Thursday, February 24, 2011

Mexican Agave

By SKEETER
After our Disney World visit, we returned to our Georgia Gardens for one day. Yep, I had one day to unpack, do laundry and repack for our Winter Vacation! At times, I do think I am a gluten for punishment.

We checked into our Mobile, Alabama hotel where we were greeted by this unusual Christmas tree. Unusual not due to the Ocean theme, after all, we were at the ocean. Unusual due to being upside down. I found this a most whimsical tree and it made me smile.

I awoke the next morning in time to see this beautiful sunrise from our window! The Saint had the coffee going as I called the remainder of our party (10 people total) to have them share in this glorious sight. You can see the USS Alabama battleship's silhouette.
We sat on the lounger enjoying the sunrise with coffee in hand and also watched as our ride cruised into port!

My gardens suffered with no new pine straw mulching and no major plant purchases last year in order for us to partake in this Winter Vacation with friends. But sometimes, you gotta save a bit here to enjoy life a bit there. Our journey took us to Mexico where the sunrises and sunsets were awesome each day!
The yellow of this Cozumel church popped using the blue sky as a background. I love the colors blue and yellow together. I have toured many churches while living in Europe and I must say this church in Mexico is more of a simple church then the fancy European versions. The Catholics in our group, knelt and said a prayer for our safe journey home.
Our tour then took us to the Tequila Museum. Next to our destination we spotted this building. The sign had us all thinking and giggling. One thing we learned: It is mandatory for everyone calling Cozumel, Mexico home to learn the English language.

Now to the Museum where we also found a Free Pee Pee station.Out front, I had a close up look at the Bougainvillea. I spotted these all over the island and in full bloom. Seeing something in full bloom in the month of December was a treat! I kept watching a Hummingbird buzzing around it but could not get him to pose for me.
To the left of the Bougainvillea was this mass of fruit. I cannot remember the name of it but someone in our party recognised this from his days of living in California. It is edible but tart they said. I love the orange color of the fruit.
The tour of the Tequila Museum was most interesting. Here is an example of an Agave field. I talked about Agave in the past when posting on the Century Plant . These Agave pictured here are not native to this area of Mexico. They are brought there to show the real Tequila making Agave plant to tourist. Just as the French claim fame to Real Champagne, A certain region of Mexico claims fame to real Agave producing Tequila. This Agave does not do well with salt air thus the native region is found away from the ocean in the middle of Mexico. Don't ask me the name of the region as my aging (okay, Tequila drinking) brain does not remember.
An Agave plant must be 10 years old before it can be processed into Tequila. Each year, they trim the leaves of the plant until they have a root ball as large as the one here on display. The ball is cooked and goes through a process to become Tequila.
Once inside, we were free to sample the different tequilas. I had never before seen flavored tequila! I am not a fan of Tequila unless in a margarita but I must admit the almond and coffee flavored along with the blue stuff (Name escapes me) were yummy!

This is my favorite way of indulging in Tequila. Good friends, the beach and some tooty fruity! Oh so refreshing.... This was our second cruise and we are hooked! Only drawback to them is the time goes by way too quickly, sigh but there is always next year! This was our fond farewell from the skies before we headed back home to Georgia. This year I hope to slow down a bit and maybe enjoy some MEXICAN AGAVE, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

16 comments:

  1. A Tequila museum, that's the kind of high culture I would enjoy seeing. Were there free samples?

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  2. The pee pee stations bring a smile to my face. It's what I always look for when out and about-very important! Those agave root balls are really big. They remind me of an insect egg in some ways. Really weird. I had no idea how tequila was made so finding out about the agaves is neat. What a sunrise!

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  3. What a great excursion! Culture, beautiful flowers and countryside, tequila, friends, sunsets and sunrises. And Pee Pee Stations announced in huge letters. That was a hoot. All sound wonderful to me. We really like Monte Alban Mescal.

    Glad you had a great time and made some wonderful memories.

    FlowerLady

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  4. Great photos Skeeter! Those agave root balls are enormous. That Pee Pee station definitely gave me a laugh!

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  5. Wow, definitely looks like the trip was worth skimping on the pine straw!! :) So much sunshine and so many beautiful skies.

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  6. Good Morning everyone! Getting this post together brought back wonderful memories...

