12
Jan

The Town Time Almost Forgot – Alamos, Sonora, Mexico

Posted on January 12th, 2010 :: Posted in Accommodation, Church, Mexico

After driving across the Copper Canyon and resting up at Torres del Fuerte hotel in El Fuerte we veered off the pavement once again and hit the back roads headed for Alamos. Sure you can get there on the highway but there’s also a network of good dirt roads that connect El Fuerte and Alamos on a route that takes you through the Sonoran desert and past a few isolated villages often on stretches of the original Camino Real.

The trick is knowing which way to go. It seemed like everyone suggested a slightly different route (frustrating) but we headed out anyway and only ended up making one wrong turn.

Cathedral Nuestra Señora de la Concepción in Alamos' Plaza de Armas.

Cathedral Nuestra Señora de la Concepción in Alamos' tranquil Plaza de Armas.

Alamos is an official Pueblo Magico and also a national historic site but it almost ended up as nothing more than a collection of ruins. In 1540 Alamos was the encampment of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, in town as part of Spain’s efforts to turn the whole region into Nuevo Galicia. In 1683 silver was discovered in Alamos which was invaded again, this time by prospectors.

Town boomed to more than 30,000 people, then busted just as fast when the deposits became harder to mine. During the revolution in the 19th century Alamos was invaded many more times and by the 1920s most people had left and most buildings were in terrible shape.

Enter a new invader, this time a gringo, one William Levant Alcorn of Pennsylvania who arrived in the 1940s, saw potential in the ruins and decided to resurrect Alamos one building at a time, buying them up for $50 or $100 a piece. Alcorn eventually made a killing by publicizing Alamos and selling real estate in the town and there are still a number of streets and buildings that bear his name.

Wonderful architecture and pretty lanes abound in this Pueblo Magico.

Today real estate agents still make a killing in Alamos which is a charming network of bright white buildings, cobblestone streets and lots and lots of Americans and Canadians who (thankfully) seem to have as much pride in the town itself as they do in their lovely winter homes. By all accounts the expats here devote a lot of time, energy and money to the local community providing funds and materials for everything from school tuition to costumes for local fiestas like the Revolution Day parade we watched as it snaked its way through town I (don’t miss the pictures, below).

Despite the growing number of expats and artists and a mish-mash of B-list celebrities and socialites (including the late actor Carroll O’Connor, still-living actor Rip Torn and an heiress to the Pabst Blue Ribbon fortune) who call Alamos home for at least part of the year, Alamos somehow manages to avoid feeling gringo-fied. Unlike other expat towns like San Miguel de Allende, the Americans and Canadians in Alamos seem genuinely invested in their Mexican neighbors and genuinely friendly to visitors just passing through, like us. (Thanks, again, for dinner Elizabeth! We had a blast!)

The entrance to Hacienda de los Santos Resort & Spa.

Another Alamos miracle? The Hacienda de los Santos Resort & Spa (a member of Mexico Boutique Hotels) which we check into for three blissful days. The Hacienda is not so much a hotel as a personal dare owners Jim and Nancy Swickard imposed upon themselves back in late ’80s when they retired and bought not but three neighboring haciendas and an 18th century sugar mill and set about renovating, connecting and decorating them.

The result is a seamless melding of the once separate buildings thanks in large part to the Swickard’s incredible attention to detail and stubborn insistence on perfection and the fact that the hotel has remained in the family’s hands (daughter Jamie is now heavily involved too). From the collection of Spanish Colonial art and antiques to the four (count ‘em) pools to the lush gardens and private 75 seat movie theater and small putting green there are marvels at every turn.

The Swickards recently completed a new creation, opening the more affordable (and kid and pet friendly) Posada Tacubaya B&B right around the corner in December of 2009.

One of four swimming pools at Hacienda de los Santos Resort & Spa.

We celebrated Eric’s birthday with a wonderful rooftop dinner at Hacienda de los Santos serenaded by the Los Haceandados, the resort’s house band which features Jamie Swickard’s husband, Ramon, on guitar and vocals.

The Hacienda's wanderful bar, Cantina Zapata has more than xxx different tequilas.

The Hacienda's wonderful bar, Cantina Zapata, has more than 500 different tequilas plus an impressive collection of saddles, spurs and sombreros.

