There have been several recent additions to the amenities
and services available within Loreto Bay this Season, all of them located in
Agua Viva, the second phase of the Development which is on the north side of
the Founder’s Neighborhood. These businesses
are a welcome addition to the lifestyle we enjoy here and I, like most
Homeowners, want to encourage and support them as their success will bring
others to our community as we continue to grow.
Although many people are attracted to Loreto Bay for the
healthy lifestyle; planned as a walking community, with an open Beach running
the length of the Development, surrounded by a reasonably priced Golf Course,
and connected with miles of landscaped flagstone pathways ideal for leisurely
walks or cycling. But for some Residents
and Visitors something has been missing – an indoor cardio and fitness center.
Introducing The Roadrunner Gym a new private Fitness Center
that has just opened in the Agua Viva Neighborhood of Loreto Bay. Operated by Erick and Alfredo, who also
operate other businesses from their location in AV68, the bright attractive
space is equipped with several pieces of Life Fitness exercise machines
including a couple of treadmills, a recumbent cycle, an elliptical trainer, a
Nordic Track and free weights.
This provides a new fitness alternative for those of us who
may prefer to get our workout indoors, with programmable equipment in
controlled conditions, when it may be too hot, humid or windy for outdoor
exercise. They are also offering a
variety of payment options for daily, weekly or monthly use of the facility as
well as a discounted monthly rate for couples and a long term three month rate
(with additional months available) for single members and couples.
Those of you who know Loreto (and long term regular readers
of this Blog) may be familiar with Dali Delicatessen a gourmet food specialty
shop that operated in town for a number of years. I wrote about it in these pages less than two
years ago (http://livingloreto.blogspot.mx/2013/05/a-farewell-to-dali.html)
when the couple who were the original proprietors decided to move their
business to La Paz.
By the following Fall a similar store was re-opened in the
same location by another local entrepreneur, Pedro, who has operated a store
and restaurants in and around Loreto for many years, including the main
restaurant at the Airport. Late last
year Pedro rented a small storefront in Agua Viva and opened a satellite store
to his larger one in town, which he has now packed with an amazing selection
(considering the limited space available) of delicious foods and ingredients,
many of which are imported and can’t be found in even the largest stores in
Loreto.
With a couple of freezers stocking perishables, like individually
frozen portions of prime meats, as well as refrigerated dairy products and
drinks, a good selection of wines and liquors, as well as dry and packaged
goods, and even a sampling of fresh produce, Pedro with his assistant Pamela have
managed to bring most of the best-selling items from his store in town so here
in Loreto Bay we have a convenient source of entrees to build a fine meal
around, and the special ingredients that make it memorable!
It seems that almost anywhere one travels in the developed
world now there is a local version of 
In the interest of full disclosure, I fancy myself as
somewhat of a Pizza Connoisseur, having worked in a Pizza joint in Calgary as a
part-time job in High School, and so I was anxious to try our local version when
it opened after I returned to Loreto Bay
this Fall – and the verdict, two sticky thumbs UP! This is a seriously good pie, nice thin
crust, good cheese and ingredients – and best of all, IT’S HERE! Although I had “hankered” for pizza often in
past years, the logistics of driving 30 km round trip into town to pick one up
never made much sense in the past. But
now I am able to order by phone and wander over to pick it up fresh and hot
from the oven – yumm! And if that’s not
easy enough – they deliver, better yet, by bicycle (what else would you expect
in a “sustainable” community!
When I dropped in to take some pictures for this post I met
Sebastien and Cesar, who introduced themselves as the new management of the
restaurant. Sebastien, who will be
taking over as the new Chef, said there would be some changes made to the Menu,
offering a wider selection of options for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, while
continuing to specialize in Pizzas. They
also pointed out that work was beginning to develop the vacant lot next door
for a new extension to the limited space they currently have.
These three new businesses, all started in the past few
months, are each offering products and services that are contribute to
enhancing our lifestyle here in Loreto Bay; a fitness center with state of the
art equipment that will help its members to keep in shape while providing a new
social center, a food store that brings a sampling of gourmet foods and
ingredients to our community along with convenience and another step towards
independence, and another restaurant providing more variety and service to our
growing population so we can dine and socialize here without having to always
make the drive into town for a night out.
In conclusion, I can’t help thinking that it was only a few
years ago that the idea of having these sort of businesses here in our
community would have seemed highly unlikely, when access to a private fitness center,
a gourmet food store and a delicious Pizza place was beyond the expectations of
the small numbers of people starting a new life here in a new development. Now, we welcome three new businesses, joining
the growing commercial sector, and adding to the independence and options we
enjoy as we are “Living Loreto”.
