Fifty and Fifteen

That’s me and my beautiful niece Isabel.  I am a ripe young age of fifty.  She is fabulous at fifteen.

We’ve decided to join 798 crazy souls to compete in the 20th annual Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim.  This is the swim the Anglin Brothers and Frank Lee Morris attempted in their successful escape from Alcatraz the night of June 12, 1962.  I’m happy to say we didn’t have to break out of prison like the brothers and Morris.

I did the Escape from Alcatraz swim last year.  It was a tough swim.  I got picked up by an escort and redirected because I was heading for the Golden Gate Bridge, which was not good.   If I missed the entrance to the Aquatic Park, I would not be able swim against the current to make it to the finish.

This year I thought it would be a lot more fun to swim it with Isabel.  She’s an awesome swimmer, so I knew she would have no problem finishing strong.  She was kind enough to “man up” to the challenge.  As for me, well, I just wanted to finish without getting picked up by one of the rescue boats.

Race day.  We’re ready!  We got up early, suited up and headed for Starbucks.  A little caffeine should make me go a little faster.  If not, at least I would be awake for the entire event.  Right?

Feeling strong…showing off a little.

Made it on the ferry…and so did Sunshine, and Suzie, and Mom and Dad.  That was very good news.

Let’s do this.  Our goal was to get off of the ferry in the middle of the pack.  We didn’t want to go first because we would just be treading water waiting for the rest of the athletes.  We definitely didn’t want to get off last for fear of missing the start.  That is exactly what happened to me last year.

Touchdown!  The water was surprisingly warm!  A toasty 62-ish.  Totally doable.  Not too cold, and not too hot with our full wetsuits.

And we’re off…to the start anyway.

There are a lot of crazy people, see?  We’re the one in the yellow swim caps.  Okay, everyone is in a yellow cap.

Isabel makes it to the finish!  She kicked some major butt!  A mere 43 minutes later!  And look how strong she looks!  Just another walk in the park for her.

Woohooo!!!!!!!!!  She’s pretty happy.  Who wouldn’t be?

I made it too…I was happy to see the emergency dude, but didn’t really need him.  Thank the dear Lord.

Woohooooo!!!!!!!!  No rescue boat needed.  Glory Hallelujah.

But wait, there’s more.  Check out the video that Sunshine made.

Brother Chris, you’ve gotta man up next year.

Tequila Martini at Edith’s

I love margaritas, but the tequila martini at Edith’s in Cabo San Lucas is genius.  I ordered the tequila and lime martini,  and Sunshine got the grapefruit and tequila martini.  Mine was better, sorry Sunshine.  You still look pretty happy.

Tequila and Lime Martini

• 1 jigger of your favorite tequila (every last one of mine at Edith’s was made with Clase Azul Reposado)
• 1/4 jigger lime juice
• 1/4 jigger agave nectar

Fill a martini shaker with ice, add the tequila, lime and agave nectar, and shake it!  I’m telling you, it’s really good!

Edith is one cool chick.  She started out at the restaurant previously known as Esthela’s by the Sea at the age of 15 as a waitress.  She now owns the restaurant and named it Edith’s in 1994.  We had a nice chat with her.

We’ve arrived to Edith’s!

Tequila case at Edith’s.  Sunshine was pretty excited about the endless supply and variety.

We love the table side service at Edith’s.  That’s my Mexican coffee with ice cream!  I love fire.  Fire, tequila, kahlua and ice cream.  Come on.

Nick-San in Cabo San Lucas

The last time we were in Cabo San Lucas was 5 years ago.  Too long to stay away.  Nick-San was recommended to use back then, we had dinner there and loved it.  We were definitely looking forward to going back on this trip.  We went to Nick-San the second night we were in Cabo, and had such a great dinner.  It’s definitely not your run of the mill sushi.  All of the sauces are unique and inventive.  We met Jorge at the end of our first night there.  We wanted to try more sushi, but were too full.  Jorge told us he would take care of us the next time we came, starting with half plates so that we could really get a good sampling of all of the amazing sushi.

Jorge is awesome.  He totally hooked us up with some amazing sushi.  He’s a chef at Nic-San and makes all of the sauces.  He also likes to work the front of the house.  Here are some of the amazing dishes we had.

Tuna tostada.  Pacific Ocean yellowfin tuna, served on a rice cracker, with avocado, habanero-infused red onion and sesame seeds.
Sashimi Cilantro.  Sea bass seared with olive oil and green tea salt, served with cilantro sauce and a ribbon of spicy chile oil and sliced avocado.

Clear Lobster Roll.  Lobster tempura inside mixed greens, avocado, mango and cilantro, wrapped in soy bean paper and servd on a mustard sauce with curry oil sauce.

Tuna Black and White Sashimi.  Tuna filet seared with olive oil, black and white sesame seeds, chopped red onion , chives and ponzu sauce.

Seabass.  I don’t even know what was in this one, but I do remember it being spectacular.   The sake and kirin ichiban beer was awesome too.  Can’t wait to go back to Cabo for a little more Nick-San!  And we’ll be looking for Jorge.

Breakfast in Cabo

We had a grand time in Cabo celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary!

Sorry for the delay in posts, we were too busy doing nothing.  Almost nothing.  We did go to breakfast every morning, and then lounge poolside, a little water aerobics, lunch poolside, a cadillac margarita or two (or three), and then to dinner, with a few spa treatments sprinkled in.

Sunshine ordered the banana french toast the first morning of our vacation at Siempre, the restaurant at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Retreat and Spa.  It was actually two slices of banana bread with a layer of bananas in between.  This is how we will try to recreate it at home:

Banana French Toast

• Banana bread, sliced 1/2″ thick
• Cream cheese
• Bananas, sliced into thin rounds
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon dark rum, I like Meyers
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, it’s gotta be mexican for me
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Maple syrup

Spread 2 slices of banana bread with a thin layer of cream cheese.  Sandwich banana slices between the cream cheese side of two slices of banana bread.  Mix eggs, milk, rum, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg together.  Add banana bread sandwiches to the egg mixture, turning to coat.  Remove excess egg mixture.

Preheat a large skillet over low heat, and add 1 tablespoon of butter at a time.  Once butter has melted, add the banana french toast to the skillet and cook 2 minutes per side.

Remove from pan and garnish with additional banana slices, drizzle with maple syrup.

I ordered the chilaquiles almost every morning, when in Rome, right?

We shared this fruit platter, the papaya was my favorite, with a squeeze of lime.

Lounging poolside.

Water aerobics class!  Working up an appetite…

Cadillac margarita please!  Charge it to once treinta cinco por favor.

Pueblo Bonito Pacifica es muy bonito.

Muy bonito!

A view from our room.

The fantasy suite.