After a delightful motor sail from Playa Santispac, Bahai Concepcion we found ourselves tied up at the small marina in Santa Rosalia harbor.
In 1885 a French company purchased the copper mining rights in this area, from Mexico and established the company town of Santa Rosalia. Soon wood from Canada and Oregon along with plant equipment such as rail cars and mining equipment poured into the area. A town was created. A protected harbor and port were completed in 1922 enabling one of the most prolific copper mines of the time.
The unique history of Santa Rosalia has been well preserved through a number of buildings and museums in town. Which made for a more European feeling than any of the other places we've visited thus far in Mexico. It was very walkable and we enjoyed being tied up somewhere that we could wander around in. The last marina "in a town" we stayed at was in San Diego.
Iglesia de Santa Bárbara is a prefabricated iron church in the center of town and was designed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel in 1884, and built in 1887.
Many of the factory buildings (and in some cases the ruins of these buildings) were made of huge timbers. They are someone's reclaimed wood project waiting to happen! Some of them were 12x12 or bigger. Huge beams!
We were thrilled to have some exotic Chinese food. It was in a non-descript, non ethnic building of little or no interest.
We have seen very little non-Mexican food options, and this stood out. Our first night here was celebrated with takeout.
There are very few tourists or visitors here and that means that very few people speak English. We must rely on our poor Spanish speaking abilities and google translate. Everyone is patient with us and we felt very welcome. I enjoyed watching Jeanne describe how she wanted her hair cut with hand gestures. A bit of a gamble, but the haircut turned out great!
We had an opportunity to meet the cruisers in the marina and hosted a fun gathering on the boat before having dinner at the brewery at the head of the dock. Local craft beers (award winning) and best of all, my favorite super hot "suicide wings" on the menu! If you find yourself here, it is a must visit for sure.
Our time here is short, but it is time to move on. Next is a 78 mile run to Bahia San Francisquito.
Onward…
Did your French lessons help?