Ale and I spent Christmas ‘07 in New Jersey, Philly and Maryland. Though it was nice to see people and introduce her to some extended family, I must admit that I did not enjoy being there during this gray, cold season. You like winter? Fine, you keep it. As soon as we returned home to Mexico City, I put on my shorts and walked around outside just because I could. Then, I began preparing for Phase II of our vacation: New Year’s Eve in Acapulco!Acapulco is one of the most famous and popular Mexican resorts, along with Puerta Vallarta, and Cancun. It is also one of the oldest, beginning its development in the 1930’s and growing ever since. Plainly put, Acapulco is as far from the pure, deserted beaches of Tulum as you can get. If Tulum is Island Beach State Park in New Jersey, Acapulco is Ocean City Maryland. The city is built around a shallow bay that begins with an opening through a small straight and then continues around until it almost forms a complete circle. Apart from this circular shape, much of the surrounding land rises quickly from the beaches into mountainous hills that look down on the bay. (This explains the famous cliff diving competitions here I used to see on ABC's Wild World of Sports.) Geographically speaking, it is an amazing natural location. It’s also a cool place to view at night from the surrounding hills, which are illuminated by the lights of the city. Unfortunately, it is the surrounding city that makes Acapulco's beaches unattractive. The entire stretch of beach around the main bay has been totally and completely developed. Besides being extremely crowded, the city and hotels have been dumping raw sewage into this bay for years, at the rate of something like eight hundred gallons PER SECOND. This may sound hard to believe, but I know this because I read an article in the paper saying the president of Mexico was taking a personal interest in seeing through the construction of several waste filtration plants that would address the immense sewage problems. The presence of so many people also causes the beaches to be quite littered with garbage. I remember as a kid in Ocean City when the giant sand cleaning machines would interrupt our beach play when they came by to clean the garbage off the beach at the end of each day. That’s what you call a smart use of tax revenues to help keep the tourists coming back. Yeah…they don’t have that here in Mexico. It’s one of those things that would make too much sense.
Consequently, less developed areas north and south of the Acapulco proper have become popular with vacationers, especially those from Mexico City which is only a few hours away. Luckily for me, Ale’s friend Sonia married a this guy Enrique who owns a nice condo in Punta Diamante, one of these newer beach towns about fifteen minutes south of Acapulco City. Ale and I visited it with friends from ASF not long after we met. The condo is located in a gated community; it is small and simple, but very nice, with a pool right off the back door. From the condo, a three minute car ride or ten minute walk through a hotel golf course will get you onto the beach, which is considerably less crowded and cleaner than those in down town Acapulco. Upon arriving, you are immediately assaulted by those working the various cabana areas on the beach competing for your business, where you can get a shaded area with chairs and a small table, and service for food and drink. After settling into your chosen spot, you can relax and enjoy the surf and sand. Granted, while there you will be asked to buy every kind of trinket imaginable by vendors traversing the beach, but a brief head shake will send them on their way. While trinkets are of little interest to me, during my first visit there I did take up the offer for a half an hour massage for less than ten dollars.
For our New Year’s trip, Ale and I arrived at three in the morning on the night bus. It is possible to drive to Acapulco in four hours or so, but if there is traffic in or out of the city, it can take 5-8 hours. The first time we went, I drove, and it took us and extra two hours just to get to the city limits and onto the highway. So this time, we opted for a relaxing ride on the bus. (It was on this bus ride that I began my first blog about our trip to the Yucatan.) The house is only a few blocks from the house, so Ale suggested we walk. So, walk we did, suitcases in tow, down the side of the highway in the middle of the night. About half way there, I began to feel a little like an easy target for potential bad actors, but we managed to survive. The next day we enjoyed the sun by the pool. As we were heading inside for dinner we struck up a conversation with a guy in the condo next door, an American who had married a smokin’ Mexican chick and was spending the vacation with her family. Later that night we met them at the “B Bar” right outside the condo complex, and proceeded to get well lit up. The next day, New Year’s Eve, Ale and I hit the beach, where met up with friends my ASF friend Matt and his Mexican boyfriend Fernando. We chilled out under the little thatched huts while we made New Year’s eve dinner plans via cell phone with Sonia and Enrique who were en route to meet us. Waiting to make reservations until the last minute left us with few options, especially since we were hoping for a classy restaurant on the mountain tops overlooking the Acapulco Bay. Luckily, a cancelation came through and we were able to snag a table at a really sweet place. It was a set menu with unlimited drinks for 200 bucks a person (or thereabouts), but we decided to go for it since it was a special night. Also I was assured the fireworks from this vantage point were not to be missed. I was not disappointed.
