The Belmar Hotel

The Belmar Hotel, located on Olas Altas in Mazatlan's Centro Historico was reportedly built by an American mining entrepreneur, Louis Leonard Bradbury, in the 1800's. The hotel was originally used as a home, office and guest house but has evolved over the years, and through several different owners, into a hotel. By the 1920's the Belmar was the hotel of choice for many celebrities and was frequently the temporary home of John Wayne and Tyrone Power, who came to Mazatlan to enjoy the thrill of deep sea fishing. The Belmar was also the hub of Carnaval activities during these years and the rooms were filled to capacity and the ballrooms glistened with the gowns and jewels worn by the female guests.

During the 1960's an addition was built onto the existing hotel, adding a bar, restaurant, pool, lights and air conditioning. The addition added 110 rooms to the existing 86 rooms in the 'old' section.



Times have changed however, and over the years tourists have abandoned the Belmar to move on to the newer, more modern hotels of the Zona Dorada (Golden Zone) The Belmar has become a somewhat shabby 'ghost' of it's former self.



Notice how I slipped in the 'ghost' reference there?







The Hotel has always fascinated us, and we were amazed to learn that, as well as the occasional back-packer, or tourists on a very tight budget, there is a thriving community of expats who call the Belmar Hotel their home. We have discovered that, tucked way in the back of the Hotel, there are charming little apartments filled with equally charming residents. We have been to dinner there, and a birthday party. We have met one fascinating gentleman who has called the Belmar his home for close to 20 years!

This was, as legend has it, John Wayne's room.



The door was locked, but judging from the rooms around it the interior would look somewhat like these.




It doesn't look like much now, but some of the furnishings have been moved to the apartments, and they are lovely.

Now we get to the ghosts. Word is that our friends are not the only people who are calling the Belmar 'home'. There have been many stories of the ghosts who frequent the hotel, ghosts who set the chairs in the lobby rocking in the evenings, who party by the pool late at night, and who have been seen standing on the hotel balconies enjoying the view. A dashing gentleman dressed in a cape and hat, and carrying a riding crop has been sighted on the stairs. A lovely lady in white, dressed in a flowing white gown and sporting long black hair, has been viewed several times. She appears coming from the bar and carries her room keys. The bartender, however, has never seen her, although the front desk clerk does, on frequent occasions. Where does she come from and where is she going? The ghost stories are endless and all equally enthralling.

The Bar holds many memories, apparently especially for the Lovely Lady in White.




After finishing dinner with our friends, she and I headed out with a flashlight to cruise the hallways and see what we could find. No ghosts, alas, but it was a fascinating wander through a lovely old building, now slowing crumbling into oblivion.



The Belmar has passed through the hands of many owners, none apparently with the means or will to restore the Hotel to it's former glory. This is understandable, it would be a massive undertaking. The front of the Belmar collapsed last year (it happened at 5am and amazingly no one was injured) but the facade has been restored. Perhaps there is hope!





By the way, there are also stories of "the Belmar Snake". True? I'm not sure. Let's just say I didn't spend a lot of time searching for snakes! And the staff? If asked, they deny any belief in ghosts. However, many refuse to venture far from the front desk after dark!!

We missed the end of Carnaval

Darn, we were so looking forward to Carnaval this year, and we both came down with the dreaded Mazatlan cold that has been making the rounds.

We did manage to make it to the fire works, which we watched from the roof of the Old Mazatlan Inn, a prime vantage point. They were spectacular, even better than last year. From past experience, I didn't even try to photograph them - I just sat back, blew my nose and enjoyed the show.

And that was it! We both felt dreadful, we missed both parades, and just about everything else that was happening. Darn. Oh well, there's always next year!

We are just about back to normal now, and live has resumed it's usual fun filled hectic pace.

I've found a few things to photograph that I hadn't noticed before.

We've had many more visits to Stone Island - one day in pea soup fog. It did burn off after we arrived, but it was somewhat eerie early in the morning. We've had a lot of fog lately - something to do with the warmer air flowing over the cold ocean. I don't care, I'm just glad we're getting warm air! It was darned chilly for awhile down here in sunny Mexico. Really!



But 'summer' weather is back, we've packed away the jeans and hoodies, and we're ready to thoroughy enjoy the balance of the season.

I've been playing with the camera a bit and discovered that on foggy days some pictures are more interesting in black and white, or variations thereof.




And some are just foggy!

I've discovered more fishing nets.




and I find driftwood fascinating.



The bottle tree on the beach in Barras de Piaxtla just made me laugh.




There are endless variations in the light fixtures in Centro. This is a favourite.



I'm also partial to the art work adorning the walls and roof of this Art Gallery.




But the best yet is the cow - absolutely the largest I have ever seen!

Carnaval has Started

It's that time of year again - the decorations have been hung, the beer stands have been stocked and the bands have tuned their instruments - loudly. As someone said recently, it's time to par-tay!

We met friends for lunch at Edgar's yesterday. They've had their Carnaval decorations up for a few weeks now, so they're all set to go.



