Tijuana

I took a day trip down to Puerto Nuevo with son Keith and his future wife,  Brittany. I spent the night at Keith’s house in San Diego. Keith and Brittany have taken this trip several times before, but for some reason we missed the turnoff for the Rosarito, Ensenada Scenic Road and ended up in downtown TJ. After a number of turns, we made it on the right road.

Tijuana

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach is about 17 miles from the border. If you take the first turn off to Rosarito Beach, you will find that you are in an area with many shops (also, with very hard to follow stop––Alto––signs, making driving a bit nerve wracking––remember to get Mexican auto insurance before you cross the border). My goal in Mexico was to find some Mexican tile murals as I couldn’t find them in the U.S. except at a very high price. Luckily, I found them at the very first store that we went to. I purchased two Diego Rivera–type murals that I will put on an outside wall above a new patio I am building in front of my downstairs backdoor. This store was named La Mision Del Viejo. You’ll want to take cash if you want to buy anything. Credit cards are taken but they may charge you 5% extra if you want to use them.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

Another view of the outside of La Mision Del Viejo.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

This store had an extensive collection of Mexican items for sale––some very good, but as in any store selling Mexican handicrafts, you have to know how to look at all the merchandise to find the treasures in it. Except for the murals that I bought, many of the handicrafts were, I thought, somewhat high priced. The photo shows the inside of the store.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

A painting on a cabinet.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

More items for sale.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

More of the store’s merchandise.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

Even more for sale.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

Some of the plates here were quite nice Telavara pieces.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

We next went to a more upscale store that specialized in Mexican furniture. Keith thought the prices here were very good and is thinking about coming back with a truck of some sort and buying one of their table sets.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

More of this store’s merchandise.

Rosarito Beach

Rosarito Beach

Interesting restaurant sign.

Rosarito Beach

On the Way to Puerto Nuevo

We continued on the old road to Puerto Nuevo––about 20 minutes from Rosarito Beach. There are two roads along this section––the old road that allows you to stop off where you want to and the toll road that doesn’t. You still need to take the toll road part of the way from TJ to Rosarito Beach.

On the Way to Puerto Nuevo

Puerto Nuevo

Puerto Nuevo is a very small town, but people come here for the lobster. This area of Mexico (the border area) is a cross between very nice resorts and some beautiful Mexican style houses and very sad poverty. If you have never been here, the rich/poor contrasts can really shock you. Puerto Nuevo is where the lobster fishermen bring in their catches.

Puerto Nuevo

Puerto Nuevo

Our lobster lunch. The lobsters come either steamed or deep fried. We had them deep fried and, believe me, they were out of this world. These lobsters are what make people come back here time and again. They are served with rice, beans, and flour tortillas. All were delicious. The mariachi band came to entertain us ($5.00) and I took a movie of them playing. However, the movie is not what I had wanted as I didn’t know they were going to warm up before playing. I tried to take more movies of them playing but my camera jammed (probably time to get a new camera). The movie is called Mariachi Music and is on this site. That is Keith who is enjoying his lunch.

Puerto Nuevo

Puerto Nuevo

Cuban cigars for sale here.

Puerto Nuevo

Puerto Nuevo

A souvenir shop here.

Puerto Nuevo

Puerto Nuevo

Thre are about 10 lobster restaurants here, some looking better than the others. This one we did not eat at.

Puerto Nuevo

Puerto Nuevo

A view of the Pacific Ocean.

Puerto Nuevo

South of Rosarito Beach

There is a fantastic statue called the Naked Lady on a hill right before you get to Puerto Nuevo. We tried to find the road up there to see it but got so turned around and ended up back on the toll road (no turnoffs) that we had to give up trying to see it. Maybe another time we will figure it out. We got off the toll road at Rosarito Beach and headed south along the old road. Right across from the Fox Studios (the movie Titanic was filmed here), there is about 1/4 mile of souvenir stores. The merchandise does not look as good from the outside (unless you are looking for Mexican pots), but if you go inside the stores you may find some very good items.

South of Rosarito Beach

South of Rosarito Beach

Close up of the merchandise. You can also find good wrought iron in these stores.

South of Rosarito Beach

South of Rosarito Beach

This store was at the farthest south end of the stores and I thought that it had the best merchandise. I bought the green frog that is in the photo and paid less than 1/2 what I would have paid in TJ. There was a large selection of Mexican pots and vases inside the store. Brittany bought a beautiful large pot and I bought a large vase––again paying less than 1/2 the TJ prices.

South of Rosarito Beach

South of Rosarito Beach

A close up of my Televara frog. It is now on my front patio with a poinsettia inside it and looks very nice.

South of Rosarito Beach

Heading Home

It was still early afternoon but we decided that we better head back across the border as we were anticipating at least a 2 hour wait to cross it.

Heading Home

Heading Home

The Mexican toll booth. You need to pay the toll both ways.

Heading Home

Heading Home

It is nice to know that you are appreciated!

Heading Home

Heading Home

You should be able to make out THE FENCE in this photo. It divides the United States and Mexico. The U.S. is on the left side––the fence is not far from the Mexican road––and Mexico is on the right side.

Heading Home

Heading Home

Another view of THE FENCE. Here it is decorated!

Heading Home

Heading Home

Another view––the United States is on the left and Tijuana is on the right.

Heading Home

Crossing the Border

Unbelievably, it took us only 15 minutes to cross the border. We almost took the road to Tecate instead of to the border and only were saved by Brittany recognizing the turn–off to the border crossing––it was unmarked! The direction signs in Mexico (or the lack of direction signs) made driving here somewhat tense. There were about 12 lanes going across the border and a number of cars kept cutting in the lanes that were moving the fastest, which happened to be our lane. That was okay, except that a very old truck decided to cut in from the back of us and we thought we were going to be hit. All these lane cutters happened to have California license plates. Peddlers move between the cars––they are from the very young to the very old.

Crossing the Border

Crossing the Border

Close up of two of the peddlers. Next, across the border. I had a great trip.

Crossing the Border