Retire Early
Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler
In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age
of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this
financially independent lifestyle, they invite you
to take advantage of their wisdom and experience. |
|
Tepatitlan
de Morelos
(Pronounced:
teh-puh-teet-LAAN)
Mexican Highlands, Jalisco,
Mexico
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
It's called "Tepa" for short.
This clean, friendly
city in the northern highlands of Mexico's state of Jalisco had a beautiful
Baroque-style Cathedral, a gazebo of wrought iron made in France then
transported to Mexico, and some fun rooftop restaurants and bars.
Take a look! Walking around town
Marinated and baked chamorro
Tepatitlan is known for its food.
When walking around town after we
arrived, we saw "chamorro" listed on the menu of a Plaza-front restaurant
and went right in! While chamorros can be beef or pork, this one is a pork
shank.
Imagine fall-off-the-bone tender pork
with a delicious, satisfying red-sauce flavor.
One portion ran about $6USD per plate,
and could easily have fed two people. It is a Mexican specialty.
Beautiful iron street signs
The names Esparza and Morelos have a long
history in the country of Mexico.
Don Lope Ruiz de Esparza was born in
Spain to a family of Basque nobility. He is considered to be the patriarch
of the the Ruiz de Esparza family who intermarried extensively with other
prominent Spanish families in the early settlements of this highland area of
Mexico.
José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón
was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary rebel leader who led
the Mexican War of Independence movement. He was also a distant relative to
conquistador Hernán Cortés.
You will also see on this street sign
that the Santo Toribio eye clinic is advertised along with the phone number.
Large mural in the City Hall building
Often times, in the interior of Mexico's
City Hall buildings, are great murals painted of the founders, the wars and
the leadership of the country. In the City Hall of Tepa, this large mural
encircles the staircase representing its particular history.
You cannot see the full
top of the mural, only part of the large foot of Anacleto Gonzales Flores
coming into the pictorial. Flores was executed in 1927 under the rule of the
fiercely anti-clerical and anti-Catholic Mexican President Calles.
This is the time period where Cathedrals,
monasteries and convents were all vulnerable. The government kicked out the
priests, friars, and nuns from these beautifully made buildings with their
manicured gardens, and allowed the locals to move in. The buildings soon
went into disrepair and of course, the gardens went barren.
The left of the mural shows the Cristero
War fighters and you are looking directly at the painted rendition of the
nationally acclaimed beautiful women of the city. This area is known as
having one of the largest concentration of Mexicans of European decent in
the country. The mixed heritage accounts for this obvious beauty of their
women.
Traditional Mexican attire to
celebrate Independence Day
We visited Tepa right before Mexico's
Independence Day. Native costumes were for sale for those who wanted to
dress the part for the celebrations.
The dresses on the rack at the lower
right are running about $10USD each on a liquidation sale.
Just love the tropical shift dress, first
on the rack! Ten bucks!
Mexico's flag, hats, tassels and more
Here you find a display of woven
sombreros, the Mexican flag, tassels, charms, pins, ribbons and more for
sale. Vendors are gearing up for the holiday. The Mexicans are very
patriotic.
Rooftop and street level restaurants
All around the Plaza are restaurants with
a view. Whether it's a rooftop upper level view, or one on the street level,
it's very entertaining to dine in this area of town.
You can people-watch, or enjoy the clouds
coming and going over the mountains in the distance.
Domino's Pizza and a delicious pastry
shop
Just a couple of streets off the main
square you can find Domino's Pizza, and in this case, a cafe that serves a
delicious pastry selection.
We saw an amazing amount of dress stores,
beauty salons, shoe stores and bridal stores in Tepa. The women were always
dressed remarkably well.
Cheese shop in Tepa
Tepatitlan is the largest producer of
eggs in Mexico and of pork in the state. It's also the primary milk basin in
the country. Therefore, it is also famous for its cheese manufacturing.
We stopped by a cheese shop and bought
this small package of adobera cheese, known for its delicious flavor and
melting properties.
You can see various other cheeses -
rounds, tubes and triangles - in the refrigerated case in the background.
Fruit vendor set up in the street
All over the world we have seen fruit
vendors set up shop right in the street. The fruit is so fresh, sweet and
delicious! Sometimes they will offer fruit smoothies, quart containers
filled with cut fruit or even "agua fresca," a sweetened drink made
with water and fruit.
Specials of the day
Here are some promotions listed on a
chalk board. One kilo of beef mixed with sausage runs about $7USD. One-half
kilo of oven roasted pork shank (chamorro), a Mexican specialty, is just
over $7USD.
Yum!
Well-dressed Tepa woman walking the
street This
woman in her high heeled ankle boots walks in front of a store that is
offering shoes beginning at $5USD.
Notice the off-the-sidewalk trash bins,
and the upscale vehicles parked in front of the store.
Jalisco is a wealthy Mexican state.
The main Plaza from 4 floors up
We had rain off and on during our visit
to Tepatitlan. Here you see the wet Plaza from 4 stories up at
LOLA Rooftop Tapas and Bar. The wrought-iron gazebo is in the center of the
Plaza, and the cement rendition of a guitar is on the left side, almost to
the street.
There are plenty of benches on which to
sit, and the bushes, trees and gardens are well manicured. Beautiful street
lights are every few feet.
The Gang at LOLA's
Unbeknownst to us, LOLA's had just opened
a couple of months previously. We visited this Tapas Bar several times
during our stay in Tepa. Reasonably priced with a terrific view of the
Cathedral, the Plaza below and the mountains surrounding the city, LOLA did
not disappoint.
Service was friendly and quick and the food was really tasty. In fact, our
waiter recommended the baby squid in Italian sauce and told us that if we
didn't like it, he'd buy it for us!
Wine, beer, sodas and mixed drinks were
all available.
St. Francis Cathedral
This was our view from the rooftop of
LOLA. One of the evenings when we were there, a parade for Santuario del
Señor de la Misericordia was happening below. Young men were in the bell
towers ringing the Cathedral bells by hand for at least 5 full minutes
straight. The bells were larger than the young men themselves, so you can
imagine how heavy they were!
They leaned their whole bodies into the
rope and swayed back and forth to ring the bell.
The faithful were below, carrying a
replica of the Lord of Mercy as they walked three sides of the Plaza. This
celebration has been going on each year for almost 200 years.
If you would like to visit
Tepatitlan,
information is below:
Our Hotel:
Hotel Real Alteño
Calle Hidalgo 80
Centro, 47600 Tepatitlán de Morelos,
Jalisco
Phone: 378 781 3908
LOLA Rooftop
Calle Samartin #15
Centro, 47600 Tepatitlán de Morelos,
Jalisco
Opens 6PM
Phone: 378 688 0180
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For more stories and
photos about Mexico,
click here
About the Authors
Retire
Early Lifestyle appeals to a different
kind of person – the person who prizes their
independence, values their time, and who doesn’t
want to mindlessly follow the crowd.
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