We road-tripped yesterday to Amatain which is very near the town of Tequila. First stop was at Casa Herradura which is a genuine hacienda that is also the headquarters for distilling and producing Casa Herradura tequila. We quickly learned it is now owned by Jack Daniels (yep, they sold Jack Black in the gift shop!) and that the casa grande (main residence) was not part of the sale and is still privately owned and used as a weekend residence by the owner.
By 11:30 we were watching a video about the history of the place and sipping tequila shots – a bit early in the morning for me and even though we sampled the “good” stuff (aged for 4 months) it still gave my throat a good burn.
We had lunch on a covered deck overlooking a huge lake – at first glance it looked so pretty and blue but close up it was quite polluted and we saw several snakes swimming on top. No mid-day swimming for our group. The house specialty was frog legs which several in our group had – complete with their tiny little feet still attached. YUCK! I opted for shrimp served in a spicy red sauce with cheese and served in a lava bowl. The meal included tortillas in which you put the shrimp, sauce and slices of cooked cactus (very good) and then ate like a fajita.
Our next stop was at a cultural center near some recently excavated round pyramids. We saw an ancient video that left about half of our group dozing while the tour guide entertained himself by making shadow pictures on the screen with his hands. No one ever accused our group of being classy!
We toured the attached museum and then went to see the pyramids which were discovered in the early 1960s – one is still under construction so we were able to climb on it.
Last evening we were guests in the home of local artist and musician Pacco Padillo. We had visited his pottery shop earlier in the week and he invited us for drinks and tapas in his home which is just a few blocks from our hotel. The homes are located right on the street behind iron-barred doors and give no indication of what’s inside.
His home was centered around an open courtyard and we sat on a wide covered veranda and enjoyed some 20-year old tequila which was quite a contrast to the 4-month old stuff we’d had earlier. I could have sipped a lot more of it but after a beer at the start of the evening – and knowing I had to walk home – I decided to use a bit of discretion.
One of his local guests was Lilya who owns a shop here and grew up in the B&B where we are staying – so of course we have to visit her today to see her jewelry and handbags.
Pacco brought out his guitar and played several songs for us – my favorite was his rendition of “Eleanor Rigby”. Another stop today will be to return to his studio and purchase a CD.
Today’s another day of sunshine and fun – I could get used to this life.
