Here's a cruise tip: At the buffet breakfast, get your toast before you get you eggs so that your eggs don't get cold while you are waiting in line for your toast. I guess that you can tell what I had for breakfast.

Ann wasn't feeling well this morning. It might have something to do with her meal in Puerto Vallarta yesterday. With some guilt, I left her in the stateroom to get some rest. Leaving the ship, I asked Kailoa how to walk into Mazatlan. He sent me on to the ladies at the second table. They told me to follow the blue line and that is what I did. There is a blue line painted in the middle of the street that leads to the historic area. The walk is probably a mile. It goes past a middle-class neighborhood with neat, single-story houses. Along the way are tourism volunteers to answer qustions and to keep you going the right way. These volunteers are expats or half-time expats from the US and Canada. They are distinguished by their blue t-shirts. This is an outstanding idea that other tourist towns should adopt. The route also has several tourism police and regular police standing by. Mazatlan is supposed to be safe for tourists. Maybe the appearance of all of these people is why.

long the walk I passed the Angela Peralta Theater, a 19th century Italian-style theater dating to the 19th century and is now an historical landmark. Continuing past the theater I came upon the Plazuela Machado which is surrounded by shops and outdoor cafes. The blue line ended here. A blue-shirted tourist guide told me how to get to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception which was next to the Plazuela Republica filled with lush tropical foliage. This is a Moorish-style 19th century basilica has an impressive exterior and a beautiful interior.

Leaving the church, I wandered over to the Mercado Pino Suarez. Browsing city markets and taking photos is one of my favorite things to do on a trip. This market didn't disappoint me. It had all of the requisites: clothing, hardware, farm produce, meat, fish and booths to eat in.

After the market, I had one of the blue shirts direct me to the beach and The Malecon. This boardwalk is 13 miles long. I wasn't up to walking that far. I concentrated on the southern end near the cliff divers and Olas Atlas Beach. I watched a couple of divers do their frightening swan dives into the turbulent surf before making my way to El Shrimp Bucket for lunch. I ordered a small shrimp bucket and a Pacifico. (Pacifico has a brewery in Mazatlan close to where we docked). My waiter was very friendly and helped me sign onto the local internet. Why not? I was eating alone a didn't have anyone to talk to. The shrimp was OK but not the best. The Pacifico was good. I continued along the malecon past the surfers and sun bathers until I could see the end. Then I headed back to the historical area and followed the blue line back to the ship. There was a shuttle service between the ship and the terminal because we were in a working container port and it was too dangerous for people to be walking around.

I found Ann who was up and felt much better. She went to a movie while I sat in our stateroom and read. From the ship's library I borrowed Joseph Wambaugh's "Hollywood Hills". We went to dinner and then to the evening's entertainment. David Meyer played his synthesized xylophone. He played some incredibly fast pieces a slower tunes with sounds of different instruments.

This is how we got here: