Hermosillo, Mexico

To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, when a man is tired of Mexico he is tired of life and death.  My short time here has been just splendid:

1. From the air one sees many enclaves of small condominiums and townhomes, a' la Orange County.  This is the Mexico of the future.

2. When it comes to median income, this is the wealthiest part of Mexico I have seen.  It is not a city of peaks and excess, but real poverty is hard to find.

3. The town is neat and orderly and the streets lie in a near-perfect grid.  Imagine Mexico run by the Swiss or the Singaporeans.

4. Downtown there appear to be more Chinese than Mexican restaurants.  The Chinese, however, came here in the 1880s, and have since had little contact with Szechuan grannies.  Imagine them having imported the menus for Chinese food, but not the recipes, and trying to recreate those titled dishes using their imagination and Mexican ingredients.

5. The weather is truly perfect.  In January, that is.

6. My guide insists on telling people I am from the more-recognized "Carolina," even though he knows full well I live in Virginia.

7. The town square has lovely fig and orange trees; both fill with squawking blackbirds as night approaches.  Otherwise there is absolutely nothing to see here in the way of tourist sights.

8. Sonoran beef compares favorably to that of Argentina.  Eat in Jardin Xochimilco, better yet are the street places.

9. The flour tortillas are much grainier (and better) than what we receive in the States.  They are wonderful toasted over burning sugar cane.

10. Try the coyota, the town specialty.  It is the most delicious baked sweet I have sampled, ever.  Scroll down to this recipe.  A coyota alone is worth the price of the trip, which was only $120 and 75 minutes from LA.