View from the house
The view out my bedroom window
1st whole day in Baja we went fishing!
Sunrise
Pretty overcast for most of the day spent fishing
California Sheephead
I think a Sculpin (which is poisonous)
Our catch of the day
Mussel Ceviche, pretty sure we had ceviche everyday while we were in Baja
Las Nube Winery's cheese plate
Ceviche from La Esperanza
Oysters from La Esperanza
Checking out the grapes at Deckman's
Building was made out of pallets and haystacks
Love Becky!
Overlooking Corazon de Tierra's vegetable garden
Finca La Carrodilla
Tre Galline
Lechuza Winery
Vineyard at Lechuza
Last meal in Valle was at La Esperanza
La Concina De Dona Esthela
Deckman's En El Mogor
Loved the building's design
Whiskey!
Jarrett makes the pic 10 times better haha
Whiskey thought we were going to leave him, so he made sure we wouldn't forget him
Baja gang + Whiskey
First off, I take no credit for planning this trip to Mexico. I got invited down by Becky, who emailed an itinerary of the trip a week or two prior, and all I had to do was show up Wednesday after work to their house. We drove down, crossed the border at Tecate, and spent 4 days in Ensenada and Valle de Guadalupe; and speaking for myself, it was one of the best trips down to Mexico I've ever had.
We took two cars down the first day, got in around late afternoon, unloaded the car at the house, and went straight to dinner because the 5 of us were starving. Which, that was the only time I was actually hungry for the next 4 days, since we stuffed our faces full of goodness for the entire trip, from beginning to end. First restaurant on the itinerary was Boules. We ate at a ton of amazing places, but Boules was still my favorite at the end of the trip. From the service, to the owner greeting us, to the food, everything was incredible. Tristan told Javie (the owner) to serve us whatever he thought we would enjoy, and out came ceviche, fish, oysters on the half shell, Blue Fin tuna sashimi (best thing ever!), and so on, until we were so stuffed we couldn't eat another bite. Javie was so nice to Whiskey (Becky & Tristan's Bernese Mountain Dog), and even brought him out a piece of chicken to gnaw on. As we paid and said thank you, we mentioned to Javie we were going fishing the following day, he said if we catch some fish to bring it in the next day and he'd grill it up for us! We didn't get a chance to do that, but he was so sweet to offer!
A little about the house we stayed at... Becky booked it off Airbnb. We met the man who was renting it out on the main road and he led us to the house. The house itself is a few miles off on a dirt road, pretty much isolated from civilization. The view from the house of the coast of Baja was amazing. The house did fall short in that it had practically one working outlet, and one solar panel that provided electricity for the whole house, and the generator was really loud, but I wouldn't have changed any part of this trip, or the house we stayed at. The view made up for everything.
The following morning, we woke up bright and early to go fishing in Ensenada. Becky booked a boat through Sergio's Sportfishing. For $130 per person, and for what they call 3/4 day at sea (8-9 hours), it was definitely worth not sharing a boat with strangers. It was the group of 5 of us + Whiskey, and then the fishermen that came with the boat that assisted us through the day. Becky caught the first fish, and the only Yellowtail of the day! By the end of the day we had a giant cooler full of red snappers, white fish, a California Sheephead, and other fish I can't name. After a day of fishing and a quick lunch of fish tacos nearby, we were all dead tired and in need of a nap, so we headed back to the house. After naps and showers, we went and found Jarrett, who drove down by himself and got lost trying to find the house (which is not easy to find since it's off a dirt road practically in the middle of nowhere), and off we went to Deckman's for dinner. The food was amazing like every other place we tried, but for this restaurant what caught my attention was the design and layout of the place. Our table was inside a building made out of haystacks, pallets, and mud/clay. It was so cool! It overlooked the vineyards, and had an outside kitchen so you can see the chef cooking away. As the sun set behind the mountains, you could see Venus, Jupiter, and the moon in the sky that night.
The next two days were dedicated to wine tasting. We tried to hit up more wineries on the first day but it was unbearably hot, so we cut our day short and headed to the beach. The second day we hit up more wineries because the weather was much cooler, plus Becky had booked us a big van and a driver for the day. From what I can remember and from the itinerary, we went to Paralelo, Adobe Guadalupe, Emeve, Las Nubes, Finca La Carrodilla, and Lechuza. There's an overwhelming amount of wineries out there! Becky included a link to Baja wine country, check it out.
There was so much more to this trip that I didn't include in this post because if I did it would have been a novel (I mean it's already a long one as it is), but you get the gist, if you ever get a chance or have an urge to go on a road trip, go visit Valle de Guadalupe, it's amazing down there, not crowded at all, and you get the best bang for your buck for gourmet food, and great wineries. You do need a passport though.
I think the most memorable moment was when David went back for Darla! We might have brought a stray across the border... Welcome to America, pup:)
Until next time Valle de Guadalupe!
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