Tecate – The ExhaustNotes Blog

The Wayback Machine: 7 Favorite Baja Destinations

By Joe Berk

We’re introducing something new here on ExNotes. We publish new content every other day (sometimes more often, sometimes less often, but we’ve been pretty good about bringing you new stuff). But what about the days we don’t publish? We’ve published about 1200 blogs in the last four years, and a lot of them received super responses. So, on the in between days when when we don’t publish new material, we’re going to select some of our favorites from the past. This is the first. Every one of these reruns we’ll be preceded by The Wayback Machine in the title.

Enjoy, my friends. And don’t forget:

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Baja is a motorcycling paradise and I have a bunch of favorite destinations there. Seven of them, to be precise, although truth be told, I like everything in Baja except for Tijuana and maybe La Paz and Loreto. That said, my favorites are:

- - Tecate
  - San Quintin
  - Cataviña
  - Guerrero Negro
  - San Ignacio
  - Santa Rosalia
  - Concepcion Bay

Here’s where they are on a map:

So what’s so great about these places? Read on, my friends.

Tecate

Tecate is the gateway to the middle of northern Baja, and it’s the easiest point of entry. Both Tijuana and Mexicali are too big and too complicated, and the Mexican Customs guys are too official in those bigger cities. Tecate is a friendly place. The last time I picked up a tourist visa in Tecate, the Customs officer tried to sell me salsa he and his family made as a side gig. That’s what the place is like. I love it.

If you’re into fine dining (not as in expensive dining, but just great food), it’s hard to go wrong anywhere in Baja. Tecate has some of the best, from street taco vendors to Malinalli’s to Amore’s. I could spend a week just in Tecate. It’s that good.

Uncle Joe Gresh with street tacos in Tecate. Wow, were they ever good.

The buffet at Malinalli’s is regional, awesome, and inexpensive. It’s a hidden treasure.

Dos Joes’ motos on an Enfield expedition that took us through Tecate.

The Tecate brewery dominate the Tecate skyline and is visible from just about anywhere in town. A can of ice cold Tecate with sea salt around the rim and a bit of lime juice…life doesn’t get any better.

San Quintin

San Quintin is 186.4 miles south of the border on Baja’s Pacific coast. It’s usually a quiet ag town that has a lot of things going for it, including interesting hotels, good food, and Bahia San Quintin. The Old Mill hotel and its associated restaurant, Eucalipto, is my personal favorite. The hotel is about 4 miles west of the Transpeninsular Highway, and what used to be a harrowing soft sand ride to it is now easy peasy…the road is paved and riding there is no longer a test of your soft sand riding skills. The Eucalipto restaurant is second to none.

What could be better than an ice cold Tecate overlooking Bahia San Quintin after a day’s riding in Baja? We once saw a California gray whale from this very spot.

A man, a motorcycle, and Mexico….the sign on the Transpenisular Highway pointing toward Bahia San Quintin and the Old Mill Hotel. The bike? That’s the 650cc Royal Enfield, perfect for riding Baja. But then just about any motorcycle is perfect for riding Baja.

Bahia San Quintin at dawn. It’s an awesome spot.

Uncle Joe enjoying breakfast in the Old Mill’s Eucalipto. It is an exquisite restaurant.

You’ll notice at the top of my scribblings about San Quintin I said it is usually a quiet town. The one exception for us was when there was a labor riot and we were caught in it. The Mexican infantryman about 80 miles north of San Quintin told me the road was closed, but his English matched my Spanish (neither are worth a caca), and without me understanding what I was riding into, he let me proceed. It’s not an experience I would care to repeat. But it’s the only event of its type I ever experienced in Old Mexico, and I’d go back in a heartbeat.

The Cataviña Boulder Fields

Ah, Cataviña. Rolling down the Transpeninsular Highway, about 15 miles before you hit the wide spot in the road that is Cataviña you enter the boulder fields. Other-worldly is not too strong a description, and if the place wasn’t so far south of the border it would probably be used more often by Hollywood in visits to other planets. The boulders are nearly white, they are huge, and the juxtaposition of their bulk with the bright blue sky punctuated by Cardon cactus.

Pastel geology. The area really is as beautiful as the photos depict it to be.

I get a funny feeling every time I enter this part of Baja. Not funny as in bad, but funny as in I feel like I’m where I belong. I once rolled through this region in the early morning hours with my daughter and she told me “you know, it’s weird, Dad. I feel like I’m home.” She understood (as in completely understood) the magic that is Baja.

I like the area and its stark scenery so much that one of my photos became the cover of Moto Baja! I grabbed that shot from the saddle at about 30 mph on a CSC 150 Mustang replica, which I subsequently rode all the way down to Cabo San Lucas (that story is here).

You should buy a copy or three. They make great gifts.

Every time I roll through Cataviña with other riders, the dinner conversation invariably turns to how the boulders formed. When I was teaching at Cal Poly Pomona, I asked one of my colleagues in the Geology Department. He know the area as soon as I mentioned it. The answer? Wind erosion.

