
Moving on, we headed back to the centro historico district and walked through the pedestrian area taking pictures of the Mision de Nuestra Senora de Loreto Concho – a wonderfully mission.
We did end up finding a supermarket, but once again were unsuccessful in our quest for Salt and Lime peanuts. We don’t get it – must not be a big thing here in the Baja. On the way back we walked through this great arbor of vines along the pedestrian walk.
Since it was still early, we ducked into a little restaurant on the waterfront, grabbed 2 seats at the bar (which wasn’t really used as a customer bar, but the waiter said he didn’t mind since there were no tables available outside), and grabbed a couple of cold beverages before heading back aboard.
Relaxing on the balcony, we snapped away as we sailed out of the Loreto Bay. Beautiful scenery and great sunset…oh and good beer too!
Then, after the gym, we headed to our Crab Shack dinner! We were finally able to get reservations (it’s been hard on this ship!) and so tonight we are putting the feed bag on – only we had no idea HOW much feed we’d be putting on! The Crab Shack is a great restaurant idea that Princess only does on a few nights aboard, in the back corner of the Horizon Café. It’s an extra charge of $20 each, you automatically get an appetizer to share of popcorn shrimp (which were not popcorn, but HUGE shrimp, really well battered and yummy) and hushpuppies (not so good or yummy), Manhattan Clam chowder and then your choice of entrée: Bayou-style “Mud Bug” boil, Steamed Alaskan King Crab Legs, Mixed Steamer (crab, shrimp, clams, mussels, kielbasa – basically a low country boil) or Clam, Mussel and Shrimp Pot. I ordered the Mud Bugs –I LOVE Mud Puppies and could not wait – our waiter just gave me a dubious look and said, “that’s a lot of work”. Yep – and I’m ready for the task! Ed ordered the Mixed Steamer and we set about preparing to feast.
It took a long time for our meal to come out – I mean a long time! I honestly think that no one orders the Mud Bugs so they weren’t prepared. We joked about the fact that some poor kitchen worker was down in the hold searching through the walk-in’s trying to find the blasted Mud Bugs. It was funny. I mean, really, it was forever! But when they finally arrived, Oh My God! They filled the entire huge bowl. I can’t tell you how many – maybe 3 or 4 dozen? It was amazing. I was dying laughing – also thinking – how am I going to eat all these? But let me tell you – I finished every single one down to the bottom of that bowl and they were all delicious. Seriously the best meal I had on that ship. Ed’s boil was excellent as well, chock full with all the seafood. He matched me bite for bite, and finished only a little bit before I did! The only regret I have is that I didn’t bring the camera! Phew!
So great day – and great finish to the evening!
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