I’m freshly back from an amazing week in Mexico—meeting up with friends, eating incredible food, exploring, and embracing the beautiful energy of Día de Muertos—all with my favorite travel partner.
Randy and I started in Oaxaca, a city bursting with color, creativity, and marigolds. So many marigolds! They surrounded doorways, lined paths, and filled elaborate displays of remembrance. Each day, more appeared throughout the city. Our friend Viola, who arrived before us, even spotted fields of flowers from the plane.
Until now, I’d known marigolds primarily as the flowers I planted to keep bugs away from my garden tomatoes. I had no idea how much meaning they could hold. These brilliant orange, fragrant flowers are believed to help guide the spirits of loved ones back to their families during Día de Muertos, creating a bridge between the living and the dead. I was struck both by the beauty of the displays and the care that clearly went into creating them.
Art is everywhere in Oaxaca—and it was our primary reason for visiting. The city is full of colorful murals and street art, independent galleries, printmaking studios, ceramics, and textiles. There’s something interesting to discover around practically every corner.
We were there for our friend Piero Lagonigro’s art opening at El Tinglado Grafico Gallery. It was wonderful to see his work in such a creative setting, and I was especially delighted to come home knowing there’s now a blank spot on the gallery wall—and a new piece in my collection!
And oh, the food! We ate incredibly well.
At the market, we sampled fresh agua de jamaica (hibiscus), and spicy, crunchy chapulines (grasshoppers). I was happy to eat a couple handfuls, but that’s about where my adventurousness ended. Randy, on the other hand, enthusiastically tackled an insecto tostada, piled with ants and other insects (which actually looked delicious until I studied closely: it’s bottom left of the first pic below). I’ll leave that one to him.
We also enjoyed beautiful breakfasts of huevos rancheros and chilaquiles verdes, along with delicious pastries and plenty of other memorable meals.
As if we needed more reasons to celebrate, the evening of Piero’s gallery opening was also his partner Marion’s 50th birthday and just as we were walking into our dinner reservation, the Brewers won the World Series! Randy was ecstatic. It was quite the night of celebrations!
From Oaxaca, we traveled to San Miguel de Allende to visit our friends Jody and Ted. We’d watched the preparations for Día de Muertos unfold in Oaxaca, and now we’d get to experience the celebration itself.
The flowers were just as spectacular, with more variety mixed in among the marigolds. I especially loved the doorways, each decorated differently and seemingly more beautiful than the last.
We visited Panteón de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, where families were busy cleaning, painting, and decorating the graves of loved ones. In the town center, we admired the elaborate ofrendas—altars honoring those who have died, often decorated with photographs, flowers, candles, and favorite foods. There was even an ofrenda dedicated to beloved pets! (I sent a photo of that one to my daughter, Eloise, who’s been learning about ofrendas in school and recently made one to honor my mother, who died in 2011.) It was meaningful to see this tradition firsthand.
We spent a wonderful afternoon exploring Cuna de Tierra winery with Jody and Ted. What was supposed to be a two-hour tour with our guide, Paco, turned into four hours! Along the way, we learned about the history of winemaking in the region, including how Spanish colonial restrictions shaped the early wine industry in Mexico.
We also enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Viñedo San Miguel. Randy’s “ceremonial rabbit” arrived in spectacular fashion, held aloft by a colorful catrina. My fish came with a rich, flavorful mole sauce, and we finished with a beautifully presented coffee cocktail.
To balance all of that eating, we got our steps in—San Miguel is a city made for exploring on foot, though you have to watch where you’re going. The sidewalks are narrow, the streets are cobblestone, and at more than 6,200 feet above sea level, even walking feels like a workout. We managed some long walks and a couple of runs, too.
One of the highlights of the entire trip was taking part in San Miguel’s Día de Muertos parade. Jody and I had our faces professionally painted in elaborate skull designs, and Randy joined in the fun, too.
We made our way through streets packed with people dressed as skeletons and catrinas, surrounded by flowers, music, and color. It was an incredible experience to be part of the celebration rather than simply watching it.
The last time we visited Jody and Ted with our kids, my son Avery said as we were leaving that his heart belongs in Mexico. His Spanish is considerably better than mine, but after this trip, I understand exactly what he meant.
