I’m thinking about margaritas. Cinco de Mayo, a little guys wins over the big guys story, is this Saturday. On May 5, 1862, when it seemed that a band of Mexican soldiers was going to be trounced by the French army double or more it’s size, the Mexican’s won. This was the Battle of Puebla, one of many struggles in Mexico to ensure freedom.
In Mexico it’s a national holiday. In the U.S. it’s a time to head to a Mexican restaurant or hit a celebration if you can find one. Last Cinco de Mayo my husband, kids and I happened to be in Talitas, a small neighborhood Mexican restaurant in Columbus, eating half-price appetizers and drinking Dos Equis. Yep, we live large. This year, I’m getting the margarita. Truthfully, Columbus, Ohio isn’t really a Cinco de Mayo hot spot. There’s not a splashy festival that I’m aware of–not like in Denver, Colorado where hundreds of thousands of people show up at Civic Center Park for food and entertainment.
Denver’s festival claims to be the largest Cinco de Mayo happening in the U.S. While Denver has a huge festival with several musical performances, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona are also Cinco de Mayo bonanzas. Utah is joining in. Every city and small town seems to have one, and many are free. There’s an assortment of parades, piñatas, and cook-offs besides a lot of mariachi bands and dancing. I’d bet wherever you can find a town plaza, you’ll find a celebration of some sort. See link. This link has links to links.
Here are some of New Mexico’s smaller town versions that caught my attention.– Artesia, Raton, Roswell and Socorro . Like I said, head to the plaza.
For Texas hotspots, here’s a link to those. Denton looks like it’s hopping and San Marcos has a menudo cook-off.
In Utah, head to Midvale and in Arizona, for a smaller city version, go to Chandler. Here, there’s a chihahuahua race in additon to the traditional fare.
For a margarita enjoyment. How about this? On the Santa Fe Southwestern Railroad, they’re serving up margaritas on the High Desert High Ball train.