“You’re here at that moment. ” He returns in November. ” Whale sharks prefer winter.
While exploring the Mexican state of Baja California Sur in July, those choirs have become so common that I began to end the prayers of the locals. However, the decision was not limited to synchronizing my vacation with the migration of wildlife or the maturation of baby sea lions; Instead, he needed a break from the 16 months of cloistered monotony they experienced in the New York Catskills pandemic.
I didn’t care if summer in Mexico and Los Cabos might just burn, I needed to work out with my passport and set my eyes on a beach, preferably a beach in front of the infinity pool of the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, with a pool bar. serving very spicy and smoked mezcalitas throughout the day. The Waldorf would be the first foreign hotel I had entered since 2019.
When the pandemic first broke out, expressed as bloody bubbles on CNN’s virtual map, I felt lucky to have a literal cabin in the woods to escape virus-riddled Manhattan.
But in the spring of 2020, with a double dose of Moderna on my arm and a dark, endless winter that upstate New Yorkers call spring, I hit the proverbial wall. He was a travel writer, grounded and unaccustomed to nesting, restless and in a position to go.
As the virus faded and overseas looked promising, I booked flights with miles from United to Cabo. I scoured internet sites and reviews, looking for something luxurious, on the coast, that felt far removed from the notoriously fierce crowd of Americans.
Dozens of high-end logos have outposts in Cabo San Lucas, each of which rivals wealthy Californians who travel by plane for weekend getaways. In the end, I chose a King room with an ocean view and a deep sink in the Waldorf. I’m curious to see how an old hotel in the city translates its logo identity into a Mexican desert.
The website warned me that Cabo would be hot; Instead, the weather in early July was very good at 80 degrees with a breeze. Back home, the northern states stretching from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, roasted under a heated dome. A contradictory flight of northerners from the 45th to the 23rd parallel?I tried to reject concepts about climate change with every sip of my watermelon cocktail, seeking to live in the moment rather than in the unknowns of the long term.
Living on site is not complicated at the Waldorf. From each and every friendly welcome from the staff, from each and every patient with my Spanish in high school, to the sound of the ocean pounding the rocks at night, the active ones mobilized all my senses simultaneously.
For starters, the hotel is a visual dinner worthy of a photographic setting: delicately in the taro tones of dusty scenery, it unfolds over 24 acres of steep rocks at the southern tip of the peninsula.
It turns out that the dining room is at the end of the world.
Against the lavender and peach tones of a fading sun, I drank bubbles on the terrace of El Farallón, the only genuine champagne bar in Cabo. The sommelier, tall and thin, casual in morel linen, wore a matching mask. the mouth he covered, I can see the joy he felt in sharing wine with visitors in his smiling eyes.
He served 3 champagnes and explained how he combines them with sea salts. “The minerality of Champagne affects the mineral content of salts,” he said.
Knowing that salty fries and bubbles go hand in hand like, well, salty fries and bubbles, I sold.
With the Blanc de blancs of Ruinart, changed to a rosé of Henriot, and ended with the harvest dom Perignon. The chords: a Hawaiian black, Himalayan rose and brown smoked salt, respectively.
From the edges of the forest, literally and mentally trapped in a perpetual state of Anxiety fueled by Covid, to relaxing over the Pacific Ocean, drinking wine in the summer breeze, my eyes too with a little joy.
Dinner at El Farellón with a spot of new seafood, a dazzling cup of steak accompanied by Mexican Cabernet Sauvignon and topped with a plate of highly seasoned cinnamon and crispy churros dipped in caramel under the bright stars, one of Baja’s most productive meals.
After a few minutes of savoring the remaining night, we staggered from our seats and walked around the quietly lit property. I saw the edited xeriscapes of drought-resistant agaves; after 18 months with a garden, he had a new obsession with plants.
The party continued the next morning with a knock on the door. Before I left, my non-public concierge appointed by the hotel helped me book a floating breakfast for the pool on the terrace. For fun, I created an IG reel of the preparation, I watched as the waiter put a basket of plastic wicker in the pool. Then I got into the cold water for dinner in a suit with new fruit, eggs benedict and Mexican pastries for breakfast.
I once left the assets to the fish tacos of Baja California, a noble reason. Then I temporarily hurried for a few hours through the pool.
As on all trips, Mexico was too fast and I didn’t see enough I returned to New York hungry to see (and eat) more Baja California Sur delicacies, knowing it would never be a bad time to stop in Waldorf. Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal.
For photographs of the trip, my IG ChasingtheVine page.
As a contributor to Travel Editor Wine Enthusiast, I see the global prism of drinking.