10: Big Boss Man

So we arrived at Casa Lima Bed & Breakfast.  The neighborhood was pretty sketchy looking in that there was lots of barbed wire, barred entries and fenced in driveways.  Most of the homes looked a lot like this.

Here's a photo of the hood.

So with rooms listed for as little as $27/night...we were quite relieved to find this when we pulled up.

It was getting late, 10pm CST (11pm our time) so we quickly checked in and decided to do the smart thing and rest up at the nearest watering hole.  Quite frankly, we were surprised there were still this many restaurants and bars still open in this district.  Without wifi, Yelp, nor even Google to provide dining suggestions, we let our vibrant sensibilities guide us to our first sampling of Costa Rican cuisine and libations. We drove around for about ten minutes and settled in to the authentic sounding, El Pollo Cervecero, which in tourist Spanish translates loosely to "The Chicken Bar."  How could we lose?  Better yet, there was a uniformed guard at the parking lot who was either going to watch our car while we ate, or simply steal it.

Well I ordered the chicken fingers and Paul had something a little more mature, like a chicken quesadilla. We both had a couple of Imperials, of course.  To our delight, the car was still there upon our return.  So after a quick ride back to the B&B, we were zonked and crashed pretty hard on night one.

So I have a quick question for you.  Do these two guys look alike?

I only ask because the proprietor, who was definitely an American expat, kept calling me "Big Boss Man."  Now I had no clue why he chose this nickname for me, but I did recall there was a WWF Pro wrestler who went by that name. So really, there are only two options here. Either the dude was blind, or he had a bad memory.  None the less, I was going to accept the nickname as a compliment.  I went on to receive that compliment no less than 23 times before departing his accommodation the following morning.

After a short night's rest, I was awoken by the sounds of birds chirping, and an awful lot of sunlight, plus the glare of Paul's iPad.  I guess he's an early riser.  I took a quick shower, I'm not sure if there wasn't any warm water or I didn't know how to work the cheap on-demand water heater that was attached to the shower head.  But, none-the-less, a lukewarm shower was exactly what I needed.  I quickly got dressed, checked the stock market to see that it was continuing to get pummeled and headed downstairs for our complimentary breakfast.  In the back of my mind, I envisioned the typical Holiday Inn Express spread with lousy eggs (not sure if that's really what they are), bagels that tasted more like a stale donut and make your own sugary waffles with the three-minute timer.  Instead, we sat just outside of the courtyard and had a proper sitdown breakfast.  They even had cloth napkins.

The complimentary breakfast consisted of some nice pastries, coffee, juice and some fresh fruit.  For an additional three or four dollars, you could have an omelette of your choosing.  We both sprung for the upgrade and the food was delicious.  We dined among an American family of four or five and I think the proprietors girlfriend (who might have made the omelettes).  The hotel was one of the prettiest and most interesting of the trip.  For the price we paid, it might have been the best bargain of the entire trip as well.  If I came through town again, I would not hesitate to stay there again.  Though my wife would probably not be happy without hot water in the shower.  After breakfast, the plan was to drive out to Jaco.  But not before exchanging some dollars for colones and finding a sim card for my phone.  Though so far, every place we had been, (airport, hotel, chicken bar) had very good (and free) wifi.

Casa Lima B & B Gallery