Día De Los Muertos
My brother wanted to visit my niece, and asked if I wanted to go along. And of course, my answer was yes. Driving down, we ran into a lot of car issues, and got there late.
We took the elevator up, and met a new rambunctious family member named Jordan that my niece recently adopted form a shelter. He does not replace Bisci. Bisci will always be in our hearts. But Jordan is a welcomed addition. I've never seen a cat who fetches a ball. Ellie thinks that the spirit of Bisci is within him. Who knows? I've seen so many strange things in my life that this idea may not be that far off.
We decided to have dinner at Old Town San Diego, a short drive from where my niece lives. What we did not expect were the crowds, and the long restaurant lines. At first we thought it's because it was Sunday. Wrong. It was Día De Los Muertos—The Day of the dead celebrated On Nov 1-2 in honor of family and friends who have passed on.
We didn't feel like waiting in long lines, and circling the area for parking. So, we ended up at Old Town Tequila Factory. The food was meh, and lacked flavor.
I had the vegetable Fajita, my niece the steak, and my brother chicken quesadilla. The menu is limited, and if you're vegan, skip this place because they don't have much to offer. On top of that, the service is super slow.
On the positive, our server had a good sense of humor, and was super nice, and the views were pretty. However, It's best to wait six months to give this place a try, to give them time to get their act together.
After dinner, we went for a walk to check out the celebration and the shops.
They have face painting. You can watch women make tortillas from behind the window. Or you may want to roam around the various small stores.
The atmosphere is festive. everyone is relaxed, and in fun mood. It felt good to be there after weeks of being sick, seeing three different doctors for an eye infection that would not go away, and not being able to see or do much because I couldn't open my right eyelid.
Moving on to The Day of The Dead. Families set up an altar with marigold, candles, picture of the departed, and an offering of food and drinks that the deceased used to enjoy.
Orange marigolds are to attract the dead to the offerings of their favorite foods, families visit the cemetery to celebrate the dead, clean their grave, and bring food to share with their ancestors. They eat special foods like Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead which is sweet bread), tamales, mole negro (chocolate and chili sauce), and red pozole (a stew of chicken and pork).
Monarch butterflies are another symbol of Día De Los Muertos. They symbolize the spirit of the ancestors, because they arrive in Mexico around the same time as this holiday celebration.
Disney wanted to trademark the name Día De Los Muertos in 2013 for their Pixar film. Feeling that this was a disrespect to the day devoted to their ancestors, activists made a lot of noise, and got more than 20,000 signatures to stop Disney from moving forward. Disney was eventually pushed to change the name of their Pixar to Coco.
