A Little Bit Of Heaven

You’re sitting at work, staring at a computer screen, watching the blip blip blip of the cursor, and dreaming of folding your arms across your chest for the I-Dream-Of-Jeanie-Head-Blink. Where would you take yourself?

Calafia is one of my top ten answers. I stole these pictures off the Internet (shhh…don’t tell anyone) because I didn’t take any new ones this trip, and my old ones seemed to have vanished in a recent computer crash.

Anyway, this is where we all met on Friday afternoon. And yes, the weather was nice. About as nice as San Diego which, after all, is only a forty-five minute drive away. (PEOPLE: please quit thinking of Rosarito and Ensenada like they’re on another planet. No, you don’t fly there, and no, it’s not “hot” this time of year. They’re practically in San Diego, for God’s sake.)

I’d driven down to Kath’s in Laguna Niguel the night before, then she drove the rest of the way. And yes, we purchased Mexican insurance before going over the border (I’ve NEVER needed it, but you know as soon as you don’t bother, something really bad will happen). Nancy and Juli drove from San Diego and, like I said, we all met at Calafia.

My first visit to this place was more years ago than I wanna remember. A bunch of us were staying in condos down at Las Gaviotas. We went to Calafia for dinner and then some of us stuck around for the nightlife. Wow. At the time, the dance floor was the beach. It was Labor Day weekend and all the crazy stuff that I assume still goes on when young people and alcohol mix was going on. Someone bought me one of those shots where the waiter grabs you in a headlock and shakes you till your teeth rattle. I think tequila was the liquor involved, but I really don’t remember. Even then, I wasn’t fond of those…what do they call them…slammers? Anyway, we danced all night and I fell in love with the place.

Since then, we’ve always made Calafia our first stop, whether we’re staying in Rosarito or headed down the coast to Ensenada. It’s a great place to shed those back-in-the-states ‘tudes and replace ‘em with the Mexico vibe.

Last Friday afternoon, after a couple margaritas and my fave Mexican sampler platter (oh, and two tunes performed by the strolling Mariachis), we headed for the condo I’d rented back in Rosarito. More on that later, but here’s a preview.