Mochis to Mazatlán

Our last day in Los Mochis we took a leisurely walk back to the Parque Sinaloa and played with the iguanas and turtles again. We had a delicious roasted chicken for dinner after visiting the Plazuela 21 de Septiembre. Sunday we took the bus to Mazatlán. It seems that in Sinaloa, the bus-merchants have a different style. Kids will hop in the bus walk down the aisle handing out candy and then walk back up the aisle collecting pesos. We just gave back the candy as we are on very strict diets. After a few brief stops in Culiacan and elsewhere, we arrived in Mazatlán. Seems like the bus line we took didn't go to the central bus station, but luckily there was a small army of taxis and pulmonias waiting to take us to our destination. A pulmonia is a golf cart that has a little more power. We decided to take a taxi to our hotel, Hotel Milan. Turns out the hotel is no longer in business! We wandered around old Mazatlán's downtown for a little while, but the hotels seemed a little overpriced for what we would be getting. We spoke to some friendly Canadians (eh?) who recommended we head to the malecon (boardwalk) and see what we could find there. We found Hotel Belmar, on the beach, with negotiable prices - we ended up paying the same to stay here, across from the beach, as we may have down in the old sector in a much crummier place. 
The Hotel Belmar, according to some locals, once housed some very spectacular guests, such as John Wayne and Frank Sinatra.  The place definitely looks like it used to be a glamourous place, but now it is pretty rundown - definitely needs some TLC, but according to what we've read, Mazatlan is not what it used to be as a vacation destination.  Since the 80s, the "high season" is lower and lower and the bartender (see below) said he didn't know if there would even be one this year.   After getting a small room for a negotiated lower price, we got 'upgraded' because the air conditioner didn't work.  As we were moving our stuff, a cockroach jumped out from under the bed.  EW!  Luckily, no more bug sightings in the newer room.
We walked up and down the boardwalk a bit, had dinner at a seafood place next to our hotel and then found a bar called "The Time Machine." The owner of the bar is from Alabama and he married a mazatleca about 27 years ago. In addition they were playing the steelers game on tv and the beers were ten pesos each. We met a few other interesting expats who all seem to be in love with this city. 
This morning we went to the mercado central in old Mazatlán to get supplies for the day. After re-energizing ourselves with an Agua fresca de nanchi which is a small yellow berry, we got some tamales, some pan dulces, and a piece of pumpkin cooked in honey. We took our supplies to the beach, still largely deserted since it's a Monday during the low season, and ate our supplies over the next several hours. Anyway, here we are, the hotel has wifi in the lobby so check Facebook for pictures. We are about to go back to the mercado to retrieve supplies for a beach side dinner. Tomorrow we might head to the Zona Dorada where the big spenders stay.