Relaxing and Adjusting in San Luis Potosi

After our long drive to San Luis Potosi, we spent our first night in Mexico at a nice hotel. The charm of the hotel made our first night extra special, and we always felt safe. Best of all, we had a ground floor room about 20 feet from the pool. Now that we had arrived, it was time to think about dinner. We could have eaten in the hotel, but I hate paying nice hotel prices when the kids don’t appreciate it. And they weren't happy with the menu options. Plus, I thought it would be nice to eat by the pool. Therefore, we walked next door to the grocery store.

The kids have been out of the car for less than 5 minutes. Not sure if Tag will wait long enough to put on his swimsuit. 

What fun! I know – it’s just grocery shopping. However, it was a first for the kids. They loved discovering the unique fruits available, along with a mishmash of English and Spanish on the product labels. I, too, was surprised by the sheer amount of English. The bakery section was also fun. The breads, cookies, donuts and other treats are on open shelves. We used tongs and a tray to gather our items and a nice woman bagged them for us. Each of us picked a special dessert, and we planned to sample each one.

Many locals visit bakeries daily, and we often see them carrying their bag of goodies home in a colorful tied up bag.

Time was getting away from us, as usual, so the kids swam before eating. For the first time in 4 weeks, we were cold and realized we’d need to eat inside. There was a bit of extra preparation as we soaked the tomatoes, avocados and apples in a vinegar and water solution before eating (a precaution we’ll complete before eating most fresh fruits and vegetables for the next two years). Dinner was great, as are all our picnic style dinners. It felt good knowing they got a decent amount of protein and everyone was satisfied. Now for dessert…Disaster! The first treat was a croissant filled with mole. Not good. Too salty. Elle and I couldn’t even swallow our bites and Tag’s never made it past his lips. This was followed by another treat with mole that no one liked. Tag and Elle shared his tiny shortbread cookie, and finally we were all happy with the maple donut. No more MOLE for us!

Bedtime brought a few more changes. We brushed our teeth with bottled water and reiterated with the kids about not drinking the tap water.

Tag gently making me beautiful. His words. 

Elle's turn. While Tag falls asleep, Elle made my hair beautiful with every hair clip and headband she could find.

After a great night of sleep (neither Ken nor I slept well the night before. I guess we were more nervous about the border crossing than we realized), we ate a simple breakfast of bananas, chocolate milk, and apple juice. Yes, all bought at the grocery store too. The kid spent a couple of hours swimming while I packed the car and discovered a wonderful surprise! Two men were in the hotel’s parking lot washing all the cars! Yes! Our car which had traveled thousands of miles and was covered in a dusty grime had been washed. Back to the ashtray for another tip! We’re finding that check out times in Mexico are not until 1:00 so we took advantage of the extra pool time for the kids while Ken and I worked on blog posts.

That's me conscientiously watching the kids while they're swimming.  (Ken is watching too, and Tag has his life jacket on.)

Now for lunch.  We were hungry. Very hungry. All of us. We found a nice looking restaurant with outside seating and a waiter that didn’t know much English. Ken used a translating app on his phone to get across a couple of clarifications which worked well. Unfortunately, neither kid liked what we ordered. Their quesadillas were presented as warm tortillas and a bowl of melted cheese. The waiter was surprised that we hadn’t wanted any chicken in them. Nope. The kids refused chicken.  Even Tag who usually loves it. At least they both had a glass of milk which put off any meltdowns.

And this was taken before lunch. Elle & I were near meltdown mode.

Luckily, we saw a Starbucks within walking distance. I got my decaf iced Americano and the kids got a Strawberry Crème Frappuccino. I promised them a PB& J in the car, which no one remembered for hours. That’s how many calories are in those frappuccinos!

Ahhh, my happy place. I'm always happy to support Seattle based Starbucks!

We did no site seeing or touristy things in San Luis. All we can tell you about is the hotel, the grocery store, the one restaurant and the awesome Starbucks. However, it was really a pit stop on the way to our next destination.

Next up…San Miguel de Allende.