12 November 2010
Sol and Carol joined Louise and me for a day’s outing. We drove out of Mazatlan heading south for about 20 miles and then headed due east and up into the mountains. Hwy 40 was one of those two lane roads that are pushed from the sides with thick brush that want to take over. Our drive took place because of a flyer/map that was left for us at the campground. It advertized this restaurant that sits in this amazing little mining village high in the mountains and specializes in great food topped off with BANANA COCONUT CREAM PIE !!! Well who among us can pass up such an ad??? That’s right, and we were the first to head off to check this out. Our first town that we came to was Concordia.
Concordia is known for mining also but has another specialty as well…furniture. Prior to the city limits of town we started to see these little furniture showroom/manufacturing buildings. Most of them had chairs of all description lining the front of the open-air buildings and others just sat alongside the roadway waiting for someone to stop by and make the purchase of their choice.
Concordia is a small town/village that has a wonderful and used central plaza. As usual, the church sits across the street and looks over the plaza and the centrally located gazebo. Lining all four sides of the plaza we found one bench after another and just about every one of them was occupied. The men of the town find this location as the gathering place to talk of the past and the future of Concordia and themselves. Well with our appetite growing for that Banana Coconut Cream Pie, we ventured off another 20 miles to Copala. We would have missed Copala if it weren’t for Carol’s keen eyes… The turn-off to Copala wasn’t marked very well and even if it had been, I kind of doubted that it was the place to turn anyway. Believe me, it didn’t look like a place to turn to a town or a village that was to represent so much (according to the literature we had anyway…). This was one of those totally hand-laid cobblestone roads that can and will beat the hell out of your car, bus, or truck. There was no visible sign of a town here or ahead, but we continued anyway. Finally we entered into what looked like the beginning of town
but later we found out that it was “town”… the “commercial” buildings didn’t look like businesses but like everyday small “casa’s” (homes). You would have to know who was representing the bakery, groceries, veggies, or what-ever and then knock on their door to make your purchase. The only exceptions were a couple of restaurants and an “artists” gallery next to the church
that opened their doors to the tourist (those of us that ventured out this far…).
Fortunately for the people and businesses of Copala, someone went out and made a deal with the cruise ships and every time one of them makes port at Puerto Vallarta a group boards a bus and heads for lunch with Coconut Cream Pie
and shopping at a “Mountain Village called Copala”.