The Melaque social season is off and running. Or, at least, stroking.
Edith Wharton may have tired of the inevitable convention of Faust opening each New York social season. She would have loved Melaque’s social spontaneity.
Last year the local merchants sponsored our first Festival of the Sea. No film or organ festivals for us. That is not our crowd.
Edith Wharton may have tired of the inevitable convention of Faust opening each New York social season. She would have loved Melaque’s social spontaneity.
Last year the local merchants sponsored our first Festival of the Sea. No film or organ festivals for us. That is not our crowd.
We are beach people. We don’t want to sit in a seat. We want to move ours. Sexy young women dancing on stage or athletic young men on skim boards. That is our style. And that is what we got. California -- just further south.Tennis. Surfing. Football. A 10K run.
And music. Lots of music. And dancing -- of all sorts. Each evening from 6 until midnight. The fun was exhausting. But Melaque is built on the myth that paradise can be purchased. Even if it is simply an image. No thought-challenging Faust for us.
Last year the festival began in December. It is getting an early start this year. Today. And it started with a splash.
A swim competition across the Bay of Navidad,. Starting on what is left of the beach at Barra de Navidad and ending at Chicken Beach in Melaque.
A 3.8 kilometer (2 mile) race. If the 389 contestants swam in a straight line. And one of the contestants was the proprietor of one of my favorite eateries -- Señor Froy’s. Where I am drafting this post.
It was quite an event. The bay was filled with guide boats and kayaks. The beach (at 8AM -- in Mexico -- on Saturday) was filled with family, friends, and tourists, as well as the ubiquitous Army presence for public gatherings.
As Jorge Castañeda has pointed out, it was Mexican competition at its best. Individual. No pesky teamwork needed. But today the competition was secondary to the fiesta that surrounded the event. Recorded music loud and syncopated enough to keep shoulders akimbo.
After all the event was its own raison d'être. It is the Festival of the Sea. And it is our social season.
It was quite an event. The bay was filled with guide boats and kayaks. The beach (at 8AM -- in Mexico -- on Saturday) was filled with family, friends, and tourists, as well as the ubiquitous Army presence for public gatherings.
As Jorge Castañeda has pointed out, it was Mexican competition at its best. Individual. No pesky teamwork needed. But today the competition was secondary to the fiesta that surrounded the event. Recorded music loud and syncopated enough to keep shoulders akimbo.
After all the event was its own raison d'être. It is the Festival of the Sea. And it is our social season.
