There are worse places to hide out from COVID than Puerto Peñasco. While your doomsday compound may be quite comfy, and you have not binge-watched all the TV shows that you have intended, you may be longing for the smell of the salt in the air while you walk the dog on the beach. You may have a desire to toast the sunrise with a cup of coffee while the sky is still pink and orange or lift a chalice of good red wine with a friend at sunset. You may even consider going fishing.

After raising a glass of red wine or two, with some neighbors from the Playa de Oro RV Park, we came up with a short list of places to eat and drink where we felt COVID safe. Many of the cantinas are doing a great job of keeping the public safe: Meeting and greeting customers at the door, while taking their temperature, giving them a dollop of hand sanitizer, while everyone is required to wear a mask. Not everyone in my hometown of Mesa is doing as thorough a job. Give it some thought, and I bet you can come up with a more extensive list of COVID safe places. Even better go visit your favorite COVID safe places with caution. Some of my safe places have been too crowded, so I turned on my heal and headed for a less packed place.

Our idea of a COVID safe place was a large open-air space with plenty of space available between patrons. Patio dining, and palapa hut venues seemed appropriate. Here is my short list of bars and restaurants:  Pitaya Bar – Tiki Hut on Mirador Beach, good music. Pollo Lucas – Benito Juarez Blvd., great grilled chicken. Wrecked at the Reef – Sports Bar on Sandy Beach.  Al Capones – Sports Bar, pizza, fun bartenders. El Capitan – top of hill, great view. Puesta del Sol – dining on the beach at Playa Bonita Resort. Manny’s Beach Club – Mirador Beach, food, bands, plenty of space. Jill’s Joint – fun place, good bands. Cookiez Cantina – good menu – Google for location. Margarita Mermaids – new patio. Latitude 31 – great place to watch sports.

February and March are when the Large Mouth Bass fishing starts to take off at Cienega de Santa Clara and one always wants one more cast. My fishing buddy Grant Baugh had too much time on his hands during the COVID lockdown, so he did a painting of me fishing at the Cienega. Hope everyone gets their vaccine and feels safe enough to come out and play. Fishing should be improving as the water warms up. Vince Deadmond, The Retired Fly-Fishing Hardware Guy can be reached at vince@ajbest.com or (480) 818-1796.