Guerrero Negro

The Black Warrior. The town is named after a ship that went down just off its coast. It’s a salt mining town exactly halfway down the peninsula, and it’s your ticket in for whale watching and the best fish tacos in Baja (and that’s saying something). I’ve had a lot of great times in Guerrero Negro. It’s about 500 miles south of the border. You can see the giant steel eagle marking the 28th Parallel (the line separating Baja from Baja Sur) a good 20 miles out, and from there, it’s a right turn for the three mile ride west into town. Malarrimo’s is the best known hotel and whale watching tour, but there are several are they are all equally good. It you can’t get a room at Malarrimo’s, try the Hotel Don Gus.

CSC RX3 motorcycles at the Hotel Don Gus. We used to do annual Baja tours with CSC…those were fun times and great trips, and introduced a lot of folks to the beauty of Baja.

What it’s all about…getting up close and personal with the California gray whales. They are in town from January through March.

Tony, taco chef extraordinaire. You might think I’m exaggerating. I’m not.

It’s worth the 500-miles trek to Guerrero Negro just to savor Tony’s fish tacos. You might think I’m exaggerating. But like I said above…I’m not.

Man does not live by fish tacos alone, so for breakfast or dinner, it’s either the restaurant at Malaririmo’s or the San Remedio, a block north of the main drag into town. You won’t be disappointed at either.

Sue’s photo of a Guerrero Negro osprey enjoying some sushi.

After you leave Guerrero Negro and continue south, the Transpeninsular Highway turns southeast to take you diagonally across the Baja peninsula. About 70 miles down the road (which is about half the distance to the eastern shores of Baja and the Sea of Cortez along Mexico Highway 1) you’ll see the turn for San Ignacio. It’s another one of Baja’s gems.

San Ignacio

San Ignacio is an oasis in the middle of the desert that forms much of Baja. The Jesuits introduced date farming to the region hundreds of years ago, and it’s still here in a big way. Leave Guerrero Negro, head southeast on Mexico Highway 1, and 70 miles later you run into a Mexican Army checkpoint, a series of switchbacks through a lava field, and when you see the date palms, turn right.

The San Ignacio church, built as a mission in the 1700s, dominates the center of San Ignacio. It’s a beautiful spot, one of the most photogenic in all of Baja.

Another photo of the San Ignacio Mission. You’ll want to grab some photos in San Ignacio.

Dates? Nope, not on that trip, but dates are one of the things San Ignacio is known for. I’ll bet they are delicious.

San Ignacio has a town square that’s right out of central casting, there’s a little restaurant that serves the best chile rellenos in all of Mexico (I’m not exaggerating), and the place just has a laid back, relaxing feel about it.

Santa Rosalia

You know, this town is another one of Baja’s best kept secrets. As you travel south on Highway 1, San Ignacio is the first town you encounter after traveling diagonally across the peninsula. Folks dismiss it because it’s an industrial town, but they do so in ignorance. There’s a lot of cool stuff in this place.

One of the things that’s unique about Santa Rosalia is the all-wooden architecture. The town was originally built by a French mining company (Boleo) and they built it they way they did in France. Like the Hotel Frances, which sits high on a mesa overlooking the town and the Sea of Cortez. I love staying there.

The Hotel Frances. It used to be a brothel.

There’s a cool mining musuem a block or two away from the Frances, and it’s worth a visit, too.

There are many cool things in Santa Rosalia, and one of the best is the Georg Eiffel church. It was designed by the same guy guy who did the Eiffel town.

Santa Rosalia’s church. It’s an unexpected delight. And I’m not even Catholic.

Inside Santa Rosalia’s Georg Eiffel church.

Stained glass. Photos ops abound in Santa Rosalia.

I’ve heard people dismiss Santa Rosalia as a gritty, industrial place not worth a stop. Trust me on this: They’re wrong. It’s one of my favorite Baja spots.

Bahía Concepción

Concepción Bay is easily the most scenic spot in Baja. It’s just south of Mulege (another delightful little town, and the subject of an upcoming ExNotes blog). Bahía Concepción runs for maybe 20 miles along the eastern edge of the Baja peninsula. I’ve seen whales from the highway while riding along its edge, the beaches are magnificent, and the photo ops just don’t stop. The contrast between the mountains and Cardon cactus on one side and the pelicans diving into bright green water is view from the saddle you won’t soon forget.

World-famous novelist and motorcycle adventurer Simon Gandolfi andn yours truly on 150cc scooters. We were on our way back from Cabo San Lucas when we stopped for this Bahía Concepción photo. Hardtail 150cc scooters. Up and down the length of Baja. I think about that ride every time I see a GS parked at a Starbuck’s.

So there you have it: My take on seven favorite spots in Baja? How about you? Do you have any favorite Baja destinations? Let us know here in the comments sction!

Seven Favorite Baja Destinations

- - Tecate
  - San Quintin
  - Cataviña
  - Guerrero Negro
  - San Ignacio
  - Santa Rosalia
  - Concepcion Bay

Here’s where they are on a map:

So what’s so great about these places? Read on, my friends.

