We went into town today to visit a book store, walk around the main plaza, and grab a bite to eat. I have to say, I’m really not enamored with La Paz. All the cruisers here like to talk about how “sticky” the place is—meaning it is hard to leave—but I’m not sure why. The town itself is pretty ho-hum. I can walk around and around and not be bothered to take the camera out of the bag too often. The main plaza is less than appealing, and in a not very busy part of town—there just isn’t anything happening there. The malécon is nice, but by planting the palms on the road side of the sidewalk they’ve effectively shaded the middle of the road for the hottest part of the day. What could be a pleasant stroll is miles of uninhabitable concrete from about noon until the sun goes down. There is no swimming beach unless you are under five years old. I don’t know, I just can’t fall in like with the place. I’ve tried. I’ve been here a few times—but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen.

Of course there are some marine chandleries, which is nice for us yacht captainy types, and there are half a dozen monster-sized U.S. style supermarkets, and Auto Zone, and Office Max, and all the fast-food you could ever want (except Taco Bell), and there are some good fish tacos to be had, and there seem to be more English speakers than Spanish, and I guess all that taken together is enough for a lot of people. But…I don’t have the “I live in Mexico” feel here, and I guess these days that’s sort of a deal breaker for me. I just can’t seem to find anything interesting about the place.

Ouest is super into mermaids at the moment. It’s pretty much all she talks about. “Tell me a mermaid story Papa. I want to draw a mermaid. Let’s go to the beach, I want to be a mermaid.” That picture below is of her coloring her mermaid flipper (i.e. an old t-shirt of mine she steps into and we tie at her waist). You can tell just how serious she is about mermaids by the concentration she is putting into staying inside the lines. My little Darryl Hannah.