Did I say, “unlimited drinks?” Well, other than Sonia who was pregnant, the rest of us hit the bar running and ran all night, determined to get our money’s worth. We started with cocktails and beers before and during meal, which was a multi-coursed delight that lasted about an hour. About the time the meal ended, it was time for the declarations of “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!” and the fireworks that immediately followed. We began viewing them through the glass wall in the restaurant and then moved to the deck outside. I cannot emphasize enough how impressive they were. We were looking down from mountains on the south side, watching fireworks from what must have been fifteen or more full blown launch sites from around the bay. Any one of these, individually, would have been an impressive Fourth of July display. The entire sky over the city was bursting with colors in every direction. And it must have lasted fifteen minutes straight. It was truly worth the price of the admission and something I think everyone should see at least once. When the pyrotechnics ended, we headed back inside to boogie the night away. There was no dance floor per se, but we had a blast dancing in a variety of couple-combinations. It was at this point that we moved from lighter drinks to many shots of various flavors. At one point, Enrique and I got into a one-upsmanship battle with shots of Jack, which of course I won. I think he finally begged off at round five. (I knew my Jack drinking skills would come in handy one day!) Afterwards, Sonia, Enrique, Ale and I headed back to the condo where we found the neighbors from the night before still up and at it. So we joined them for some more partying and hit the sack just as the sun was coming up.
The next day we were blown out, as you can imagine, so we spent most of the day watching the first season of The Sopranos. (I had bought all six seasons on the street near my house for 500 pesos, or less than fifty dollars.) After recovering all day we had one more night out left in us. We up with Matt and Fernando again, as well as another friend Shawna from ASF and a friend of hers visiting from Canada. We met at Senor Frog’s, a Joe's Crab Shack type fun-and-food chain popular in Mexico. Shawna had laid relatively low since arriving in Acapulco and was hell bent for wildness. She got us all going by ordering four or five rounds of shots before she began dancing with the waiters and up on her chair. Afterwards, Enrique and Sonia went home early while the rest of us headed to a gay bar for some dancing. As is often the case with gay bars, it was a on the dark and seedy side. So dark in fact, that I did not initially notice when a naked man “dancing” on the bar, sporting only cowboy boots, a cock ring and giant boner, bent down to put his junk in my face and ask me if I wanted to touch it. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not afraid of the penis. Trust me. I’ve got one myself and I’m very found of touching it. But, no, I was not interested in touching the swollen dick of this stranger while I enjoyed my beverage. Still, Ale and I got a kick out of the novelty of this “dancing” on the bar before heading out to the dance floor. As usual, the music and energy of the gay club delivered, and we danced ourselves into a healthy sweat over the next hour or so. Shawna was interested in a bar with more “available” men, so she spilt early. Her friend, also gay, stuck around and was last seen in the corner of the bar, kissing the mustached motorcycle man from the Village People.
We chilled out on the partying for the rest of the week; eating, watching the Sopranos and hitting both the beach and pool again before heading home to the real world a couple of days later. Once again, it was another unforgettable vacation in Mexico!
Photo Note: Enrique (right) and Fernando busting some old school moves on New Year’s Eve.
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