Just a selection of the xxx tequilas in Hacienda de los Santos Cantina Zapata.

Just a portion of the more than 500 different tequilas on offer in Cantina Zapata at Hacienda de los Santos Resort & Spa, even though owner Jim Swickard doesn't drink.

Pool in the main courtyard of the Hacienda de los Santos at night.

The pool in the main courtyard of the Hacienda de los Santos Resort & Spa--one of four pools at the hotel.

Children dess up in period costume at Alamos' Revolution Day parade.

Children dressed up in period costumes as part of Alamos' Revolution Day parade.

Pancho Villa wanna'bes at Alamos' Revolution Day parade.

Pancho Villa wannabes in Alamos' Revolution Day parade.

Cool old truck turned food cart in Alamos' Plaza Alameda

This cool old truck has been turned into a food cart and now sells snacks in Alamos' Plaza Alameda.

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15
Jun

Yes, We Have No Tequila – Los Altos Tequila Region, Jalisco, Mexico

Posted on June 15th, 2009 :: Posted in Alcoholic Beverage, Guided Tours, Mexico

The Los Altos region of Jalisco is the second major tequila producing area after the Tequila region. It’s iron-rich red earth and cooler climate are considered to produce some of the best, and often sweeter tequilas. Some of the most famous premium tequilas sold in the US come from this area including Don Julio (one of our favorites) and Patron, which is made here and shipped up to the US in tanker trucks to be bottled there.

Patron is not available for sale in Mexico, nor do most people here know of its existence, even though the brand has pretty much single-handedly changed the way people in the US think about tequila and helped created a booming premium tequila market. It’s owned by Paul Mitchell of that hair care line, by the way.

It seems every available space in the Los Altos regio is covered with an add for one of its many famed distilleries.

It seems every available space in the Los Altos region is covered with an ad for one of its many distilleries.

The Los Altos region has two main tequila producing towns: Arandas and the much smaller Atotonilco el Alto, where our favorite tequila, Don Julio, is made. Many other big brands come from the area too, including Cazadores, Centinela, Siete Leguas, Corazon, Tequila El Charro, Tapatio, Hacienda Vieja and many more.

So why didn’t we see ANY tequila being made? Most of the distilleries were strangely offline. Local authorities blamed a dip in demand as a result of the recent swine flu brouhaha for the across the board tequila factory shut downs. However, if you ask us the swine flu was just an excuse for companies to send their employees home for a few weeks and save some bucks in the bad economy.

This old factory building on Hacienda de Guadalupe, a few miles outside of Arandas, is now part of a beautiful house. However, in the late 1800s this building was used to make the very first tequila distilled in the Los Altos region. The brand became known as El Cabrito and is still made by a distillery called Centinela.

For whatever reason, production at all of the major tequila factories in Arandas was shut down when we were there. We still wanted to visit them all even if they weren’t up and running, but we had little luck getting in even with the direct assistance of the Presidente (Mayor) of Arandas who made a few calls for us. In the end we visited the Don Julio gift shop in Atotnilco el Alto (where we scored a bottle of reposado for $23) and Tequila El Charro and Centinella in Arandas. Only El Charro allowed us to take pictures.

Beautiful blue agave firlds surrond the town of Arandas.

Beautiful blue agave fields surround the town of Arandas.

Tequila El Charro in Arandas.

The most interesting thing about Tequila El Charro, besides their gorgeous facility and wonderful cowboy sculpture (charro roughtly translates to cowboy in English), is their innovative use of both old and new methods and machinery.

That's a lot of tequila, especially since there are 12 of these 50,000 liter storage tanks at Tequila El Charro.

El Charo had an interesting mix of old & new. Including thes beautiful old copper stills alongside shiny new stanless steel stills.

Tequila El Charro employs an interesting mix of old and new including these beautiful traditional copper stills right alongside shiny new stainless steel stills.

For example, they use wonderful old-school copper stills right next to rows of ultra-modern stainless steel versions. And instead of steaming the blue agave hearts in a traditional oven, Tequila El Charro tosses them into enormous autoclaves where the sweet nectar is extracted in record time.

