Todos Santos Baja Mexico Makes Trip Advisor’s Emerging Destinations List

Yep, it’s true. Todos Santos Baja Mexico is #7 on Trip Advisor’s Top 10 Emerging Destinations WorldWide list. Check it out!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/TCDestinations-cEmerging-g1

Incredible Mexican Bicentennial Photos From Mexico City

September 16, 2010, marked 200 years since Mexico began the struggle that culminated in independence from Spanish rule. All over the country, celebrations commemorate this event, the same way July 4 is celebrated in the United States.

While the show in Todos Santos was fun and beyond the normal festivities, the story in Mexico City is worth viewing so check out the amazing photos from the night of the Grito in D.F.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/09/mexicos_bicentennial.html

One More Restaurant Update

Not sure how I could forget La Esquina in the restaurant closings listed yesterday, but I did. La Esquina normally closes for the entire month of September and this year is no exception. They will open again in October.

Todos Santos Restaurant And Weather Update

First, Tropical Storm Georgette veered towards the Sea of Cortes and made landfall at Cabo San Lucas so she never officially reached Todos Santos. We did manage a good 1.5 days of rain, slow steady rain, that seriously soaked the ground. We also had some gusty 35 mph winds for a short time.  As far as I know, all roads are passable although the highway construction (to Cabo)  by-passes have to be a muddy mess by now.

I have been meaning to mention the local Todos Santos restaurant situation. Many have closed for vacation. El Zaguan and  Tre Galline are closed until early October. Posada La Poza (El Gusto!) is closed until October 12 while Michael’s at the Gallery is closed until November. Suki’s is scheduled to reopen near the end of November. Cafe Santa Fe will reopen at the beginning of November. Pancho Banano finally got with the program and closed, relocating to Cabo where his style of pushy commercialism belongs. La Copa Bar is closed until November also.  Miguel’s has been closed the last two weeks, due to reopen any day now. Zen Garden is closed until sometime in October. Buena Vida is only open on Tuesday and Thursday evenings offering 2 for 1 beer and pizza until some time in October.

Here Comes Tropical Storm Georgette!

So now I know why it was raining so much on my return from Cabo yesterday. Tropical Storm Georgette has formed south of Cabo San Lucas and looks to parallel the Baja coast until she makes landfall near Todos Santos, likely late tonight. Luckily she isn’t very strong, but she will bring rain. It’s been raining off and on all morning and I have reports of heavier rain in Cabo and points south.

Here’s the latest from Weather Underground:

Satellite Image Of Georgette As She Approaches Todos Santos Baja

Projected Path Of Tropical Storm Georgette

Finally! Rain In Todos Santos!

I drove to the airport in San Jose del Cabo today – a friend needed a ride. After shopping for a few hours, I headed back to Todos Santos around 3:45 pm local time. About 25 miles south of Todos Santos, puddles of water started showing up on the sides of the road. The skies were very grey to the north, over Todos Santos. By the time I reached Rancho Nuevo, it was raining hard and the skies were even darker north toward Todos Santos.

You might recall that there is massive road construction under way between Los Cabos and Todos Santos. The rain continued all the way to Todos Santos and the dirt portions of the road construction were an absolute mess. The heaviest rain seemed to be around Pescadero. It’s still raining in Todos Santos now, 6:33 pm local time, but it never rained as hard here. Nevertheless, we have our first real summer rain, enough to wash dust off of everything and leave some puddles.

El Grito – Information For Todos Santos

The following information was sent to me yesterday (thanks Alvaro and Nancy). It’s a bit unusual since for all of the 14 years I have lived in Todos Santos, the “Grito” has been a one evening, one day affair – a fiesta the night of September 15 and a parade on September 16. The coronation of the queen has always been in October and included the participation of the governor of the state. She is after all, the queen of the Fiestas Tradicionales (Fesitval del Pilar) in October.

I suppose we will see what happens, although I won’t be able to attend Tuesday night’s activities.

Tuesday 9/14

7:00 PM Coronation of the Queen – Plaza

Festival Artistico

Baile Popular

Wednesday 9/15

7:00 PM  Festival Artistico – Plaza

10:00 PM Grito – 10:00 PM – Plaza

Baile Popular

Thursday 9/16

8:00 AM  Acto Civico – Centro de Cultura

8:30 AM  Parade – Colegio Militar

5:00 PM  Recreacion de Palo Encebalo – Parque Los Pinos

Apparently a traditional celebration with a greased pole and maybe flying around on ropes?

Probably not to be missed!

7:00 PM Baile Popular

2011 Todos Santos (La Paz) Film Festival Dates

I just received the official dates of the 2011 Todos Santos Film Festival. Beginning last year, films are also screened in La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur. The dates are:

Teatro de la Ciudad , La Paz    March 4,5,6
UABCS, La Paz                             March 7,8,9,10
Tosdos Santos                              March 10,11,12,13

I will make a new post soon with all the confirmed event dates that I currently know of.

Wonderful Todos Santos Baja Weather

Really, there is not much happening in Todos Santos right now. The “Grito”, the annual re-enactment of the call to revolution against the Spanish, occurs all over Mexico on the evening of September 15. More restaurants have closed or reduced days and/or hours open since there is little tourist traffic in town. It’s a good time to take a rest.

But the real story of this week has been the weather! Somehow Baja Sur got confused and decided that US Labor Day was the end of our summer. Since September 6, night time temps have dropped 8-10F degrees. Amazing! Like a January thaw in Canada though, it simply won’t last. Mornings have been cloudy, sometimes afternoons too. No rain though but delightful nights, 74F lows.

Tropical storms should soon be coming our way again (they have been miraculously absent for nearly 2 weeks) and with them, heat and humidity.

Enjoy it while we can!

More Dune Activity In Las Tunas, Todos Santos, Baja, Mexico

It’s quiet time in Todos Santos. Many businesses have closed for vacation and several restaurants are closed or considering the option. There isn’t a lot of tourism in September and the snow birds are all back in their northern homes, at least for a while longer. The weather here is hot with more than a few grey days. Solar powered homes are suffering. It’s been raining south of us in Pescadero and north of us in San Pedro but not here in Todos Santos. We are still waiting for our first long hard summer rain.

This morning on my beach walk, I was surprised to see surveyors marking off another dune lot, this one two lots south of the current construction zone. I can’t imagine why they were there except to verify lot lines before even more construction begins. I hope I am wrong. Really I do. But the smart money says we will have yet another dune construction site beginning shortly.

It’s sad…