March 31, 2025: Welcome to our March cocktail hour. We’ve returned to the hellscape we have to call home after we wrapped up our trip in Mexico, spending one more day in San Miguel de Allende, and then driving to Querétaro, where we spent three nights. We left Mexico City on Wednesday, March 5, returning home around 4 a.m. on Thursday, March 6. Of course we were immediately barraged with continual Trump/Musk nonsense, cruelty and chaos, which will continue to wreak havoc on the next four years of our lives.
Let’s have straight shots of tequila, with lime and salt, to make our lives here more bearable. I am so envious of all of you out there who do NOT live in the U.S. Believe me, I want out as soon as possible.
I also have a variety of beers, soda or seltzer water for those of you who are calm enough to survive the next four years without angst, anxiety or alcohol.
How did your March go? Did you have a happy Mardi Gras or Carnival celebration before the serious days of Lent set in? Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Did the first days of spring bring any surprises? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family? Did you switch to Daylight Saving Time? Did you celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any winter getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Have you gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?
Last Day in San Miguel de Allende & meeting fellow bloggers/Instagrammers
On Saturday, March 1, we spent our last day in San Miguel de Allende meeting fellow Instagrammers and bloggers, Ben and Peta of Empty Nesters on a Green Global Trek. We met them at the lively Mercado SANO, an organic market with great produce, excellent food, crafts and live music. We enjoyed our time with them, especially commiserating about the state of the U.S. and about people we know in common in Ometepe, Nicaragua. After our time at the market, we took a taxi together to their new home in the San Antonio neighborhood and saw the beautiful home that they recently renovated. After leaving them, we went to Fábrica la Aurora, a large art gallery in barrio Aurora, then visited the cute little Museo la Esquina del Juguete (Toy Corner Museum) not far from our apartment. We took Ben and Peta’s advice and went to El Manantial for dinner, wrapping up our time in San Miguel.
Querétaro
On Sunday, the 2nd, we drove about 1 1/2 hours to Querétaro, checked into our room at Casa Aspeytia, and went out to explore the town. We stopped at the Templo y antiguo convento de San Antonio, walked through Plaza de la Corregidora and a street of shops selling Quinceañera and first communion dresses. In the afternoon, we visited the Museo de Arte de Querétaro, located in a beautiful baroque former convent. We enjoyed a fondue dinner at Bistrot Chez Julien.
San Sebastián Bernal and Peña de Bernal
On Monday, the 3rd, we drove about an hour northeast of Querétaro to visit San Sebastián Bernal and its famous Peña de Bernal. Mike climbed halfway up the rock monolith while I wandered around the charming town. We shared a vegetarian pizza at Terazza and then drove back to our hotel, where we enjoyed 75-minute Swedish massages, the first we had on this trip.
Centro Histórico de Querétaro
On Tuesday, the 4th, we walked around through the Centro Histórico de Querétaro. One of the highlights was MUCAL, the Museo del Calendario, housed in a gorgeous building with numerous flowering courtyards. After a very blah lunch at Yougan Sushi, we visited the Museo Regional de Querétaro, housed in another beautiful monastery. Finally, we visited the Mercado de la Cruz, the city’s large covered market. Our last night, we had a lovely dinner and sunset on the terrace of our hotel, Casa Aspeytia, at the restaurant Terraza la Grupa.
Returning home via Mexico City and San Salvador
We had to drive 3 1/2 hours back to Mexico City on Wednesday, the 5th. We turned in the rental car and checked in at the airport for our 4:50 p.m. flight to San Salvador and then on to Dulles. Sadly, our flight was delayed and we missed our connecting flight, getting us home at 4 a.m. on Thursday morning.
Back in the U.S. hellscape
The moment we landed on U.S. soil, our bliss ended. Every day has been one disgusting travesty after another. Any of you can read about the outrageous behavior of our current administration as they: ruin what was a good economy under Biden; tank the stock market; methodically dismantle the entire U.S. government, including the “soft power” agency of USAID that helped people all over the world; impose outrageous tariffs on our allies; and belittle and threaten Canada, Greenland and Ukraine’s war hero and president Zelenskyy. I despise these incompetent and destructive people with every ounce of my being, and I will never forgive the people that chose this Nazi-loving administration over Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Once we returned home, I had to visit the eye doctor (ophthalmologist). When I had my fitting for new glasses with the optician, he and I had an enthusiastic talk comparing our travels and our love of travel. He gave me his Instagram so I could follow him. When I got home, I looked more closely at his account and found he followed a bunch of right wingers including Charlie Kirk and other slimeballs. I immediately unfollowed him.
It was rather awkward when I went to pick up my glasses. We suddenly were very cold to each other. He obviously had seen my left-leaning posts and I had seen his right. Not even a smile passed between us. I was determined to give him the cold shoulder, which I am VERY good at doing. Funny thing was that he was giving me the cold shoulder in equal measure. Nothing had to be said, because we each knew which side the other was on. This, in a nutshell, is the state of our country today. As soon as I picked up my glasses, I blocked him on Instagram. I will forever blame everyone who voted for our monster president for the demise of our country and the values we once held dear.
