Made it to the beach

We left our Walmart parking spot in Xalapa at almost 11:00am and headed out on the main highway towards Veracruz City. It wasn't very far until our first stop at the Hacienda del Lencero.

The house at the hacienda dates back to 1525. It was one of the original Spanish haciendas located along a trade route where some Spanish were granted lands to establish inns, making the town of Xalapa and the surrounding region a mandatory passage area.

By 1830, it became the property of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna... the 8th President of Mexico who served on various occasions between 1833 and 1855.

There was a 60 peso ($4.75 CAD, $3.50 USD) entrance fee per person.

So nice to see it with a bit of blue sky and some sunshine for a change!

There is a large garden to explore with some interesting plants.

Red torch ginger flowers!

The house itself is a museum showcasing furniture from various periods in its history.

There is a chapel on the property, built sometime in the late 1700's.

We followed an overgrown path that led to this old fountain.

These are taro plants growing in this field.

The chapel.

Fancy 4 poster bed.

This wagon had a small plaque on the back saying it was made in Indiana.

The kitchen.

The sitting room.

View from the second floor.

Texas was an independent country between 1836 and 1845, so that's obviously the time period that this map is from.

Another old map of Mexico.

The games room.

Big tree roots!

That was a good stop, and we enjoyed wandering around. We had two more stops to make where we thought we might be able to overnight, but neither one of them turned out to be worthwhile. The first was a viewpoint...

Overlooking a valley. GPS 19.431823, -96.702376

But not suitable for an overnight.

The next was a restaurant at the top of a hill. 

But the gate was locked.

Another view.

So, we continued on towards the coast. We were headed to the Gulf Coast north of the city of Veracruz to Chachalaca Beach. We have been to this beach before... but not since November 30... 2008!

Stuff for sale along the way.

Nursery.

We're here!

Welcome to Playa de Chachalacas.

We chose the El Manglar Beach Club.

GPS 19.435773, -96.321629

300 pesos ($23.65 CAD, $17.30 USD) per night.

We went for a short walk on the beach.

Ruth, dipping her toes in the Gulf of Mexico. 

This fellow was actually really shy, but he liked the fact that we had doggie biscuits for him!

We're only staying the one night though. It's hot here... it's already 28C (83F) and it's not even 9am yet. We've got one more overnight possibility before we get to the city of Veracruz, where we actually have a hotel booked for Friday night! More about that later.

Yesterday's drive, 99 kms (61 miles).

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Fantastic deal on these Sony Wireless Headphones.

And in Canada...

Record low deal on this big EcoFlow Power Station with 30 amp RV outlet.