Driving the Jeep to Mexico - Part 18

Somewhere around 3pm we stopped at one of the many little roadside lunch stands that line the road along the coast. We sat at one of three tables and Jaimie asked for the menu. The woman running the place looked at him like he was from Mars and said she had no menu. She had shrimp cocktail, shrimp fried in garlic or fish filet. Period. Take it or leave it. Jaimie had the shrimp cocktail and I had the shrimp in garlic. Hoping that I would end up with bad breath so that I could breathe on Jaimie to pay him back for all the bridge jokes I had had to endure! We looked at all the sea shells she had for sale to tourists like us but didn’t buy any. She also had jars of differently colored macaroon candies. Although pretty to look at, they also looked like the sun had been shining on them for just a few too many days. I did not buy any. We washed our hands from a bucket of clean water she had hanging from a post and our food was delivered. Jaimie’s cocktail looked delicious and, judging from all the lip smacking that went on, tasted that way too! I had twelve large shrimp butterflied on my plate, swimming in butter and garlic pieces. The smell was pure heaven. Of course, they were not peeled and it was quite the mess pulling off all the legs, heads and shells. I had a good time ripping apart the little carcasses and it was well worth my effort! They were evidently very fresh and cooked to perfection. I can still taste them as I type this. The only other place that I ever had shrimp prepared so well is at Fredy’s Restaurant, here on the island. Both meals and two Cokes cost me 80 pesos, or about $7USD. I was feeling magnanimous and tried to leave a 20 peso tip. Jaimie swept it off the table saying it was too much and put down a 10 peso coin in its’ place. Of course, he did not offer to return the other 10 pesos to me. I think it eventually found its’ way into his wife’s Cancun shopping trip account!

Back on the road and we had an uneventful, actually pleasant, drive on down the coast to Ciudad del Carmen. We had finally left the state of Tabasco behind and entered the state of Campeche. The whole area along the coast is built up for the Mexican tourist trade. Not very many English speaking people venture into this territory for vacation. The beaches are quite lovely in places. The villages are clean and quaint and the driving is good. It is evident that this is part of the major road leading to the Yucatan for those traveling to Merida or Cancun. Here and there were signs that read We Spike Inglish and there were even campgrounds for people traveling with trailers. All in all, a cooling pleasant drive.