Ensenada Mexico 2/10/24

Ensenada Mexico

It’s our last port before we land back in the U.S. of A., so welcome to Ensenada, Mexico.

Ensenada is Baja California’s leading seaport, much of that traffic due to cruise ships who frequent the town as it’s the nearest foreign port to the United States. Originally a small fishing village, commercial fisheries still abound, but it is also now a popular beach resort, plus a Mexican naval base.

Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first European to see the area by sea in 1542 and a village named San Mateo was founded here the same year. In 1602 it was renamed by Sabastián Vizcaino as he sailed north from Acapulco to explore the California coast. When he reached the bay here, he called it Ensenada de Todos Los Santos or Cove of All the Saints. On a side note, he also named San Diego Bay, the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, and Monterey Bay, among other places, on this voyage. A permanent settlement was established by the Jesuits sometime in the 17th or 18th century, no one seems to know exactly when, but they were kicked out by the Dominican friars around 1805. By the early 20th century, the name had been shortened to just Ensenada. It was thanks to alcohol prohibition passed by Mexico’s neighbors to the north in the 1920s that the town became a touristic destination for those in search of entertainment and liquor. During the late 1950s it also became the same type of getaway for the rich and famous from Hollywood that Cabo was.

One spot to look for along it is El Parque de la Bandera, or Park of the Flag, I don’t think you can miss it as there is a massive Mexican flag flying from a flagpole within it. Another of the highlights in town is the Plaza Civica, also called “Three Heads Park”, where you can learn some of the history about the Mexican Revolution by reading the plaques on the statues here of Benito Juarez, Miguel Hidalgo, and Venustiano Carranza. Museo de History that’s located in the Rivera del Pacifico building, a former fancy casino during Prohibition days. Here there are photos, artifacts, and interactive displays telling history from pre-Hispanic times, Spanish colonialism, to the Mexican War for Independence, on through later development. There is also the Regional Historical Museum, housed in a Neoclassical building that used to be the municipal jail, paintings by former inmates are still preserved on the walls in the old prison cells.

The most well-known destination near Ensenada is La Bufadora, the world’s second largest blowhole, that’s located about 45 minutes south of town on a small peninsula. Thanks to the waves that push air and water through a narrow passage in the rocks, water is shot into the air every few minutes, sometimes as high as 100 ft (30.5 m) above the sea. The legendary version of how this happens is that a whale got stuck in this spot and was turned into stone, however it still sends water into the air through its blowhole. You can decide which version you want to believe. If you get very close to the spout, there’s a chance you’ll get wet so be prepared.

Ensenada is supposedly the birthplace of a couple of well-known food and drink items, fish tacos and margaritas. Who knew…and who knows if the claims are actually true! As for margaritas, Hussong’s Cantina, a historic pub that was opened in 1892 by an enterprising German immigrant who arrived via the United States in search of Baja gold. Juan/John/Johann Hussong didn’t strike it rich the way he expected but apparently decided to open the cantina and serve tequila of his own making. When the daughter of the German ambassador to Mexico, whose name was Margarita, stopped by, he created a drink he named after her, and the rest is history…unless you are from Texas and claim margaritas originated there. It makes a good story if nothing else. One spot to eat in Ensenada that was listed on literally every site I looked at was La Guerrerense, a food cart since 1960, that now has a restaurant nearby as well. They are supposed to have the absolutely best seafood tostadas in the world.

We found a food tour in Ensenada which proved to be one of our best tours so far. It was just Mickey and I, so our guide was able to personalize the tour to our liking and Lissette did not disappoint. Starting with a stroll around downtown, we went to the Museum which was converted from a casino - beautiful architecture and history of Ensenada. Our first "food stop" was a bar and is said to be the birthplace of the margarita.... not sure it is but we can attest that the margaritas were outstanding.... from there we continued to work our way to our next food stop famous for their fish tacos and again it did not disappoint. This is one of the best-known food stops in Ensenada and Mama can always be found either at the restaurant or the food truck just around the corner. Ensenada is well known for their wines, so our next stop was wine tasting- it was so good we just had to buy a bottle or two. Rolu Tempranillo is the wine Mickey chose to bring back to the ship. Followed by chocolate candy and ice cream...good thing we were getting i our steps. We then left the popular part of town to go into local neighborhoods and on to a tortilla factory, which is a fascinating process and tasted tortillas right off the production line. They were amazingly delicious. Believe it or not, we had one more stop to make at a local winery for our last food of the day. Much more upscale than lunch- Mickey had octopus and loved it. I stayed with a stuffed chili wrapped in a tortilla. We got to meet the young chef and congratulated her on her menu and choices...Remarkable....Lissete's husband met us for a cocktail and then ferried us back to our ship after a most satisfying 4.5 hours....Look at the video that she surprised us with of our day...

The birth of the margarita bar according to local legend...