What we needed was to get away from the NY chill in January, and Los Cabos fit the bill for beautiful sun, sea, and golf.
Los Cabos, or "the Capes," is the place to go for anyone seeking outdoor recreation. It has an abundance of beaches, golf courses, fishing, windsurfing, kayaking, parasailing, diving, and snorkeling. We even saw whales that had come from Alaska to give birth to their babies.
The area includes the two towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. Cabo San Lucas is a bustling town with restaurants everywhere, a busy marina, and nightlife for the young and the young at heart. New to Cabo is an American-style mall, complete with coffee shop and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. San Jose del Cabo is the quieter, more traditional of the towns. It also boasts some excellent restaurants and an abundance of handicraft shops.${QuickSuggestions} Prior to leaving for your trip to Cabo, you can print out coupons from the website allaboutcabo.com. When you arrive at Los Cabos International Airport, you will be deluged with people trying to sell you timeshares. If you are interested, some of them have wonderful incentives to entice you to sit through a presentation. However, if you're not interested, put your blinders on. If you so much as ask for directions, you will be escorted to a counter person who will try to sell to you. ${BestWay} Hotel shuttles are expensive and don't always have return trips as late as you would want. Taxis are expensive also. We like to explore our surroundings, so we opted to rent a car. This, too, is expensive, but gives you the flexibility of seeing all that you might want to see. One word of caution: we had been advised that it's imperative to take the full rental-car insurance. It cost us $33 per day just for the insurance, but was worth it for the peace of mind. Also, if you rent a car, Cabo now has a new highway taking you from the airport to San Jose del Cabo. It cuts the trip by more than half. There is a toll of 25 pesos (which is about $2.50 at the current exchange rate).
We had a lovely evening at El Chilar. It was off the main street, but well worth looking for. We were pleasantly greeted and seated. The dining room was rustic and had candlelight. In the middle of dinner a mariachi band appeared for about 20 minutes and played traditional mexican music. About a half hour later a guitarist went from table to table and offered to play a musical favorite - all very romantic.The food was wonderfully prepared and presented. I love mussels, but their special mussel dish was made with curry. I'm allergic to curry so my husband asked if they could make the mussels our favorite way - with white wine, shallots, garlic, and butter. They were happy to accommodate and the chef (Armando Montano) prepared the dish with expertise. It was as good as we've ever had.
For an entree we had grilled sea bass over a mexican stew, and it was an epicurean delight. Their dessert menu was rather limited but adequate.
The menu changes every month. Reservations are really recommended. It's a small place with limited seating. Also, no credit cards accepted.
We rented a car and went exploring and found the most beautiful community we’ve ever seen. At the very tip of the Baja peninsula is a private residential community called Pedragal de Cabo San Lucas. From the marina at Cabo, we could see beautiful homes built into the side of the mountain. We were sure that these homes had to have spectacular views so we ventured to the guarded gate to see if we could get a look. The guard requested that he retain our driver’s license and then let us through. Beyond that gate we found a neighborhood that encouraged our imaginations to take us places "where peace and harmony sit on every corner and tranquility resides in every heart". It was paradise!
This unique community consisted of nearly three hundred homes ranging in size from 3,000 square feet to over 20,000 square feet. It captured the views of both the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean. The properties took full advantage of the climate and natural wonders of the Baja. Beautiful gardens and elaborate stonework added to the elegance.
Breathtaking views, cobblestoned streets and all the amenities of a tropical lifestyle made us wish that we could someday call this home.