Two Perspectives: Acapulco

Written by Bessie and Kyle about Mexico. Feelin' confused
Bessie_confused

Acapolco has seen better days really.  It's a tad washed up, working hard to keep its title as a resort town worthy of American tourists.  You've still got the well-groomed beaches and thrills of snorkeling and diving to create a "vacation of a lifetime", but it's obviously just not what it used to be.  It tries hard, but pollution, over-crowding and police corruption have a permanent role here.  Acapulco is a wrinkley-skinned old dame wearing some thick cover-up, nasty blue eye shadow, and too dark of lipstick trying to maintain her smile.

Pacific Coast 30

This used to be Mexico, but it's been so Americanized to welcome tourists, that even the beer tastes Americanized.  Billabong, Tommy Hilfigger, and Señor Frogs paraphenalia line the resort strip here, and locals emulate the big money spenders that keep those stores running.  McDonald's and Wal-Mart are both 24-Hours to accomodate late night beer runs and greasy burger fixes.  The Wal-Mart is by far the largest I've ever seen and even included a Blockbuster, Subway, and McDonald's ice cream cone area.  Kyle and I did indulge in the Wal-Mart experience, despite our promises to avoid spending there, but I couldn't resist the first bag of baby carrots I'd seen since leaving home, and Kyle couldn't pass up the $.50 US 1.5 liter bottle of water, less than half the price of the cheapest place around.  Despite all the tourists in town, there were definitely more locals than foreigners shopping in Wal-Mart, and when we wondered how to get there, all it took was looking at any of the buses for locals, which lists Wal-Mart as one of the 8 main stops.

I have to say that the locals still have personality, and we managed to find it.  First off, to find a place to stay in Acapolco, we weren't on the main strip, but over a ways where mainly locals live, and tourists only go to see these crazy dudes in speedos jump off cliffs into the ocean (see Kyle's perspective).  Pluses of this, were getting away from the resort hooplah, eating some true Mexican food, and the private sunsets from the couch on the comunal balcony of our hotel.  The Hotel Eiffel Tower was a bit divey, but the owners are super nice and it was the best spot in town to watch the sunset and eat our cheap PB&J dinners with a nice cold one with the best seats in town.  We got some truly decent mole in this town, but I still don't get all the hype about that stuff.  It's still a funky tasting sauce to me.

Acapulco - Zi 12
Acapulco - Zi 3  Acapulco - Zi 5


 
It was a decent enough place to hang our bags for a few days, but I won't be recommending it to anyone but spring breakers.

Two Perspectives: Acapulco

Written by Bessie and Kyle about Mexico. Feelin' confused
Kyle_confused

Ah, Acapulco, what should I say about you?  You are somewhere between Dirty Dancing and an aging stripper.  


First, Dirty Dancing.  In that movie there is an aging east coast summer retreat that was mainly frequented by an aging clientel, where the owner was lamenting how young kids don't go there anymore.  Sure, in the end they let the kids do their Dirty Dancing for the crowd (and they say the best line in any movie, ever: "Nobody puts Baby in the corner"), but that is just a small shimmering light in an otherwise aging industry.


Why an aging stripper?  Well, let's picture a stripper in her mid 50s (with clothes on, sicko!) who has spent a little too much time in a tanning bed.  She has half a lit cigarette hanging out of her mouth and her lipstick and eyeshadow just seems to get brighter every year.  Ya, sure, she started in this business to get by but 30 years later, she is stuck in her job without any other prospect of finding another way to pay the bills.  Every year she finds a way to doll herself up and get enough gigs to get by, but she really spends a lot of time looking in the mirror remembering what the glory days were like.


And this, Acapulco, is what you look like to me.  I can see pictures of better days but the buildings are aging, the song and dance is getting stale, and quite frankly, you have some problems to fix.  Your beaches (which are OK at best) and the expensive hotels just mask some serious problems (there is a lot of drug running in Acapulco and we heard more than once that the cops are corrupt).  There's not a lot of pretty things about you, although, I can see that you used to be a very classy place.  And don't think those Spring Break kids are going to help you in the long term.  They're just there to use and abuse you.  You can do better than that.


So, Acapulco, I'll leave you on a good note.  You do have awesome cliff divers:


     



So, you know. you have THAT going for you.

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