Tecate

San Quintin

What could be better than an ice cold Tecate overlooking Bahia San Quintin after a day’s riding in Baja? We once saw a California gray whale from this very spot.

The Cataviña Boulder Fields

Guerrero Negro

San Ignacio

Santa Rosalia

There’s a cool mining musuem a block or two away from the Frances, and it’s worth a visit, too.

There are many cool things in Santa Rosalia, and one of the best is the Georg Eiffel church. It was designed by the same guy guy who did the Eiffel town.

I’ve heard people dismiss Santa Rosalia as a gritty, industrial place not worth a stop. Trust me on this: They’re wrong. It’s one of my favorite Baja spots.

Bahía Concepción

So there you have it: My take on seven favorite spots in Baja? How about you? Do you have any favorite Baja destinations? Let us know here in the comments sction!

Favorite Baja Hotels: Tecate’s Hacienda

Tecate, not ordinarily a tourist destination, is more than just an entry point into Baja. This little town has a lot to offer, and when I stay there, I usually opt for the Hotel Hacienda. The Hacienda is easy to get to, it’s comfortable, it’s inexpensive, and it’s next door to one of the best restaurants in all of Tecate.

The Hotel Hacienda is at 861 Avenida Benito Juarez. Turn right after crossing the border and ride west about a mile. The Hacienda will be on your right.

As the map above indicates, the Hacienda is easy to get to. You just go south into Mexico about two blocks after crossing the border, hang a right to head west on Avenida Benito Juarez, and ride about a mile. The Hacienda will be on your right.

The Hacienda isn’t fancy, but it’s comfortable and clean, and the parking is secure (you park in a courtyard and you won’t have to worry about your motorcycle). The last time I was there, a room was about $35, and they always have hot coffee available in the oficina. What’s great about the Hacienda is that Malinalli’s is next door. Malinalli’s is absolutely one of the best ever for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I’ll tell you more about Malinalli’s in a minute.

There’s just no telling what (or who) you might run into in the Hacienda’s courtyard parking lot.

A couple of Royal Enfields put away for the evening at the Hotel Hacienda.

Tecate is home to the beer company of the same name, and most folks think of Tecate as a gritty industrial town. Trust me on this: There’s a lot more to Tecate than just a beer company.

The Tecate brewery, located in the middle of town, is visible from just about anywhere in Tecate.

On the U.S. side, Tecate is not much more than the U.S. Customs and Immigration station; on the Mexican side, Tecate (population 102,000) is a much larger and far more intriguing place. Founded in 1892, Tecate’s history reaches back 12,000 years when the region was settled by the Kumeyaay Native Americans who still inhabit the area.

Getting to Tecate is a beautiful ride in itself. California SR 94 winds its way through the mountains just north of the border. Roughly 25 miles east of where 94 originates near San Diego, take a right on 2-mile-long SR 188 and you’re there. There’s a sign warning you not to bring guns into Mexico (duh), and suddenly, you’re crossing the border. There are no Mexican officials or inspections as you enter; you just ride right in. You can do that going south; don’t try it going north.

Crossing the border into Mexico at Tecate.

As soon as you cross the border, you’re in Tecate, Mexico. The road you see at the intersection ahead is Benito Juarez. Make a right, and the Hotel Hacienda is about a mile up the road.

Even if your plans are for a longer and deeper Baja visit, my advice is to spend at least one night in Tecate and enjoy the town’s best kept secret, which is the cuisine. Two restaurants that stand out are Amores for dinner and Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos, right next to the Hotel Hacienda, has exquisite regional Mexican recipes, all prepared with fresh ingredients. Don’t think salsa and chips; this is the real deal and the cuisine is both exceptional and inexpensive. When Gresh and I did the Enfield trip a couple of years ago, we parked our bikes directly in front of Malinalli’s (as you can see in the big photo at the top of this blog) and we ate there both on the way into Mexico and on the way. Sue loves this place, too.

Just a few of the selections at Malinalli’s. Trust me on this: Malinalli’s is superb.

Blue corn tortillas and other Kamayeey cuisines make Malinalli’s stand out.

Amores, nestled between the central plaza and the Tecate brewery, features local foods and wines. It’s a dinner spot, it’s what you might call haute cuisine, and it is absolutely outstanding. It’s prices are higher than what you might ordinarily encounter in Tecate, but it’s still inexpensive by US standards. They offer a choice of how many courses you might have for dinner, but the choices are what the staff feels like cooking that day. You won’t be disappointed; this is a memorable dining experience.

Two of several staff members at Amores. The dining was world class.

One of the five dinner courses we enjoyed…grilled octopus.

If your tastes run to simpler dining experiences, Tecate has you covered there, too. There are numerous taco stands along Benito Juarez, and if there’s a bad one, I haven’t found it yet. Watching the chefs prepare tacos is a treat unto itself, and they are absolutely delicious.

A taco chef at work in a Benito Juarez taco stand.

Taco taste tester extraordinaire Joe Gresh.