After lunch, we decided to stroll over the Plazuela Machado to sit outside in the sun, perhaps have a cerveza, and just watch the world stroll by for an hour or so. However, as often happens in Maz, nothing ever goes as planned and we didn't get home til close to 6pm. The place was just hopping. We had completely forgotten that the Taste of Carnaval was being held later in the afternoon and people were already starting to gather to enjoy the amazing selection of free tapas provided by the many restauranteurs at the Plazuela.




We certainly didn't need any more food as we had just finished lunch but it all looked so good we couldn't resist. (Dinner was a bowl of popcorn, much much later!)

We were also blessed with the presence of Carnaval Royalty - the Queen, the Flower Princess and also the King of Carnaval.



The school children were enchanted,




as was my husband. Can you really blame him - these girls are lovely!




And look at her shoes!!!




A lot of time and effort have been spent on the Plazuela itself this year, and it shows. It was spotless, all the planting beds had been raked, the trees were all trimmed, and the decorations were the best I've seen in several years.






I think this is going to be a great Carnaval this year! More details to follow ....

The Cooking Class

One of the prizes at Write On Maz, the library fundraiser, was a cooking class for six, donated by Hector, the very talented owner of Molika Bakery. Hector is a world class chef and his restaurant and classes are very popular.

A group of us decided that we really wanted this one, so we pooled our resources and lucked in. On Tuesday, we attended our two hour class, to learn how to cook fish, ala Hector. And what an adventure it was.

Hector is passionate about food, and is a wonderful teacher. We really didn't learn how to follow any particular recipes, rather we were instructed on how to create a recipe. We were enthralled, and his staff were obviously equally so.




We started with Red Snapper, whole, cooked in parchment paper. As well as showing us how to prepare the fish, Hector gave a mini lesson on how to properly prepare julienned vegetables! The Snapper was stuffed with celery, garlic and lemon zest, and then covered with the veggies (nothing fancy, just carrots and celery) and then anointed with white wine. Perfection, absolute culinary bliss!





Next was a salad, with scallops, greens, sun dried tomatoes, and pineapple bits which had been enfused with lemon grass, coriander and chiles. The dressing was a truly simple, wonderful, lemon vinagrette.





We were a bit greedy sharing the Red Snapper, I thought we were going to come to blows over this one.

Next we were treated to swordfish, cut in 1 inch pieces, sauteed and tossed with a mixture of fresh basil leaves, tomatoes, olives, capers, and lemon pieces. There was something else, but darned if I can remember. At this point in the evening my brain was on overload. I'll have to check back in with Hector, because this I want to make again. The dish was served over a bed of Hector's wonderful bread, to soak up all the juices. There was another battle over this one! Unfortunately I was so busy rushing in with my fork, I forgot to take a picture. A friend, however, emailed me hers but I cannot, for some reason, make it bigger. I have tried and tried and give up. So, here is a teeny tiny picture of the finished swordfish - you might want to consider a magnifying glass for this one!



Personally, I did not think the next round was as successful - Spaghetti with Calimari, Garlic and Chiles (but I did figure out how to say it en espanol: Espaguetis con calimari, ajo y chiles).




The pasta was perfect, with lots of the aforementioned garlic, and chilies. We learned that in a great restaurant, the pasta is divided into individual portions so that there are no mistakes in portion sizes on busy nights. We also learned that Hector knows exactly how much salt to put into the pot so that the water is perfectly seasoned every time, and he gave us that trick as well. And then he talked about calimari. And cooked it, and served it. I tried it, twice, and then graciously stood back and let my fellow classmates enjoy. Not as much passing of the dish that time - I am not a big fan of calimari. I think Hector rather enjoyed explaining calimari to us!



And I did try it!

We then moved on to the Sea Bass. I have never, ever, tasted fish that was as good as this was. It was so simple, Sea Bass quickly sauteed til it was golden and crip on the exterior, served over a bed of spinach and butter, accompanied by small roasted onions, drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with sesame seeds. We were just about licking the plate on this one!!




To finish off the evening Hector taught us something amazingly simple - he tossed smoked marlin (readily available at the market) into a blender with a good chuck of cream cheese, whipped it all up, drizzled it with anchovy oil, and then served it spread of toasted bread. Instant appetizer and delicious.

My girlfriend and I went for a massage the next day and stopped afterwards at the Mercado to check out the fish. No Sea Bass (darn) but we really didn't expect to find any, as Hector said it is hard to find. We did see some lovely Red Snapper, however. Hector taught us to look for bright perky eyes, and also suggested a good healthy sniff - you're supposed to smell the ocean, not the fish. I also spotted a piece of tuna that I very much wanted to buy and bring home. Hector said that the sword fish he served would also work with tuna. However, we'd been invited out for the evening, so the tuna will have to wait for another day. Janice did pick up some smoked marlin however, and headed home to experiment.

What else did we learn? To mix olive oil and canola oil, half and half, and use that to saute with - that way you don't waste your precious olive oil. Use the good olive oil to drizzle over your food after it's cooked.

Hector, by the way, also reminded us that the three main ingredients in French cuisine were butter, butter and butter!