March 23, 2018 - Playa Ceuta

We walked to the south end of the beach before breakfast and watched a couple fishing boats come in. It was fun to see them getting their gear picked up and fileting fish.This beach is unusual in that there is a security guard who patrols and another man who walked up and down the Malecon and the beach picking up trash. There are trash barrels all along the Malecon – something you rarely see. While it is a rocky beach, there is something special about this place!We met a woman, Cindy, from Des Moines, Iowa who was traveling back to the US along with her dog, Macy. She is an artist and just purchased some land in Lo De Marcos and is going to build a house there. She was camping in her car and is pretty independent. We enjoyed spending time with her today and hearing about her adventures. She was as surprised as we were to see other “gringos” on this beach!

Around noon today, the clouds we had seen on the horizon starting moving inland and in no time, we were in a fog! It was weird to see.It lasted a couple hours, then blew off! While it was still foggy, four police vehicles pulled in and stopped a car at the end of the road behind us. They thoroughly searched the vehicle, then let it go. There must have been at least 30 soldiers with rifles at attention all along the street and around the vehicle – and behind and next to us! When they finished the little silver car drove away. After the car left, the soldiers all started taking pictures and selfies in the fog. We weren’t sure what was going on, but as they loaded up and left, they all waved goodbye to us, smiling!By 2pm, the sky was once again clear! This is the one fancy looking place on the beach. There is a US and Mexican flag on the house at the back. We’re not sure if it is a private residence or something else. Around 4pm, the fog started to roll back in, but it didn’t make it all the way to the shore. It was definitely a strange weather day!We went to the restaurant at our end of beach for dinner tonight. We did the popularity comparison of the restaurants and this one had more than 12 cars there almost all day. The one at the other end of the beach had one. Tobey ordered the molecajete which is the stone bowl used for grinding foods. In had a mixed seafood dish (shrimp, fish, octopus, oysters and veggies) in aguachile (chile spiced soup). He said it was a little spicy. I’m glad I ordered the fried fish filet with rice and salad, which was excellent.We have been on the lookout for dolphins but this is the closest we have come to spotting them so far. Wish us luck tomorrow for the real thing!We weren’t sure whether the sunset would be pretty tonight with all of the fog and clouds, but it turned out nice. We wanted to stay outside and watch it longer, but the mosquitos started coming out with big appetites, so we headed inside. Tomorrow we head a little further north.