It's called "El Ancla del Oro" (The Golden Anchor) in downtown Mazatlan. Absolutely incredible, nearly packed, and I was the only gringo there. It's basically the Hooters of Mazatlan, where the only women there are the servers, and they all dress, uh... in tight stuff. I asked for a menu, but no menus there. What you do is go outside to the fish vendors on the sidewalk, get some fish or shrimp or a lobster, and bring it in and they cook it however you want. I had a couple of tiny (8oz?) Pacificos at 10 pesos each, and then went out to browse the fish. I decided on 1/2 kilo of some medium-sized fresh shrimp from one of the twenty or so vendors. I sat down and the waitress came over, asked how I wanted them cooked, I said "a la Mexicana" which is spicy with tomatos & peppers & hot sauce, and with a couple more (tiny) beers. I think they have those beers so when the guy gets home he can say, "Si, mamacita. Tomi dos patas de cerveza, pero fueron *pequenitos*!" ("Yes, sweetheart, I had two buckets of beers, but they were *tiny*!"
She brought a platter of side dishes - carrot salad, some cucumbers, and a few other things, and soon after brought my shrimp. It was excellent, and they only charged 30 pesos to cook 'em (or maybe the 30 pesos was for the side platter). So I sat there, noticed by several of the guys and I think pointed out as the only gringo in the place, but comfortable enough watching futbol on the tv and... people-watching, I guess you could say. A band started up (Ranchera music, I believe, since they all wore straw cowboy hats), and they played for a while as I finished up my shrimp.
I left that place and hopped into another pulmonia and went back to the boat. It was still only 2:30 or 3, but I laid down and slept on the settee, then woke up at 5 and just went straight to bed. Woke up this morning at 7:30 and am now on my way to the Marina District, which is a couple hours north of the main harbor. I've radioed ahead and Marina Mazatlan is expecting me and has a slip available, so I can get the boat all cleaned up for my guests who fly in tomorrow.
TT