    Les, Yep, the bottles you see with the pump on them, were there for Free Samples! There were more flavors on other barrels as well. Also bottles for many different sizes for Sale. Hint, the price’s are not set in stone. You can wheel and deal with them…

    Tina, I wished I had taken pictures of the boiling pots but failed to. I was too busy listening to the explanation of the makings of the brew. The contraptions were like a Steal in the Hills of Tennessee, hee hee. Seeing the Free Pee Pee station brought back memories of when we had to pay to tinkle in Germany. Too funny…

    Flowerlady, Mescal, Hum, you have good taste. We are too cheap to go for the really good stuff. LOL. The Saint has sipped on Patron in the past but I opt out of that one. We had a blast on this trip. On a ship, you are away from phones, cats and all other stuff that takes your attention away from yourself. It was awesome to not have any worrys while on a cruise…

    Dave, I should have had the Saint stand next to them to get the full effect of how large the Agave really is. I was shocked as to how big they were. I wish this museum had people out demonstrating how to cut the stems, dig the root ball, etc. but not so lucky to see that…

    Sweetbay, we hope to take another Cruise this coming winter but we have some major expenses coming up with a home renovation. And I will need pine straw this year. Plus with our harsh winter, I may need to fill in some holes in the gardens this year. We will probably make up for our losses by not eating out as often as we normally do. We are both good cooks so we can play in the kitchen together, LOL…

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  7. Oh the free pee pee stations are just hilarious but as you mentioned about paying to tinkle in Germany I can remember when traveling here in our great country on major highways we had to pay. In the scheme of life it was not all that long ago either.

    I hear you with the church. No matter how fancy things are we just do not have the long lasting wonderfully amazing architecture that they have in Europe. I had been to many large and famous places here but when I first went across the puddle I was just in awe of it all.

    Great post with lotsa info and as always, great pictures. Love the upside down tree.

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  8. Your vacation sounds like a dream.
    I would go for the free station.lol
    Great pics.

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  9. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip! Carla

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  10. Skeeter, you always find the neatest things on vacation! Upside down trees and free pee-pee stations. I remember those pay potties in Germany too. Cleanest ones I'd ever seen.

    Those agave root balls are really unusual. I now have a greater appreciation for tequila. Amazing!

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  11. I've been playing in the garden! Two more planters cleaned and the woods decorations completed for Spring. I am on a roll….

    Hey Miss Jean, the first time I saw the pay for a bathroom, I was a bit appalled. Then once realizing how clean and maintained they were, I had no problem tossing a few coins in the tray. The ones in high tourist area that were priced, got my goat though…

    Lola, it was so funny seeing the sign on the wall and all written in English. They were looking for the tourist buck for sure. We had so much fun and it was such a relaxing trip. I so needed the relaxation from such a sad year last year. Then I got into that winter funk soon after Christmas… Oh well, history now as I am over it!!!

    Carla, I have fun no matter where I seem to go. I think it is in my personality as I know some that take such trips and have a miserable time. Nothing seems to go right for them. But the Saint and I are adventurous and go with the flow, that makes life so much better…

    W2W, I do seem to find strange things. I guess I have an eye for the weird, hee hee… Yes, the bathrooms in Germany were the cleanest of any so paying was not a big deal. Just had to remember to have that coin purse with you at all times! The Saint hates coins but he carried them in Germany. He stopped carrying them once we hit American soil in 2000. LOL….

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  12. Looks so fun and warm there! I've never been on a cruise or to Mexico, both things that sound like a lot of fun. The tequila tour sounded interesting.

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  13. Hey Skeeter girl ! You crazy woman you ;-) I'm surprised they let you in to this museum (if they knew you better they would have had a personal guard on you at all times? LOL)
    Seriously .. what a fantastic cruise and tour of the gardens .. I had seen a program on that part of Mexico that claimed fame to the original tequila creation .. and WOW ! on the agave plants bundled up for the boil down .. ah margaritas !! Strawberry ones !!!
    I'm totally jealous of what a grand time you had girl .. but since you are wishing me Spring (faster than our snail's pace ?) I will try to be nice to you ! wink wink
    This was such a great post and the pictures were perfect ! Thanks for warming me up a little bit ;-)
    Joy

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  14. P.S .. loved the pee pee stations .. while we lived in Holland and all the traveling done, we had to pay every where ! no free pee pee places on that continent !! and you better not need to go in a HURRY (which was me all over the place ? hahaha)
    Joy

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  15. My, you and the Saint do get around, Skeeter! Looks like such a beautiful place. I do appreciate your sharing this, especially since we are headed to Cancun later this spring, and I'm a little apprehensive about traveling to Mexico. Everyone I've talked to, though, says Cancun and Cozumel are perfectly safe. Now I can also rest assured that there are plenty of "pee-pee stations" available, too:)

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  16. Catherine, If You ever get the chance, go on a cruise! We talked about it for years and then finally decided to give it a try in 2009. We loved it so much, that we took a second one in 2010. We gather a fun group of party animals to partake in the fun with us. That makes it even better and so much fun....

    GardenJoy, You know me well, hee hee. I did try those free samples more then once, they should never turn their backs if they dont want you to take seconds. LOL... Yep, we had to pay most every where we went Pee Pee in Germany also. But at least I knew it would be a nice clean place to plop my hiney....

    Rose, we all talked it over and decided that since Cozumel was an island that it would be safe. We did not have any trouble at all but we did keep our guard up at all times. Still, just to be on the safe side, we did not venture off too far from the main tourist areas. I cannot wait to hear about your trip to Cancun. That is one we are interested in also.

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