The Introduction of the Sangrita

Wednesday January 8, 2013

Today was a whirlwind of activity that we were 100% not expecting when we woke up. Just like the past two days, we assumed that we’d be sitting at anchor, in these cloudy and cold conditions, just hoping for some rain to fill the tanks, and that the winds wouldn’t pick up enough again for us to be on anchor watch. Of someone else hitting us. So when we busied ourselves around 10:30 this morning removing our second anchor, we were happy and surprised when Lee dropped by to see if we wanted to go to shore with him and his girlfriend Amanda to grab a coffee or beer. He said he’d be back in 30 minutes to pick us up, and we quickly rushed through some very cold cockpit showers in order to clean ourselves up in time.

When Lee came back to get us around 11 am, with Amanda now in tow, I could tell that I liked this girl already. She was dressed in jeans, a winter coat, and a wool hat..in Mexico. When I told Matt I had been thinking about wearing a winter hat out, he had laughed at me. At least one other person around here shared my values. Finishing out the introductions, we zipped off to Oscar’s Marina inside the lagoon, and tied up at the end of one of the docks, ready to grab a beer. Our conversation on our way out must have caught the attention of one more, because there was a guy on a boat at the dock we were using that popped his head out and joined our conversation. He asked if we were headed up to the bar and said he’d love to join, bringing our group up from four to five now.

While being introduced to the newest member, Alex, I had already known a little bit about him just by his boat name, Pumpkin Pie. On our first day here, Luki and Elmari had mentioned that there was a boat crossing from the US that had been demasted out in the Gulf of Mexico, and required the Mexican Navy to tow it in the rest of the way. The boat? Pumkin Pie. We had seen it tied up at the concrete pier in the harbor for a few days until it disappeared, and I guess it wound up at Oscar’s marina. Over our first beer there, I tried to get the story of what happened from Alex, but all I came away with was that there was a Chiquita banana container ship that a crew member abandoned to after he decided that he no longer wanted to wait out help on Pumpkin Pie. Someday, I will get the full story.

When that story and our first round of beers were gone, Lee suggested we try a particular drink that originated in Mexico. Introduce the Sangrita. At first I thought I misheard him and he was asking for sangria, but no, Sangrita is much different. After agreeing to try one, I had a shot of tequila placed in front of me, along with another glass that housed about 2-3 oz of a clamato kind of juice, basically the mixer you’d enjoy with a Bloody Mary, only with a little OJ added. Don’t be fooled now, it’s not a shot of tequila with a tomato chaser. This is what first came to mind as it was placed in front of me, and as much as I love tequila, I wasn’t ready to shoot it down at noon. No, this is a drink to be sipped an enjoyed. Take a few sips of tequila, take a few sips of clamato, and let the flavors meld together in you mouth. It was actually quite enjoyable and went down much faster than I expected.

By this point though, Matt and I were only subsiding on a muffin each and that was not enough to absorb all the beer and tequila that had just rushed into my system. When it was deemed that no one was ready to go back to their boats yet we decided that food was the answer. Matt and I were extremely excited to show them the awesomeness that is Bobo’s and their hot wings. Alex ran back to his boat to grab some more cash and a 40 oz of beer, which the five of us passed around as we hopped a taxi into town. Walking down the main road Matt and tried to remember which side street harbored Bobo’s, and surprisingly found it on the first try. We also found out that Bobo’s was closed and our tasty dish of hot wings and french fries was now out. But that’s ok though, because Lee came through once more with some fun Mexican information that we never would have tried on our own. Just across the street from us by the ferry dock was a cart that sold hot dogs wrapped in bacon. Excuse me? Hot dogs..wrapped in..bacon? Why were we even standing around talking about it?

Completely famished, Matt and I ran up and ordered two apiece, while everyone else only took one. Alex made a beer run to the 7-11 across the street, and we enjoyed our meals under the shelter of the docks terminal while a rain fell lightly outside. Everything was perfect. My beer was cold, my hot dog was delicious. Then I made the critical mistake of balancing my hot dog tray on a railing, and a strong gusts of wind came up and flipped my little styrofoam tray, sending my second hot dog flying to the ground. At this point I was still starving and probably about four drinks in, so I was fully prepared to enforce the five second rule and scoop that baby back up. Matt though, enforced his OCPD and made me bring it to the trash instead. But at least he did give me 20 pesos to run out at get another one.

Even after lunch and about five hours out and about now, none of us were even close to ending the night. Lee led us down the main boulevard until we came across a little place called the Soggy Peso, which actually would have wings, and better yet, on special tonight. From the street this place doesn’t look like much, in face you can barely tell that anything is there, but from the inside it’s a fun little bar with a million banners stringing the ceiling and tables surrounding a nice little pool. Alex did the honors of ordering everyone at the table a Dos Equis and a shot of tequila (to be sipped, of course). Some hot wings were consumed, and before we knew it we were on to the next place.

Sitting down at the bar at our familiar Marina Paraiso, I looked up in front of me to see that Lee had done the ordering this time, Pacificos and another round of Sangritas for anyone that wanted them. For never having ever tried or even heard of this little concoction before, I fell instantly in love. If they weren’t so potent I could have been drinking them all night. Plus they were a little more expensive than our $2 beers, running about $6 a pop. But seriously, if you ever see us while wandering about the world and you not only want to buy me a drink, but really really get on my good side? Buy me one of these, we’ll be best friends right away. I’m serious. Unless you catch me while I’m out having a quiet lunch with my parents. Eh, you know what?, bring it over anyway. (I’m talking to you YOLO, I might be in the Phoenix area this fall).

Sangrita, best drink ever!

We made one more quick stop on our way back to Oscar’s where all of our boats or dinghies sat, ready to fall into bed after over ten hours out on the town. We stopped long enough by the lobster tank for Oscar himself to come out and show us how to use one of the oars to pin down a lobster and pull it out, really adding to the ‘choose your own lobster’ effect. Not that we were staying for a late dinner, but he let us fool around anyway, Matt pinning one down with the oar as shown, and Alex and I going rogue and just sticking our hands directly in to grab one. It’s all about the element of surprise.

As Lee and Amanda were bringing us back to the ‘Dip, I was thinking that we hadn’t had a crazy night out like this in a long time. Possibly since the night we played beer pong at our hostel in Peru. It’s so nice when you randomly meet young people like yourselves to hang out with, but it’s even better when everyone just instantly clicks, which is exactly what happened with our two cruising boats tonight. We’re already planning dinners and movie nights with these two, and for however long each of us are planning on staying on this island for, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.

 Amanda does not look too thrilled with our last stop.

 He does not look happy to be holding that lobster.  Truthfully, he just wasn’t paying attention to me.