Mike and I went to Angelika Theatre to see the Brazilian movie, I’m Still Here, which was incredibly disturbing. It showed what can happen in dictatorships when governments decide to make people “disappear.” Much like Putin and other murderous leaders do today, we can see Trump and his minions “disappearing” immigrants (even those with legal status) because they’ve spoken out again Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza on college campuses. Some Venezuelan men were deported into horrible prisons in El Salvador with no due process and against a judge’s order to turn back the planes. We have descended here into full-blown fascism.
We started watching the newest season of White Lotus, in which obnoxious rich people treat other people like crap. It’s pretty much the story of the day here in the U.S.
We ate crab cakes at Arties and Larb Gai at Vienna Thai and Bar.
Alex turns 34
Alex turned 34 on the 10th in Atlanta, and Jandira treated them both to couples massages and then a nice dinner out. They have hardly used any babysitters since Allie was born, but luckily they were able to get one for Alex’s special day. We had a WhatsApp chat with them to wish Alex a happy birthday.
Costa Rica plans: Preparations are underway
We booked a house near Tilaran, on Lake Arenal, in Costa Rica beginning in June 1. We have it definitely until November 30, with a possible option to stay through March 15. We want to stay in Costa Rica a year, so we’ll see how things shake out with finding another place to live for the remaining time. From Costa Rica, we can easily travel across the border into Nicaragua and visit the family in Ometepe. We hope to have at least four short visits with them while we’re there. Besides that, we want to explore more of Costa Rica, as well as Panama, Guatemala and Belize.
Alex and Jandira have agreed to live in our house while we’re gone which helps them and us at the same time. We’ll have the added benefit of coming back to the house when we return home and seeing them without having to go to Atlanta. We hope to return home in early October for Allie’s 2nd birthday and to cast our early vote for governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger. Other than that, we hope not to return home until May 31, 2026, and then only briefly.
Since they will be living in our house, we need to declutter and move things out of the master bedroom so they can take over there, using the closet and all the dressers. We have a lot to do in that regard. We went to the Container Store so a closet designer could help us convert the smallest bedroom to a closet. Both of us need to buy new laptops (my laptop is from 2011) and I need a new phone. I bought a 15″ Apple MacBook Air during the last week in March and am working on setting it up properly. Hopefully these things will be the last things we have to spend money on in the U.S. for the next year. My goal is to boycott as much as possible in the U.S. for at least 75% of the next four years. I don’t want to contribute to any billionaire’s pockets.
Our daughter gets a new job in Richmond
Meanwhile, my daughter Sarah, who has been working as a paralegal in a Virginia Beach law firm for the last two years, applied for and was offered a job with a women-owned law firm in Richmond, enabling her to move back to Richmond, always her goal. I’m so excited that she will be returning to the city where she wants to live long-term, and that she gets to embark on a career-expanding move.
A book talk about The Fifteen at Politics & Prose
We went downtown to Politics & Prose in D.C. to listen to a book talk given by my ex-husband (& my daughter Sarah’s father), William Geroux, on his newest book: The Fifteen: Murder, Retribution & the Forgotten Story of Nazi POWS in America. It was great to see him and his wife Kema, and Bill’s newest book seems super interesting. As always, Bill gave a great talk. He has also written two other books: The Mathews Men: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler’s U-boats and The Ghost Ships of Archangel: The Arctic Voyage That Defied the Nazis.
Dinner at Comet Ping Pong
After the book talk, Bill and Kema had plans for dinner, so Mike and I went to Comet Ping Pong for dinner. The place is an old D.C. standby but infuriatingly, since the rise of conspiracy theories and outright lies beginning with the FELON’s rise in 2016, the restaurant was the focus of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which has been discredited by a wide variety of organizations, including the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. “Pizzagate” is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, falsely claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner’s emails. One Pizzagate activist fired a gun in the restaurant in 2016, and another started a fire in it in 2019. Our server told us that even today, the restaurant still gets threats. He said the conspiracy theory, though disgusting and an outright lie, did make the restaurant more popular. We were thrilled to give them our business.
Miscellaneous stuff
I finished 4 books in March, bringing my total to 11/48 for the year, with my favorites being North of Dawn by Nuruddin Farah and A Harvest of Secrets by Roland Merullo. We saw several movies once we returned home, including I’m Still Here, which I mentioned above, but also the Academy Award-winning Anora and Il treno dei bambini (The Children’s Train). We started watching several series including The Split and White Lotus. We finished watching Apple Cider Vinegar and we continued watching Younger, The Äre Murders, Pachinko, Virgin River, Paradise, Valeria, Black Doves, The Upshaws, and Modern Family.
I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for the spring and the rest of this year.
~ wander.essence ~ 
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