After a recuperative breakfast at Taquería Jiménez, we headed out with "D" and did some errands…..like hit the mall and stuff. By the time we returned to the hotel, Samuelo had recovered, and soon enough "D" Dad picked us up and we headed to the family compound in an small fishing village named Paredoncito, located at an estuary on the Gulf of California.
Walk to the back of the compound and this is what you see…..an amazing sight.
Horse drawn carts were ferrying people and shellfish back and forth from the boats. I think they must have a clam factory next door…… Mainly because I was literally standing on a mountain of clam shells!
And this had just been brought over……
Those had actually been prepped for one of the dishes.
The first thing that came out was this…….
This has got to be some of the best shrimp I've ever had! Samuelo was totally in heaven…..Sweet, so tender, so full of flavor.
They also wanted us to try the local chile peppers which were piquins….these tiny peppers are hot, but not unbearable.
The aguachile that came out next was just plain amazing….
They really didn't mess around with this, it was simple, lime juice, salt, onion, and some hot sauce……man this was good. Probably the best I've ever had. I'll never look at aguachile the same again.
After stuffing our selves silly with shrimp, tostadas, etc, etc…..
I headed out back.
There was something mesmerizing about watching the boats come in and go back out….then things slowed down as the sun began to set. It was very beautiful in its own way.
Soon enough, "D"'s Dad said the magic words…"vamos"!
It was time for us to pack up and head back to Ciudad Obregon……
For….would you believe it….dinner????
Using our best Spanglish (a pretty feeble excuse for communication) and a lot of pointing at the menu, we were able to order. We started with margaritas on the rocks:
Along with the drinks, arrived some rather ordinary yellow cheese spread thing and some rather good crackers:
Both Tina and I preferred dipping the crackers into the complex and spicy table salsa:
For our first course, we decided on steamed clams. They arrived dripping in butter on top of some grains of rice on a large plate. This was a generous portion and the clams were fresh and balanced between tender and chewy:
While not the best rendition of steamed clams that I have ever had (I would've liked a little garlic), they were quite serviceable and their flavor was enhanced by squeezes of lime juice:
Along with the clams came our bottle of L.A. Cetto chenin blanc. This dry and fruity white wine from the Guadalupe Valley, which we chose from the modest list of about a dozen Mexican wines, paired nicely with our meal:
We then each had a marlin taco. While not much resembling the smoked marlin tacos at 
This taco was very good, but not "in your face" powerful. What I mean is that the flavor was complex, multilayered, and subtle, adjectives that I do not often use when describing Mexican food. The next time I have this, and I sure hope there is a next time, I will simply spoon salsa all over the taco and eat it as if it were a mini marlin quesadilla.
The shrimp were of excellent size and quality and perfectly cooked, and the sauce was a wonderful complement to them. The main courses were accompanied by okay coleslaw and a tasty truncated cone of buttery rice. We also received a basket of toasty bread, which was great dipped into the that great creamy chipotle sauce:
I was very impressed by both the look and the taste of this dish. Sometimes Veracruz sauces can be much like an Italian pasta sauce, with green peppers, olives, and capers in a thick tomato sauce. At Mr. Choby's, the chef had decided to present the mariscos integrated with an assortment of vegetables. The fish fillet pieces were fresh and tender as was the octopus, and the shrimp, while smaller than Tina's, were also very good. Fresh tomatoes, seafood juices, and olive oil were the basis of the brothy sauce. Even with the frozen peas and carrots, the collection of vegetables (in particular the seeded and deveined jalapeno slices) was excellent and provided color balance and textual variation as well as a variety of tastes. The jalapeno flavor, in particular, added a nice touch of picante spice and capsicum flavor without overwhelming the other ingredients:
We were happy. Our mouths were happy. And when we got the check, our pocketbooks were not too unhappy: