It was Friday, and that means only one things here in the anchorage…Pizza Night!! The Aluminum Princess is challenged when trying to get to Oscars Marina, where we meet for happy hour and pizza. The pilot house is not made for squeezing between the closely tied boats, and under the spider web of lines. So we left the Princess at home, hitched a ride with our friends on Angel Eyes and headed to the lagoon.

The weather was great for enjoying drinks and conversation on the pier.

While we waited for our pizzas, and awesome garlic knots that come with each order, there was time for a quick photo with some of our anchorage neighbors. Kevin and Marina, on Lucky Seven and Rick and Nancy, on Angel Eyes. We’re going to miss them, when we all head off in different directions soon!

Scott and I have been talking about spending an evening downtown. We have heard that it “comes alive” at night, with music and dancing in the square, and restaurants filled with people sitting down for dinner at 9pm.

On Saturday, we went to shore and walked into town. As we came past the car ferry terminal, there were many people waiting to board as well, which is unusual. Further down the road, we passed the two passenger ferry terminals in town. They were bursting at the seams with people in line to board,  with crowds spilling out into the street. It must have taken some of them hours to get on, as there were far, far too many crammed in line to fit onto one ferry.

There was also an incredibly long line of people waiting their turn for a taxi. The crowd wound down the sidewalk, and blended into the mobs waiting for ferries. We wondered…was there a big event in Cancun that we were unaware of?? Or, had the restaurants in Isla Mujeres run out of food??

We crossed the street, and headed for the square, expecting at any second to hear music, and meet up with a crowd of people. As we approached, things were much quieter than expected. A service for Holy Saturday was being held, so the music had stopped. We decided to go for drinks and food, and come back later for music.

Our first stop was El Patio. We’d heard that they have live music every evening, and had enjoyed drinks at their other location, The Joint. There was no room on the upstairs level, so we had drinks at the main bar, and listened to the music that traveled down from above us.

We then walked to the north end of the busy pedestrian street (which wasn’t nearly as busy as we’d expected). At the last cross street, we eyed a cart selling bacon wrapped hot dogs. We’d heard about this popular Mexican evening snack from a cruiser here, and they intrigued us. Some had cheese oozing out of them, and there were fried onions nearby. As yummy as they looked, we decided to hold off for tacos, and save the bacon dogs for another night.

Continuing on, we wandered back down the street, past the many stores filled with colorful goods for sale.

We stopped at a taqueria for some food, and nearby performers provided dinner entertainment for us.

We chose pastor for the meat in some of our tacos. This interesting looking pork is marinated, vertically spit-roasted and then sliced thin for tacos. It was brought to Mexico from Lebanese immigrants, and despite it’s looks is pretty tasty!

With our bellies full of tacos, we went back to the square, ready enjoy some music and dance. The area had cleared out, and there were just a few people milling around the booths that were still selling crafts. It was disappointing, as we’d been told that things really get going here after 10pm.

We decided to seek out our own music and dancing, and followed our ears to La Terraza, where music was spilling down from the second floor. We’d eaten here on our first day in town, and decided to head up the steps for a drink. The band was great, and we were mesmerized by the people dancing. I swear that their hips must have been on a swivel! We enjoyed some mojitos, and watched couples whirl around the dance floor.

Even though we missed the throngs of people in town, it was still fun to walk the streets and find some new places to eat and drink. Here are a few more photos.

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”