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On the Road in Mexico with Herschel Supply Co.

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Herschel Supply Co. backpacks are pretty much perfect for the beach.

Our pals over at Herschel Supply Co. are good folks. They stocked us up with some bags, which we use for anything from packing books and bottles for a beach day to everything we need for road trips to the south.

This red canvas Little America bag is our most used and retails for about $140. That price seems fair considering the thing is going to go along with you on all your adventures for the next few years. Treat yourself!

You can see it's a pretty simple, classic design, which is what you want to aim for in your go-to bag. The thing will stand the test of time in style and durability. It feels nice and sturdy, has a deep main pocket with plenty of room for rum, limes, a few books, accessories, camera and whatever else you're bringing around with you. It also comes with a padded laptop sleeve so you can still check Facebook from the beach.

Since this bag can fit lots, they've outfitted it with padded straps for those long walks on the beach you always talk so much about.

Most recently we loaded up our bags and hit up Mahahual. Tomorrow? Tulum! Check out some photos below.

 
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Take Me Back to Bacalar

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Bacalar Lagoon, Costa Maya in Mexico

Powering down after a work week switches back and forth from doing nothing but laying around having drinks in our pool to getting out the door and heading somewhere. Usually south. South brings finer beaches, beautiful landscapes, smaller towns and less humans. North brings tourism, mega resorts and house music.

Go South by Southwest

About three and a half hours south southwest from Playa del Carmen is a sleepy little lagoon town called Bacalar. We made it in two and a half. A German was behind the wheel and turned the Federal 307 into the Autobahn. He is a good man and I appreciated his enthusiasm to get the commute over with. The girls slept in the back, unaware of pace.

Now in Bacalar, we grabbed a quick lunch in the small town square, had a few beers and jumped on a boat. It was an independently owned charter, pitched to us by the young Romanian proprietor, Mihail. At first we considered he might just be The Tallest Man on Earth in hiding.

Mihail does all of the map and poster artwork for their little pirate operation, Piratas Bacalar. He has a sort of charm and a salesmanship we had to say yes to. That, and your other option for getting on the water in Bacalar is throwing on a neon life vest and choking on fumes from the little sardine boats tour groups pack visitors into. Instead, find the Piratas and take a private sailing trip on a daysailer with shark teeth painted on the bow. It just makes sense.

The sail lasts six hours from daylight through sunset and into the dark. It follows the routes in the image below with a guided history of the pirate and Spanish raids in the region.

At the time of writing this there are four different price points:

  • 2 Passengers: $1200 pesos
  • 3 Passengers: $1600 pesos
  • 4 Passengers: $1800 pesos
  • 6 Passengers: $2200 pesos

There were four of us, so it worked out to $1800 pesos ($140usd) for the full six hour private tour. The sail comes with fresh fruit and a dinner plate of meat, veggies and rice for all. When you run it down, you're talking about $75 pesos ($6usd) an hour, per person. Who says no to a $6/hr private sailing trip? Not you, that's for damned sure!

Pack enough beer, rum and wine for the whole trip. If you've been to Mexico or live in the area, you know that beer at the corner store is only about $0.50usd a can while a 750ml bottle of rum can be $10-12usd. Liquor here is practically free.

You'll start with beer in the sun, and switch to wine or rum as the sun sets with the boat anchored in the crystal clear shallows of the lagoon. El Capitan sails in right next to a tiny homebase island for what seems like every species of bird on the planet. They fly with their wings almost skimming the lagoon on their way around the boat to the island, sun setting in the background.

We got back to land, had some beers and cigars on our patio at Amigos Hotel until it was time to pass out. Rooms at Amigos run at about $700 pesos ($50usd). Below is a photo of our patio during the day, before sailing. The top photo in this post is the pier at Amigos Hotel. At a glance through the images on their site, Amigos may not appear to be much, but that's the town. A place less concerned with luxury property rentals and more focused on relaxing in a relatively untouched region of the Costa Maya, Mexico.

Bacalar is a quaint place of beauty, pot holes, dirt roads, street dogs, independently owned restaurants and hotels, all sitting on the Lagoon of Seven Colours. The next morning we left for Mahahual and already missed Bacalar. We'll be back soon, little town.

Follow more of this kinda stuff on Instagram if you'd like.

 
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Birds, Beers & Earles

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Just a little guy flyin' by and some photos from Club de la Cerveza here in Playa.

Club de la Cerveza, or The Beer Club, is where you can find me if I've gone missing. A dear friend, Miguel, owns the bar with his lovely wife Susana. They provide a large selection, excellent beer knowledge, good music and better company. All kinds of adjectives!

When you go to a certain bar so many times it becomes as comfortable as a friend's living room. When you go to Club de la Cerveza for the first time, it will already feel like that because of the staff and service. They are always there to chat, educate and above all help you drink lots of fine beer.

If you're visiting Playa del Carmen, this should be the first place you stop for refreshments as soon as you put your bags down. Or just bring your luggage. Club de la Cerveza has a Facebook page where you can get the latest updates.

Now get back to work or grab a beer. I might do both. Oh, and below the photos is a Steve Earle song for your afternoon.

