The resurgence of interest in Ensenada and the Valle de Guadalupe has brought the culinary adventurers back to Baja. When you start to do a little research to choose where to dine, one name pops up among the talented chefs of the region: Javier Plascencia

Baja California, Mexico is a legendary peninsula that has some of the most beautiful coastline, mountains, valleys, and vistas of anyplace on Earth. It is also a playground for some of the most wealthy and adventurous people in the world who love to test their physical endurance and technical ability as a driver during the Baja 1000 and other races held here. We recently had a chance to spend four days here, driving a Baja challenge car that had actually completed the Baja 1000 course and it's an amazing experience. What you might not know is that there's no credentialing authority, so all you need to do to compete is show up with a car and pay your entry fee!

Baja Races including the Baja 1000 and Baja 500 are among the most iconic motorsports events in the world and so I was thrilled to be invited to join Wide Open Baja for a four-day adventure driving Baja challenge cars with them. This was probably the most brutal, terrifying, exhilarating, and amazing experience that I've ever had and it's something that every race fan should try at least once. Not only is there the opportunity to pilot machines that are more incredible than can be put into words, but it's also a chance to bond with you buddies and visit parts of the world that normal tourists simply will never see.

We're heading to Drai's Beachclub / Drai's Nightclub at The Cromwell next week, so we'll have more on this incredible club and one of the newer resorts on the strip. However, if you want to combine the high-energy EDM scene with an awesome cruise on one of my favorite ships (Carnival Inspiration) then you gotta check out The Groove Cruise. It's not for everyone, but this quote from the website about sums it up: "There’s no 2am curfew on this vessel! With nightly after-hours going into the early afternoon, there is no better way to leave the world behind."

This was my first time visiting the west coast of Mexico so I wasn't really sure what to expect - and frankly all you hear these days about the Pacific coast is about how dangerous it is. While that may be true in spots, during a recent tour of Ensenada Mexico I found it a very fun and unusual, with more to do than a frankly was expecting.

Unlike the Caribbean cruise ports I am used to, Ensenada is a real town with people that lead real lives and aren't just there to look pretty and offer excursions to rich American tourists. However there is some of that too, though it was more like visiting a regular city vs a sanitized "made for tourists" experience.