We got up and drank some mango juice and put on our bathing suits and drove the 20 miles to Progresso. We went to two restaurants that were closed and finally drove to the Malacon and parked a block from The Crabmaster. We walked to the restaurant at 11:30 and were told the kitchen would open at 12:00. We asked to sit at a table on the beach across the malacon from the restaurant. We put our toes in the Caribbean and looked for shells for a few minutes, but did not go swimming. Instead we ordered beers and looked at the menu. There were lots of things we liked. We finally settled on stone crab claws, a shrimp cocktel, and a strange dish of grilled octopus and pork belly with tomatoes and cilantro. I ordered ½ kilo of stone crab which is the same quantity we ordered the other day but there were four of us then, so I over ordered a bit. The shrimp cocktel was a tall parfait glass filled with the good shrimp from Celestun in a sweet catsup sauce to which we added lime. The grilled pork was really more like chichorones but the octopus was delicious, if a little salty and dry, but served with a ramekin each of guacamole and a green Chile guacamole that was not very hot. We finally decided to put everything into the cocktel glass, which produced a salutary result. The pork and octopus softened, the crab was benefited by the cocktel sauce and the shrimp cocktel had more body and flavor.
A big seafood feast for our last meal in Mexico.
We loved the stone crabs. Their claw meat is the consistency and flavor of king crab claws, lots of lumps of long grained Snow White lump meat.
The oddest thing of the trip occurred as we ate lunch. A man walked to the table with commemorative 5 peso coins in his hand that appeared to be brilliant uncirculated. They looked too good to be true, but I believed his story that his father worked in the army and was paid with them, so I bought a 1945 1 peso coin and a 1958 5 peso commemorative of Medrano, I think, for 700 pesos, which is $40.00 or $20.00 each. My first numismatic transaction on a Mexican beach.
At 2:00 the off shore breeze increased into a light gale and we drove back to Mérida.
After a nap we packed up and took our grips to the car and drove to Premier garage, which is a 24 hour garage. We then went to the Banamex atm on the plaza and I got 1500 pesos to make sure we had enough for parking and tips for the room attendants.
For dinner I snacked on cheese, bread, a tangerine, chips, an apple and a beer. Not very exciting but all food we had in our fridge that would be left if not eaten and perhaps penance for an excessive lunch.e
Bon Appetit
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