I usually try to work my Baja visits such that Tecate is my point of entry and my point of exit. I like staying in the Hotel Hacienda and enjoying what Tecate has to offer, and bookending a Baja visit with a stay in this cool little town always works well for me.

Want to see more about our travels in Baja? Check out our Baja and Epic Rides pages!

If you’re headed into Baja, make sure you insure with BajaBound Insurance. It’s the best!

The best budget bikes for Baja? You might be surprised!

Never miss an ExNotes blog!

Read about our other favorite hotels in Baja!

Santa Rosalia’s Frances Hotel
Mulege’s Historico Las Casitas
Bahia San Quintin’s Old Mill

Motorcycle Classics: Tecate!

Tecate, Mexico. On Royal Enfields. Good times.

Hey, Motorcycle Classics magazine is running my story on Tecate in the next issue! You can read it here. More good news: I have another story in that same issue. Buy a copy if you’re not already a subscriber!

The Ruta del Vino

This post will wrap up our Tecate visit, and the focus of today’s blog is the road south out of Tecate. The Ruta del Vino is a magnificent road that runs through the northern Baja countryside to Ensenada, passing directly through one of Baja’s wine growing regions.

If you missed the earlier Tecate posts, here are the links:

Tecate
Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos!
A Tecate Sunrise

Getting to the Ruta del Vino is easy. After entering Baja through Tecate, just continue south. You’ll pass under the Tecate sign shown in yesterday’s blog, hang a left on Avenida Revolución, and then turn right on Boulevard Universidad (which becomes the Ruta del Vino and Mexico Highway 3).

You’ll pass through the center of Tecate and climb a hill as you leave Tecate. You’ll see a bunch of pottery stories selling clay bowls of all kinds. A little further south is a monastery on your left, and a little beyond that is a sign over the road welcoming you to the Ruta del Vino.

The Ruta del Vino has several things to offer. The first is magnificent scenery through Mexican countryside. Then there are the vineyards. They are on both sides of the road. The third are the restaurants and hotels. And I guess the fourth is the destination, as the Ruta del Vino runs all the way to El Sauzal, a tiny community on Ensenada’s northern edge. That’s where the Ruta del Vino intersects with Baja’s Transpeninsular Highway. Turn left and the Transpeninsular Highway will take you through Ensenada and all the way to Cabo San Lucas. Turn north and you’re on your way to Tijuana and San Diego.

Along the Ruta del Vino, which is Mexico’s Highway 3.

Northern Baja wines are surprisingly good. I’m not a wine connoisseur; I just think they are good and they are certainly reasonably priced. My favorite vineyard is the L.A. Cetto vineyard, which is roughly 45 miles or so south of Tecate. As you’re traveling south on the Ruta del Vino, the L.A. Cetto vineyard is on your left. The road to it used to be dirt, but it was recently paved and it’s an easy ride now. The L.A. Cetto vineyard usually has a fair crowd and on our last visit, there was a general feeling of excitement in anticipation of a visit by senior members of the Catholic clergy. As we were leaving, an entourage of several priests and the region’s Cardinal were arriving.

The now-paved road leading to the L.A. Cetto Vineyard. That’s my Subie Outback, which is a grand automobile for these kinds of tours.

A Mexican motorcyclist on the road to the L.A. Cetto vineyard. All the gear, all the time. The motorcycle is a Zongshen, marketed in Mexico under the Italika name.

The L.A. Cetto grapes. This is a composite photo showing a 180-degree view from the south (on the left) to the north (on the right). It’s stitched together from three photos. Photoshop does a great job at these kinds of things.

The L.A. Cetto vineyard offers wine tasting, and they sell wines, vinegars, olive oil, olives, cheeses, nuts, and more. When I’m on the motorcycle, my friends and I will usually stop to buy some cheese and olives for a snack. The vineyard has outdoor tables in front of the wine tasting areas. The vineyard also offers factory tours, but they were only in Spanish on the day of my most recent visit. You can buy and get back across the border with any amount of olives and olive oil you wish to take, but there’s a one bottle limit on wine. I picked up an L.A. Cetto Malbec on this visit, which I’ll try later this month. If you’d like to read more about the L.A. Cetto vineyard, here’s an excellent article in the BajaBound.com newsletter.

We had a great lunch at Los Naranjos, which is just a short jaunt further south on the Ruta del Vino. It’s about a half mile down the road on the right. The cuisine there is impressive, and nothing wraps up a great meal at Los Naranjos better than their apple pie. Make sure you try a glass of their namesake orange juice, too. They grow their own oranges and squeeze their own juice. It’s superb. One more thing: The salsas at Los Naranjos are the best I’ve ever had. One in particular was a darker salsa with crushed almonds. I asked if I could buy a bottle of it, but Los Naranjos doesn’t sell this one other than as a serving with each meal. They saw how much I liked this particular salsa, though, and the chef made up a couple of plastic containers for me to take home.

Inside Los Naranjos. It’s rare to see it this empty. On Sundays, it’s a favored destination for Mexican riders and it’s packed.

