Camaroncito Mariscos San Miguel de Allende

We're Sitting in a small shoebox size room with green painted walls and Glass front fridges displaying Leon, Victoria,Corona and Negra Modelos. The kitchen is a taco cart parked on one side of the room. The plastic wrapped tables are pushed together so much that the back of our wooden Corona chairs are smashed against the table next to us. The young waitress girls sporting jeans 3 sizes too small with a jelly roll hanging out between thier juvenile T-Shirts run from person to person taking orders for Cocktails and offering options such as Serrano chile o' Jalepeno? Crakers o' tostatas? Everything comes out of the Taco cart. I mean everything. All the cocktail glasses are washed in a 5 gallon bucket right below where the limes are getting sliced in half by a young boy and on top of him is an older man spooning up seafood from various bowls and colorful bins. In the center of every table is a motly mix of salsa bottles. Homemade salsa is offered up in recycled plastic oil bottles. We all order Medium cocktails with shrimp and octopus. They arrive at the table with half an avacado sliced and floating on top. As a garnish one large shrimp with it's head and tail still in tact becomes kinda a symbol of Camaroncito. Later as we're making our way into the sea of cocktails the waitress stops by to see if we need more avacado or more chile. Hum.... more avacado? It's Camaroncitos niche. You can get good cocktails in many places but only one serves up so much extras for so little.

Camaronicto is on Salida Dolores just a few doors down on the right from the interesection of Hidalgo and Calzada.

1963 HONDA DREAM 305

It makes me happy. Simple and pure, rough and tough, I ain't never road a bike that had a soul till I rode on a Dream.

Forget the Guns and Stash the Beer!

When I came up to Swim in a bar he lifted his shirt and showed off 6 Victorias lining his waist like he was packing heat in a Mexican Cantina. " Hey Rog, ya wanna beer?" Of course how could I turn him down. Anyone with the forthought and balls to sneak in a full 6 pack of bottled beers has to be someone worth drinking with. I was so impressed with this that not long ago I had to give it a try myself. Of course I thought to myself I'll just carry in one beer hidden under my jacket. I felt like an outlaw making my way through the bouncers at the door. Once in I casually opened my 9 peso beer while rocking to an old Doors tune. It felt good to be a little crazy. Hey I still bought a couple more from the bar that night but the first one was more refreshing.

AQUI ES MI CAMINO

GRUPO " Aqui es mi camino"
Drama. To sum it up Mexico is full of Drama. Notice the hours of service. The timing is right. 8:30 is about the time everyone who wants a drink gets one. 2 times on the weekend, Friday and Saturday when the monkey is calling out to you!
What I find most interesting is how buff the chained Jesus like figure stands naked. A saintly loin cloth covers this near pornographic figure.
Y TU....CUANDO?

Forged Iron work of San Miguel de Allende

Some of the best locations in San Miguel to appreciate forged iron is the Oratorio on Mesones. The Iron windows date back 260 years. On the corner of the Jardin where the new Starbucks is all the iron is forged. Also there are nice examples on the Haciendas around the post office on Correo and Corregidora.

The amazing forged hardware of San Miguel dates back 300 years! Walking around the streets of San Miguel after 7 years still astonishes me. Once you start focusing in on a particular detail in Cantera, Wooden doors,Iron work or Hardware you see the craftsman behind each piece. In this post I'm focusing on Forged Iron mostly found in window railings and gates. Forging is the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. In San Miguel 200-300 years ago this compressive force was done by hand and heat without welding.

Once a person stops and looks they can see the iron has been split open to accomodate the post sliding through. It leaves a large impression in the iron. This work is stronger than casting or welding as it literally moves the form of the iron. This also adds a richness that can almost be tasted. This is the kind of craftmanship that makes a town architecturally interesting.

My wish is that people stop and notice what's around them. The stories are in the details. I want us to Open our eyes to all the beauty around us.

Etsy handmade product and designs

Yesterday I had coffee with a friend and we were talking about selling our designs on line. I was thinking Ebay but it's such a mix and selling our designs there would be difficult. That's when my friend mentioned some bag designers in San Miguel were featured on Etsy. I never heard of it. After she left I went to http://www.etsy.com/ and opened an account. What a great discovery! This site has only things vintage or handmade by the seller. This is cool, a bit crafty but I found some interesting items that have creative designs.
Starburst mirror made from rolled Magazine papers. This piece was created by a designer in Florida. You can find her at C2designs on Etsy.



I love this old cart by Brandmojointeriors. This designer has many tables mixed with new and old material out of the Carolinas.

Cast bronze skull pulls by billyblue22. Bat skulls to be exact.

ShabulousCreations on Etsy has created some playful chandeliers out of Georgia.

CraftieRobot mostly makes bookbags etc. I like this light box with VINTAGE HUMAN ANATOMY OF THE HEART .

Check out http://www.etsy.com/ and see my deisgns under countercultures. I listed my first design yesterday. Look for more in the near future.

Lanterns in San Miguel de Allende

I love the scroll support on the iron. Interesting curls have been added to adorn this lantern in need of repair. I wish San Miguel would go back to gas light lanterns.

From Spanish, Moorish, Spanish Revival, Colonial, Gothic,Contemporary, Art and Crafts, Italian and French. In San Miguel there is a lantern above almost every doorway.
Most of the lanterns are in need or repair. Not an easy thing to do since most they are hanging from peculiar places. What's more interesting than the actual lantern is the iron or wood angels used to support the lanterns.

Twist, twist and twist Spanish Revival style with green glass.

The angel iron support gives these otherwise plain lantern dimention and sets it off the wall.

Made from rin and frosted glass. This lantern looks like a Catherdral.

Typical overall shaped lantern but the rod coming out of the bottom adds interest and picks up the twisted iron work found in the framed squares.

An Elaborate hatched iron work angel reaches out and displays the mellow box shaped lantern.