With the beginning of the season and more people arriving
every day, this has been an eventful week here in Loreto Bay and in town
itself. Earlier this week Homex, the new
Developer who is building homes on the north end of the existing Loreto Bay community,
hosted a “Welcome Back” evening at the INN, (which has been recently renamed
Loreto Baja Golf Resort & Spa) for over 150 Homeowners.
For many of the recent arrivals, this was the first
opportunity this season to meet and greet neighbors and friends and so it was a
lively and convivial affair. (I confess that I forgot to take my ever-ready
camera with me to the party and so I am unable to share a few pictures here
with you – my apologies!) Although Homex
hosted the event, they did collect donations for the Loreto Bay Volunteer Group
that was formed last season and is becoming more active and involved in a
variety of good causes and projects mainly focused on the town.
As people arrived they mingled and visited at tables for
eight set up in the Dining Room and on the adjoining Patio area, around which
were about a half dozen small booths stocked with Mexican arts and crafts which
was a colorful and interesting way to support some local businesses and create
some more atmosphere for the evening.
After cocktails, the buffet was opened and there was an excellent choice
of traditional Mexican foods, which impressed me both in the variety and
quality – particularly serving a group that size.
Following the meal
there was a brief presentation by Justin, from Las Villas de Mexico which is marketing
name for the Homex development, and he stressed their good will toward the
existing community here and a little about their plans for the coming
season. This was followed by a couple of
brief videos, one about their project and another Justin had taken during the
recent near Hurricane. As “Baja
Midnight” approached (FYI that’s any time after 9:30 in the evening here) the
crowd started to break up, with a number of them making it no further than the
Wine Bar across the street where the party continued long past when I left –
possibly through to ACTUAL midnight! My
how far we have come here in the past couple of years – an actual nightlife
with places to go is now possible!
This Loreto Bay event was followed on Friday night by an
even bigger one in town, "La noche de
la Conquista" was a celebration of the 315th anniversary of the
arrival of Italian Jesuits on October 25th, 1697. Along with a number of other events this week
members of the local restaurant association sold out 300 tickets for a dinner
that was held in the Plaza in front of the historic Mission building in the
center of town.
Fifteen of the
local restaurants each had a booth featuring a specialty including suckling
pig, baby goat, clams, several different skewer combinations, to name just a
few - all of which made for a cornucopia of different flavors from the familiar
to the exotic. After sorting out which
line was for exchanging tickets for a wristband and which was the line for
purchasing wine, people found seats at the many tables filling the Plaza and
then began the delightful process of visiting one booth after another
collecting samples of the many different foods being offered.
When I first arrived
at the Plaza I met Norma, one of the organizers of this big event and a partner
with her husband in “1697”, a popular restaurant in town (and just recently
they have opened a small lunchtime bar and restaurant in Loreto Bay, but more
about that in a future Blog), but at first I didn’t recognize her. In a creative move, considering the
anniversary theme of the event, all of the people from the various restaurants
working at this event were wearing Monk and Nun’s robes – perhaps they won’t
have to look too far for a Halloween costume this year!
From Norma I
learned that from the 350 peso tickets (less than $30 US) each of the
participating restaurants received a “token” payment that was intended to cover
most of their costs for the food being served and a substantial donation was
being made on their behalf to the Disabled Children’s Shelter in Loreto.
While I was lined
up for my wristband I was fascinated by some preparations underway nearby – a
bare-chested man wearing a sort of wrap skirt was spreading fine gravel in
large round shallow pan that stood on a low tripod. When I passed by again later he was carefully
arranging dozens and dozens of “Chocolata” clams (a local delicacy) on top of
the gravel. He then covered this mass of
clam shells with more gravel. After
darkness fell, the pan, now filled with layers of gravel and clams, was heaped
with a big pile of tinder dry brush which was then ignited, creating a pretty
impressive version of a towering inferno!
As it turns out,
this is a unique local traditional method to cook the clams in their shells and
this demonstration added a colorful and dramatic (and tasty) highlight (sorry about
that) to this evening celebrating an historic anniversary and the variety and
quality of local dining options that we are lucky enough to enjoy here.
Several musicians
provided some great musical entertainment through the evening from a small
stage at one end of the Plaza, which made an impressive sight, with hundreds of
people at dozens of tables stretching almost a block in front of the beautiful
Mission. The building is the centerpiece
of this historic town and it was the first Jesuit Mission in the Baja and, for
almost a century and a half, was the “headquarters” for a string of Missions
the stretched all the way from here to what is now Northern California.
As I made my way
back to Loreto Bay that evening, I reflected on the two very different events I
had enjoyed this week. Our “family”
party here in Loreto Bay, kicking off a new season with a promise of it being
the best one in our short history here and all of the enthusiasm of people
reconnecting within our community. And
then “La Noche” where again many Loreto Bay residents joined with the larger
community in town to enjoy great food and entertainment, while celebrating over
three centuries of history in this magical place. But both of these occasions share something
in common – they are both part of “Living Loreto”!