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The Drunkard Progress: From the First Glass to the Grave

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​I've been threatening to get a personal breathalyzer for almost a decade now. What would the scientific purpose be? Revenge! And to study exactly how much I have to drink before becoming better (read: The Best!) at everything. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You're out with friends, and two, three beers in you slowly can start seeing the ones and zeros. You're playing darts, pool, snowboarding, writing, baby sitting, driving, you get the point. Something clicks. You're now a better product than you were half an hour ago. You're in the running for expert. 10,000 hours rule? Out the window. 3 pints rule.

My scientific study was going to determine what is the exact point in the bell curve you were at after so many drinks. I thought I was going to be a pioneer. Forget incremental intelligence on liquor and the human psyche. This was revolutionary. 

Turns out it's age old. Look at this illustrated bell curve of The Drunkard Progress from back in the Prohibition Era. While it lacks some of the scientific data I require to win bets while playing darts, it's a beginning well ahead of its time.​

1. A Glass with a Friend

Never a bad idea, and never refuse a drink from a friend.​

2. A Glass to Keep the Cold Out

For years, this was a saving grace for families without fire and heat in the Depression.​ Have a nip from the flask, keep going, keep working, keep your family.

3. A Glass Too Much

Woah, woah, now. Wait a tick. This contradicts my original hypothesis. Three drinks is too much? I was predicting this is where the early curve of true success starts. I'd argue on drink three that you are getting limber, more confident, quicker at adapting to the challenges around you.​

4. Drunk and Riotous

The what now? I can only assume that we've been duped by current liquor distilleries. Are we the victims of Alcohol Percentage Inflation? Maybe their drinks had more punch back then, because there is no way after four drinks anyone is rioting*​

*Aside from fickle Vancouver Canucks "fans" after four Coors Lights.

5. The Summit Attained!

"Jolly companions, a confirmed drunkard."​ Now I can agree that with five whisky drinks put back in a short period of time, you're well on your way... but summit, far from it. This is akin to being the chair at your local PTA and thinking you're ready to be President of the United States (although a confirmed drunkard may in fact do a better job). I'm calling premature on this peak of the curve.

6. Poverty and Disease

Depending on where you drink, no argument here​. Racking up $13 a swig at some fine, new age cocktail bar is going to send you straight to poverty at this point... and who knows, the wrong decision taxi ride could have you itching for the rest of your life. We'll score them a point on accuracy for this one.

7. Forsaken by Friends

Again comes the argument. I find by Step Seven you actually upgrade from acquaintance to friend,  from friend to dear friend. You're the best! Another strike against. Moving on.

8. Desperation and Crime

I'm going to roll with desperation here. In the region of eight, nine, ten drinks... you'll take whatever you can get. Any daily special or any lady special​. It's all the same... but who says that's a crime!

9. Death by Suicide

This seems a little drastic, even for the extreme pace of this list. Sure, some mornings do feel like it'd be easier to just roll off the balcony to the sidewalk below... but the good news is most of you don't live high enough for that to even be an option, so you usually suck it up and sleep in.

Conclusion!

Either the ounce, like the dollar, went a lot further back in the day or hyperbole was in perfect Election Campaign form. There's even the chance that this isn't to be interpreted as one step per drink, which is entirely likely... but I still find the acceleration of this list to be a tad heady. Ha! See what I did there? Man that's rich.​

In summation, it's always best to conduct your own studies and form your own opinions, because there's a good chance that those commissioned to tell you otherwise are lying sacks of shit.​

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A Trip to Mexico City: Plane, Bus, Taxi and Foot

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Mexico City is big. 8,857,188 big if you're only counting the centre (Distrito Federal). If you look out to Greater Mexico City, we're talking about 21,163,188 people. 

 As you fly in, the view is of buildings and neighbourhoods stretching as far as you can see until they become silhouettes in the distance and meet a landscape of larger silhouettes. Mountains and volcanoes surround the valley which rests in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The peaks reach up to 16,400ft in elevation while Mexico City itself sits at 7,350ft.

Let's wrap that up: 21 million people, 7,350ft above sea level compacted into a valley surrounded by volcanoes.

Note: Walking and talking with a cheeseburger in your mouth causes panting. Because of the altitude!

We stayed just over a week. It was a damned fine time and I've written a bit about arriving, walking, drinking, dancing. We were married in some fake ceremony in a dive while standing on broken peanut shells by the bartender with a giant sombrero and fake moustache. We met some new friends, checked out history, shopped at markets and did some more drinking to close it off. I'll wait for the lady to also summarize some of the pieces of the trip so if you're interested in heading to Mexico City, you'll have a head start on pricing, neighbourhoods, museums and markets.

For now, take a look at some of the photos we took. All images should be clickable to enlarge.

In both the left and right above, this woman was in the Zócalo (pictured below) selling hats and traditional garbs, but mostly sleeping. When taking the few pictures we have of some unique, senior nationals who looked a bit down and out, we gave them some pesos first and asked if it would be okay to take their picture before wishing them well.

These shots are all in or near the Zócalo. That brass dome you see is the Palacio de Bellas Artes It was hard to find a horizon for that shot. That thing is sinking.

"Why is Mexico City Sinking? One bad decision after another." — Ian Sample, The Guardian

Picture of pictures. They were mostly divided into sections. Movie stars, musicians, political rebels, pioneers and builders.

There are more pictures for another post. Maybe one about prices, specific places to see and where to eat. I highly recommend Mexico City for a visit. Hell of a time.