The book, God and Mr. Gomez, takes place between LA and Santo Tomás, the town in which the Boys' Home is located. It's a true story, and a point of interest for me because I am so familiar with the places the author talks about.
At one point, he describes the drive down the coast from Tijuana to Ensenada. He paints such a wonderful picture that I can't help but share. For those of you who will not make it out here, I hope this gives you an idea:
We took the road that skirts Tijuana, running west along the border to the Pacific, where it passes the seaside bullring and melds into the Ensenada toll road. The toll road is a divided freeway, a sound and artistic piece of engineering, with two lanes going south and two north along the spectacular Pacific coast. The road is edged with indigenous crushed lava of a magenta color, and in the spring there are banks of red and yellow flowers. It cuts through low costal hills above the ocean, turning away from one stunning seascape only to discover yet another. The toll is collected at three stations, totaling $2.40 for each car going all the way to Ensenada. It is too much money for the local traffic, so the road is never crowded, and driving it on a good day is like flying in a small airplane a hundred feet above the seashore.
The book was published in 1974, so some things are not exactly as described. The toll prices doubled and I'm not sure the lava is still the same vivid magenta he describes, but at least it gives you an idea.
I love that drive. When we drove FPC up this last time, the sun was setting as we drove along the ocean. I'd seen the sun set here, but never like I did that day. It made the drive that much better. I appreciate how breathtaking it was to first take the drive down and just stare out the car window, but I appreciate even more how the view doesn't get old.
While Mr. Roney was here, we also went downtown to walk around. It was great because we went into a lot of the places we've said we wanted to go into for a long time. One of the cool, almost serendipitous finds was an old hotel that had been transformed into a rustic furniture store. Walking around in there was almost like walking through a museum, but with a lot of great style. I love old buildings, and part of me wishes this one had been restored a little better, but I guess it's roughness keeps with the rustic style of the furniture.
Among our cool finds was a tiny museum in one of the beautiful government buildings we had been longing to explore. It explained a lot about the indigenous history of Baja and gave some cool "then and now" information on Ensenada. Apparently there are two ballrooms in the building; regrettably we did not get the chance to explore them. But if anyone is looking for a wedding venue, it comes highly recommended and very fairly priced! There was a gift shop at the end of the museum, and it had the lowest museum store prices of any I have ever been in. There were quite a bit of artesanías that caught my eye, and Sarah and I were continually baffled at how little they were asking for all of them!
I had forgotten how much I enjoy exploring places. Ensenada had lost a little bit of its magic for me since I've been here for 8 months, but by letting curiosity lead us, and not a planned agenda, I feel that we were able to look beyond the cruise ships and tourist traps, and see Ensenada's charm again.
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