Friday April 10, 2015 La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Friday April 10, 2015 La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

We were in port before daylight.  The reason we know this is because I set an alarm for 6:30 to be ready for our tour of La Paz.  We had to be on the dock at 7:50.  We ordered coffee and bran muffins.  We only had time to drink a little of the coffee before leaving.

The cruise ship dock is a 30 minute bus ride from the city.  The last time we were in La Paz was about 10 years ago.  Like most places it has grown a lot.  La Paz is the capital of the state of Baja California Sur.  Our guide told us that the city had a year around population of about 300,000, in the winter that swells to about 500,000 because of snow birds.  Because it is the state capitol about 85% of the population works for the various governments.  The road to La Paz pretty much followed the coast line and we saw several inlets with mangrove swamps.

Our first stop was for shopping.  Gerri and I went across the street and took pictures of a couple of statues along the Malecon.  The Malacon is a sort of board walk along the sea.  It extends the length of the beach in front of the city and is paved with pieces of art along the way, there are also fishing docks and boat launch areas.  Quite a few people were walking or jogging along the walk.

Our next stop was a Catholic church built on the site of a mission that was founded by Jesuit Monks in 1683.  The cornerstone for the current church was laid on October 6, 1861.

Our next stop was a museum of natural history.  Our guide, who was an anthropologist and explained the exhibits,  The museum is still in the process of remodeling and repairs after hurricane Odile.

Before returning to the ship we stopped at a restaurant along a very nice beach.  We shared a plate of grilled shrimp.  Back at the dock there were vendors set up.  Gerri bought some decorations for our bathroom and a vase o put on one of the pot shelves.

We met Bill and Elaine on the Lido deck later and had hamburgers.  Some rest and reading completed the afternoon.  We went to dinner at our regular time.  The couple from Houston didn’t make it.  Besides serving an excellent dinner our waiter did some balancing tricks with silverware, glasses and tooth picks

We went to the Princess theater with Ron and Bobbette.  We saw a comedian who did voice impersonations.  Bill and Elaine went to the movie under the stars.  After the show we stopped by the Promenade Lounge and watched Jere Ring for about an hour.  He has become more popular and for most of the time it was standing room only.  After that we returned to our room and called it a night.