Susie and I split a shrimp omelet for lunch. This was just half of the normal serving.

Los Naranjos is part of a larger country estate. You can walk around the grounds and take in the interesting sculptures, birds, tilework, and more. I also found out that there’s a 30-room hotel on the premises, something I did not know before this trip. I think a stay there will find its way into a future Baja itinerary.

To put all this in perspective, all the recent blog posts about Tecate and the Ruta del Vino described what Susie and I did in less than 24 hours. We rode down from the Los Angeles area in the afternoon on a Thursday, crossed the border into Tecate around 4:00 p.m, had our great dinner at Amores that night, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos the next morning, we explored downtown Tecate later that morning, and did our trip along the Ruta del Vino in the afternoon. Then it was back up to the border to get back into the US that afternoon.

Waiting in line to cross the border. The Wall already exists. That’s the US on the other side. It would have been a lot quicker getting through on the motorcycles.

Wall art as we waited to cross the border. Photo by Susie.

Getting back to the border is not too hard to do, and the lines to get back into the US are generally better than they would be in Tijuana. Just follow the Ruta del Vino back into Tecate, and as you near the center of town, watch for the Garita (border) signs. You have to turn off to the right and parallel the US border for a mile or so, and then make a U-turn to get in line. On this last visit, because we were in the Subie, we had to get in the car line, and our wait was about an hour (you’ll want to take a restroom break before you get in line). If you’re on a motorcycle, though, you can get through a lot easier. Just find your way through Tecate to the point where the line of cars approaches the US border crossing, squirt through an opening in the K-barriers, and cut the line. We do this all the time on the bikes.

And folks, that was our whirlwind one-day Tecate junket. I liked this approach where instead of zooming up and down the peninsula, we selected a particular place and explored it in some detail. I’d like to do that in the San Quintin area on a future trip…there are some cool things down there. Anyway, Joe G and I are headed to Baja later this month on the motorcycles. Stay tuned; it’s going to be another grand trip!

Tecate…

Getting into Mexico through Tecate is about as easy as it gets. All you need to do is find your way to California Highway 94, which twistiliciously parallels the border below Interstate 8 (the mind-numbingly boring slab that runs from San Diego into Arizona). Roughly 25 miles east of where 94 originates near San Diego, you’ll see Highway 188. Highway 188 is only a mile long, it turns due south off 94, and it runs right into Tecate.

On the US side, Tecate is little more than the US Customs and Immigration station with a couple of buildings scattered along the road. Just keep riding south. You’ll see the signs warning you not to bring guns into Mexico (duh), and suddenly, you’ve entered Mexico. There is no Mexican border control officer. You just ride right in. You can do that going south. Don’t try it in the other direction, though.

I guess I should mention, too, that you’ll need your US passport. You can get into Mexico without showing your passport, but if you want to get back into the Estados Unidos, well, you get the idea.

The place to get your Mexican tourist visa is a bit complicated to get to. Well, sort of. It’s right there as you enter Mexico, the first building on the right, once you’ve crossed the border. You’ll bounce over a couple rows of Bots Dots (those annoying grapefruit-sized metal domes). The drill is to park (but there’s no place to park), walk across the road you just rode in on, hoof it back to the Mexican customs building (but there’s no sign on it), walk around the road through a gate as if you were walking out of Mexico, cross back again, and, if you’re like me, wonder what you’re supposed to do next. Look for the steps, go up a half a flight, and then enter the Mexican immigration area. There are no signs. Just wander around looking like you’re lost (you won’t have to act, because you will be), and ultimately, somebody will ask if you need help. I get the feeling not too many people actually get a visa when they enter Mexico. But you’re supposed to. There. I’ve said what I’m supposed to.

When you get back on your bike (or in your car), continue south on the street you came in on, and you’ll immediately see the sign telling you yep, you’re here…

A better view of the sign welcoming you to Tecate. Note the sign below…the wine country is straight ahead. Baja wines are quite good. We’re pointed due south in this photo.

Tecate is laid out kind of like a T, with the top of the T following the border to the east and the west, and the long part of the T heading south toward the Ruta del Vino wine country. The drill here is to go a block or so past the Tecate welcoming banner you see in the photos above until you T into Avenida Revolución, and then turn right. If you go about a mile or so, you’ll see one of the two places I stay when I’m Tecate. It’s the Hotel El Dorado. It’s okay and it’s not expensive. My preferred place to stay, though, is the Hotel Hacienda, which is another mile east on the same Avenida Revolución. The Hacienda has that amazing Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos restaurant I wrote about in the ExNotes blog yesterday in a connected building. The Hacienda also has more secure parking (they lock up the parking lot at night). I think the rooms at the Hacienda are a wee bit nicer, too. The price at both places is about the same, and they are both on the right side of the road as you continue west.

Hey, one thing I ought to mention is that Mexico has stop signs that look exactly like ours, but somehow they are way harder to see. If you’re approaching an intersection, start looking for a stop sign. They won’t jump out at you.

