Loreto Town - Day 8

DAY EIGHT

[Feb. 9, 2015]

With time for Tracie to do her last minute provisioning and Bill to finish painting in crew world, Randy and I are tasked with accompanying the incoming guests on a two-day trip to the Pacific coast, to visit the whale birthing lagoons.  The group of 5 guests arrive mid-afternoon at the Loreto airport and settle into rooms at a very nice colonial Spanish-style hotel in the middle of the old downtown.  We are welcomed into a small, bricked courtyard decorated with many varieties of potted palms and cactus, and guests are led to their rooms through arched, open air passageways overhung with flowering tropical plants.  Loreto is the oldest mission settlement in the Californias, founded by Jesuit missionaries in 1697, now a charming town that steps you back in time. 

The old stone church, Mision de Nuestra Senora de Loreto, is the centerpiece, and the adjacent main cobblestone town square is set off with topiary archways along narrow pedestrian side streets lined with tidy, colorful boutiques, galleries and cafes.  After we spend the afternoon wandering this lovely town, the guests meet Captain Bill and Chef Tracie for an introduction dinner at Papagayos, an open air restaurant with tables set among intimate gardens canopied with various palm and fruit trees, all draped in colorful lights.  Coconut Crusted Shrimp, Chocolate Clams tempura and artichoke goat cheese salad = delicioso!

Wow, I manage to find a few bars of wifi coverage at our hotel; how strange it seems to connect to the big, wide world.