Thursday, February 25, 2010

Traveler's Mexican Vacation

Well, as you probably already know, Tony brought us to Cabo San Lucas for Jill's 40th birthday. Of course, I was invited as it just wouldn't be a trip without me!



I tried to tell Jill that I was on vacation and didn't need to blog, but she insisted...

Tony took us to a beautiful hotel halfway between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. As always, I immediately immersed myself into the culture...

Hola Amigos!

This is the Mexican flag, The Bandera Mexicana. The red, white and green colors are of the National Liberation Army of Mexico. The symbol in the center is an Aztec pictogram for what is now Mexico City. Aztec legend dictated that they should found their city where they saw an Eagle eating a snake. It's a cool flag!

This is the lobby of our hotel. The statue is of Angel's Wings- it is said that the Angels found Paradise here and didn't need their wings any longer...

The hotel from the beach. Isn't it cool?

This is the Sea of Cortes. The Girls were able to see whales breaching each day not far off shore! It is also known as the Vermilian Sea, and you can see why by the color...

We went into the small town of San Jose Del Cabo to do some shopping. This area was once a beautiful estuary which included a fresh water river and Spanish Galleons used to stop here to take on fresh water as they traveled from Acapulco to the Philippines. In 1587, Thomas of Cavendish, a British pirate, sacked the Spanish galleon, Santa Ana, and put 190 survivors ashore at the estuary. That prompted King Phillip II of Spain to protect Spanish shipping by sending soldiers and Jesuit missionaries to colonize Baja California. This is the spot where the first mission was established in 1730. This church, the Church of St. Joseph, which was built on the spot of the original mission.
Over the Church's entry, a tile mosaic shows Indians (the original inhabitants of the Baja Peninsula were called the Pericu), dragging Father Nicolas Tamaral to his death. It is was the Pericu's final act of rebellion after Tamaral established the original mission.

The interior of the Church. The banners read "Today is the time" and "Right Now is the favored time". The time for what, I wondered?

Anyway, we had a great trip- but now it is back to Vegas and back to work!