You’ll see plenty of gas stations, and in Tecate the gas stations take credit cards (that’s not always the case further into Baja). Until recently, Pemex was the only gas you could buy in Mexico. Being a government company, though, Pemex ran out of money for exploration (and then they started to run out of gas), so the Mexican government now allows other oil companies. We saw BP, Chevron, and ARCO stations in Tecate.

Tecate is dominated by the Tecate Brewery, which is the tallest thing in town. The brewery is smack dab in the center of town, and you literally can see it from just about anywhere. They used to offer brewery tours, but alas, I was unable to book one. Maybe they still do, but neither the phone number nor the email address on the Tecate website worked for me. I wandered onto the Tecate factory grounds to try to get a tour, but I struck out. A worker told me the Tecate Beer Garden is still open, but there were no tours. He said the Beer Garden was well hidden between two iron-grated doors. He was right. We couldn’t find it.

The Tecate brewery dominates the Tecate skyline. You can see the plant from anywhere in town.

Mexico’s post office uses motorcycles for delivery. The bikes we saw were CG clones offered by Italika. It looks like a cool job.

So, imagine you’ve just crossed the border into Mexico and you are at the apex of that T described earlier (the T that is Tecate). If you turn right and head west on Mexico Highway 2, you’ll eventually run into Tijuana (although why anyone would ever want to do that is beyond me). If you turn left and head east on Mexico Highway 2, you’ll eventually run into the Rumarosa Grade (a very scenic place described earlier in our blogs about the Janus trip) and then Mexicali. If you go straight and head south on Mexico Highway 3, you’ll leave Tecate and dive deeper into Baja. Highway 3 becomes the Ruta del Vino and it is a fabulous ride through the northern Baja wine country. Highway 3 ultimately intersects Mexico Highway 1 (Baja’s Transpeninsular Highway) and the Pacific Ocean at the northern edge of Ensenada.

We’ll pick up with the Ruta del Vino in tomorrow’s blog, so stay tuned!

The Ruta del Vino…a fabulous ride through northern Baja from Tecate to Ensenada.

Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos!

Jonathan and Pablo at Amores in Tecate. You can read about our dinner there in yesterday’s blog. When we asked Jonathan for a Tecate breakfast recommendation, his answer was immediate and unequivocal: Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos!

I wanted a quick overnight trip to Tecate to grab a few photos of the roads into and around the city, and some photos inside the city, for a story I’m writing about the place as a superb moto destination. Sometimes you just have to go with what awaits, though, and what awaited Susie and me on this trip was an unexpected discovery: Tecate is a foodie’s paradise!

So here’s the deal…at the end of our completely world-class dinner at Amores on Friday, I asked Jonathan (the head chef) for a breakfast recommendation. He smiled and said the best place in town, and his personal favorite, was Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos. Jonathan explained that this restaurant not only prepared regional specialties, but they had researched historical specialties from all over Mexico and their breakfasts were superb. I asked how to get there, but I was feeling the effects of the huge glass of Cabernet and my five-course Amores dinner, and I was only half-listening to Jonathan’s directions. They were complex, and he was giving me street names and directions I couldn’t follow. All of sudden, Susie jumped in because she heard something I missed. “The Hacienda Hotel?” she asked. “That’s where we’re staying!”

Talk about a small world…I had stayed at the Hacienda Hotel several times before, and I never noticed the Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos restaurant. I think that’s because I usually check in at night, and I’m on the road early the next morning. Sometimes you need to slow down and smell the roses, I guess. The next morning (yesterday morning), Sue and I enjoyed one of the best breakfasts ever in our new good buddy Alicia’s Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos. It was wonderful. They opened at 8:00 a.m. We were waiting at the door when they did so.

The Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos restaurant. It shares a driveway and parking lot with the Hacienda Hotel, my favorite in Tecate.

Alicia’s restaurant specializes in authentic dishes as mentioned above, and in using varieties of corn for their tortillas, empanadas, and other dishes from different regions of Mexico. The restaurant also emphasizes the culture of the Kumiai Native Americans, a tribe from the Tecate area (something I was not aware of prior to our breakfast yesterday).

A Kumiai doll on display inside the Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos restaurant.

Artwork abounds in the Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos restaurant. We saw this young lady as soon as we entered.

The buffet line awaits. The aromas were inspiring. I thought I was hungry when we entered; the feeling intensified when we encountered the selections. The coffee was extra special (more about that in a bit).

Maria, one of the friendly folks who took care of us yesterday morning. The steam and flavors were intoxicating.

So, about that buffet…allow me to share with you just a few photos of the Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos selections…

A beef dish. It looked (and tasted) wonderful. I could do a photo essay just on the buffet line.

Eggs, prepared the way I like. Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos also offers omelettes prepared to your tastes with a variety of authentic ingredients, but the buffet line was so overwhelming we decided it alone was enough. It was more than enough, actually.

A pork selection. I had pork the night before and I didn’t sample this, but it smelled delicious.

Cheese empanadas, with a pastry shell that provided flavors that were out of this world. A few minutes later, Maria brought out more…and they were chicken empanadas. They were delicious.