Centinella also has some twists and turns in its tequila production, including aging the stuff in old Jack Daniels barrels which give their top of the line reposado and anejo tequilas a distinctly whiskey-like roundness and earthiness.

The barrel room, or should we say aikrplane hanger, was the most orderly we have seen. Each barrell used to age El Charo Tequila.

The barrel room at Tequila El Charro was as big as an airplane hanger and the most orderly we've seen.

Just remember: whatever brand of tequila you drink stick to tequilas that are 100% agave, not 51% agave plus a headache-inducing mix of sugars and fake color. If it’s pure agave it will say 100% right on the label.

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10
Jun

Eat, Drink and Be Mexican – Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico

Posted on June 10th, 2009 :: Posted in Animals, Church, Food & Drink, Friends, Mexico, Music, Town, video

It all started near Guadalajara, where so many good things have happened for us. That’s where we met Pascual and Jakeline who generously invited us to hang out with them in their town, Arandas. A few days later we were there eating, drinking, seeing and enjoying the best that this unsung destination has to offer in the hands of two great guides.

Arandas has a huge gothis cathedral, and it towers abov e town. believe it or not, looking at it from a vantage point outside town it remided me of Chartres, the way it towers over the town.

The plaza in Arandas is dominated by a huge Gothic cathedral which looms large over the entire town remarkably like the much more famous cathedral in Chartres, Paris.

Not only were we treated like family (our eternal thanks to Jakeline’s family for being so generoso), but we had our first brush with politics during a hastily arranged meeting with the Presidente, or Mayor, of Arandas who was really nice and accommodating but short on time (he had to hurry off to attend the laying of the cornerstone for a new hospital), just like politicians everywhere.

We even had a meeting with the Presidente (Mayor) of Arandas - Karen, Presidente, our friend Jakeline & Eric

We ended up in a brief meeting with the Presidente (Mayor) of Arandas. Here's Karen, El Presidente, our friend Jakeline and Eric in the Presidente's office.

Arandas has something of a reputation for exquisite tacos, a food we’ve come to not only love but appreciate having eaten hundreds of the things by now. Jakeline and Pascual took us to Tacos Sanctuario where their buddies worked the grill and the brassier to produce really wonderful tacos. The el pastor tacos we had there were the most unique and most flavorful of any we’ve eaten in Mexico. So far.

We (heart) good tacos & the ones at Tacos Sanctuario are great.

We (heart) good tacos and the ones at Tacos Sanctuario are great.

As if there could be any doubt that a visit to any destination is always richer when you’re with a local, Pascual and Jakeline capped off our first perfect afternoon in Arandas with an evening visit to Hacienda Santa Maria which we wouldn’t have even known existed, let alone gained entry to, on our own. Their barn full of pure-breed stallions in training rivals many of the hotels we’ve stayed in. The stalls were so clean and airy we wanted to curl up in them ourselves! And there’s really nothing better than sipping tequila on the tailgate watching newborn foals learn what their legs are for as the sun sets.

A nine day old foal and its mother at Hacienda Santa Maria (aka horse heaven) just outside Arandas.

An evening stroll to the plaza is an excuse to do some snacking and Jakeline took us to her favorite churro vendor, Mario’s Churros where fatter and puffier than usual churros are churned out from the cleanest churro cart we’ve ever seen. Filled with cajeta (a thick concoction that’s halfway to caramel) and rolled in sugar, the things are deadly delicious.

Churros are found everywher, but Mario made the best we have had to date. Actually, we didn't have the heart to tell him that he was making fried bread and not churros.

Churros (basically deep fried bread) are found everywhere in Mexico but Mario made the best we've had to date.

Yes, we’re still eating.

Pig in almost any of its many guises is delicios, but nothing beats good carnitas, (except for bacon and braised Berkshee pork belly). the Carnitas at Carnitas Jaime's on the road into Arands made some of the best we've had.

Pig, in almost any of its many guises, is delicious but nothing beats good carnitas (except for bacon and braised Berkshire pork belly). Carnitas Jaime's served up some of the best we've had.

A shot of local tequila (more about that in our next post) and a rousing version of “Arandas”, courtesy of one of the Mariachi bands that troll Carnitas Jaime’s looking for customers, helped us digest a half kilo of pork.