Coffee, Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos style. There were clay cups in from of this pot, and you ladled the coffee into your cup as if it were soup. The coffee has cinnamon and brown sugar already mixed in. It was unquestionably the most exotic and most delicious coffee I’ve ever tasted. Wow, was it ever good!

Sue and I were lost in the grandness of our morning meal, and we both commented on our surprise that Tecate had such incredible restaurants. While we enjoying our buffet selection, Maria brought a plate with their specialty corn tortilla shells and eggs. It was yet another delicious and unexpected treat…

Thick, fluffy, regional corn tortillas caressing fried eggs. What a treat!

We met and spoke with Alicia, the Malinalli Sabores Autóctonos owner, after our fabulous breakfast. Alicia told us the story of her restaurant. Her pride in what she was doing was evident. It was a grand experience.

You might be wondering…what did this magnificent morning meal set us back? For both of us, it was $11.13. That’s US dollars. Not only was Tecate proving to be foodie paradise, but the prices were stunningly low. $11. Wow!

Folks, trust me on this…time in Tecate has to be on your bucket list!

Hey, on another topic…here are a few updates from our advertisers. For starters, you can bet I wore one of my R Heroes USA shirts on this trip, as I knew we might hit some cold weather. Here’s a photo Susie snapped of yours truly as we went deeper into Mexico later that day at one of the Ruta del Vino wineries…

Do I have a career as a male model? I think not, but this photo in the L.A. Cetto Winery shows my R Heroes USA workshirt well. I’ve been wearing this shirt for 10 years!

I wanted to mention that if you’d like to purchase one of these grand shirts, here’s the link to see. It will take you to a page that finds your closest R Heroes retail outlet. Trust me on this, folks…if you ride, you need one of these shirts in your life!

A Mexican police officer in a truck just like this one came over and directed me to get into another line. If he had wanted to see my insurance papers, BajaBound had me covered.

Next topic…I was sure glad I had my BajaBound insurance on this trip. It’s what I use on every trip across the border. Bajabound is inexpensive, it’s good (I know guys who needed to submit claims and they pay promptly), it’s easy to get online, and it’s required. You have to have Mexican insurance when you visit Baja. We had a Mexican police officer direct us into a different line as we waited to cross back into the US yesterday. I felt secure in the knowledge that if he wanted to see my insurance paperwork, I was covered!

The Blue Rim Tours Four Corners Tour starts at the end of May. Check it out!

And hey, more good stuff…our good buddies at RoadRUNNER magazine are hooked up with Blue Rim Tours, and they are offering an amazing Four Corners Tour later this year. Having visited the places this tour touches on, I know this is going to be a good one.

And folks, that’s a wrap. The rains have returned to So Cal. We had a nice window of good weather, and the Tecate trip was a blast. Stay tuned…there’s more good stuff coming your way!

A Tecate sunrise…

The sunrise part will actually be a bit later this morning. Last night, in Tecate, was stellar.

Gresh and I are heading into Baja later this month, but life is what happens while you’re making plans and Joe and I both felt it was best to push the trip out for a couple of weeks. I’ve got a wedding to get to, Joe Gee is busy pouring concrete and getting his new tractor online, and before we knew it, our current activities and those of the next few days ganged up on us. We ran out of time for our planned 2019 10-day Baja expedition. It’s gonna happen, but not this weekend. Give us a couple more weeks.

Still, I had the urge to cross the border, and specifically, to visit Tecate. I have a story due for one of the magazines, and Susie and I decided to drive the 147 miles and spend the evening in this fine northern Baja town. Yep, it’s dateline Tecate. It’s where we are now.

Getting here and getting the trip together was a snap. Throw a few things in an overnight bag, grab the Nikon and a couple of fast lenses I like, get my BajaBound insurance for one night in Mexico (it was ridiculously inexpensive and it’s the only one I use when I’m in Baja), and we were off. Three hours later, we crossed the border into Mexico.

Susie and I felt like a fancy dinner last night. You might be wondering…in Tecate? Oh, yeah. Amores is definitely the place for fine dining in Tecate. Dinner there is a world class gourmet event. Amores is tucked away in a hidden corner of this border town, and it is, to borrow a phrase, an Epicurean delight (I love that word, but I confess I don’t know what it means…if there’s a place called Epicurea, tell me about it and Gresh and I will ride our motorcycles there).

Our Tecate dinner was exquisite. We opted for five-courses (Amores has options that go up to seven courses). Each course was better than the previous one, and the first course was awesome. Yep, it just kept getting better and better.

Here you go, folks…enjoy!

Susie in Amores, in Tecate, Baja, Mexico. We could tell right away…this was going to be good! Amores is a bit tough to find, and the exterior offers no clues as to what awaits inside. But find it, enter, and an amazing experience unfolds.

Adriana pouring our wine. Sue opted for the Merlot; I had the a Cabernet. Everything served in Amores is local; these wines are from northern Baja vineyards.

Bread baked in Tecate. Jonathan, the Amores Master Chef, told us that Tecate is known throughout Mexico for its breads. Who knew? The bread was exquisite, as was the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, the onion jelly (it had incredible flavor), and the locally-prepared kimchi. Kimchi! In Tecate! Go figure! Again, who knew?

Course No. 1: Our salad. But not just any salad. Hydroponic lettuce (grown in water), hot and cold vegetables with thin pear slices, and an amazing blend of tastes. Just exquisite!

During our dinner, I snuck over to the kitchen. That’s Jonathan, the Master Chef. He visited with us several times during our meal, which made it even more enjoyable.

Another photo of the kitchen crew hard at work. We were having a great time.

Course No. 2. We weren’t sure what it was, until Pablo, one of the two chefs, came over to explain it to us when I asked for a fork. They brought a soup spoon, and I learned that I was looking at baby octopus. Still, why a soup spoon?

Ah, yes…the tomato-based soup, poured over the octopus at our table. Again, it was delicious.

Course No. 3. Susie and I both opted for freshly-caught Baja corvina. It was delicious.

But wait…there’s more! This was my Course No. 4: Pork, and it was even better than the last course! There are two cuts of pork here and both were wonderful.

Susie’s Course No. 4: Chicken. I tried a little bit and it was yet another wonderful dish. These guys are world class!

And finally, our last course: Dessert. That’s a homemade cake adorned with assorted fruits and a blackberry sorbet nestled in brown sugar. It was as good as I’ve ever had anywhere in the world, and it made for a fitting finale to our grand Tecate evening.

You know, Tecate is a gritty, industrial border town that anchors the northern end of the Ruta del Vino and is home to the Tecate Brewery. I would have never imagined this kind of dining was available here. Los Angeles, sure. New York City, you bet. But Tecate? Who knew?

We’re going to try to get a tour of the Tecate Brewery today, and then it’s on for a quick run south on the Ruta del Vino to the L.A. Cetto vineyard for olive oil, olives, a bit of wine tasting, and of course, a bottle or two of wine to take home. Good times, folks!

200 miles, twisties, and oh-these-temps!

Devin and Jordan with the Janus motorcycles riding into Idyllwild, California. We were at about 6000 feet when I took this photo.

It is bitter cold tonight and it was cold all day. I don’t know who the stronger troopers were today…the motorcycles or the guys from Janus. Think twisties, 200 miles, and temps just above freezing for much of the ride. Throw in breathtaking scenery and exhilarating riding, and you’ll pretty much have it nailed. That’s what our day was like. It was great.

It was cold when we left, and the Janus guys (Devin, one of the founders, and Jordan, their PR guy) had to have been exhausted even at the start of our ride. Their flight to California was delayed last night, and when they got in at 2:00 a.m. this morning, there were no taxis at the airport. It was a mile to the hotel. They hoofed it. With their luggage and their riding gear. Hard core, to be sure. And then, we were on the road at 8:00 a.m. Do the math, folks. These guys are hard chargers.

The Janus Gryffin, a stunning motorcycle.

We climbed about 1500 feet just getting from Ontario to Beaumont on Interstate 10, but that was no problem for the Janus motorcycles and their CG engines. We purred along, we had a Beaumont breakfast in a small Mexican restaurant, and then we hopped on 243 for a twisting climb up to Idyllwild (Idyllwild is a pine-scented mountain village that sits at just over 6,000 ft). Yowsers, was it ever cold! How cold? We had to watch ourselves in the corners that were still in the shade, because the ice hadn’t melted yet. Yep, that’s how cold it was. And we rode through it.

We trekked south on California 371 and 79 to Julian, stopped for lunch (hot tea and chili for me), and continued our adventure south. Today was a twisties extravaganza almost all day. I’ll probably feel the g-forces in my sleep tonight…they were nonstop as we leaned left, leaned right, rolled off and then back on the throttle, and rode on some of the best roads in southernmost California. And yep, we saw that flock of wild turkeys along the 79 (about 150 of them; they were an amazing sight). It’s San Felipe tomorrow via Mexico’s Rumarosa Grade on Highway 2 east out of Tecate, and then on to Highway 5 south for the easy roll through the volcanic fields into San Felipe. It should be a warmer ride, and I can sure use some of that!

You probably want to know: What are the Janus motorcycles like? Here’s my take: They are exquisitely crafted and they are beautiful. Fit and finish rival anything available today (or at any other time). They handle well. The CG engine has a familiar feel to it, and it’s one I like. And to no one’s surprise, the motorcycles drew a crowd wherever we parked them. At breakfast and lunch we parked the bikes where we could see them, and folks could not walk by without stopping and taking photos. It was impressive. A young guy named Dave (who works at a Vespa dealership) chatted us up for several minutes. Dave knew about Janus but these were the first ones he had seen, and he made no bones about his feelings: He was impressed. My thought is that even folks who don’t know anything about motorcycles can instantly see that these bikes are something special.

Fun times, folks. Stay tuned…there’s more good stuff coming your way!