Every Year the San Miguel Writer’s  Conference Hosts a Beat Cantina Crawl …

It’s no secret that the Beat poets tipped us all off to San Miguel de Allende. They’d been hanging around the cantinas and spouting off poetry, alerting everyone that this was the place for creative inspiration. The artists flocked and made the city into an ex-pat hub with a booming art market.

So, it’s only natural that an event like the San Miguel Writer’s Conference would want to pay homage to the artists by leading a tour through their favorite haunts, so that attendees can raise a glass to their memory. This year’s Beat Cantina Crawl included four cantinas: El Tenampa, El Gato Negro, El Cuco, and the infamous Cucaracha.

The fun started originally canvassing the Cantinas in order to meet the managers and schedule the excursion. Of course we had to sample their Mezcal, being the responsible hosts that we are. Alejandro of El Tenampa was a gracious host, showing us the best San Miguelense tracks on the jukebox and chatting with us about Mezcal.

Then to the Gato Negro whose rooftop patio we love. Plastered with an image Jim Morrison, who wouldn’t?

We finish the crawl at the Cucaracha. Though no longer located in the Jardin (where the Banamex is now located), it was the legendary bar of many a Beat diatribe. Here we encounter some Beat poets of our own they set the mood.

After a few drinks, we became poets of our own right, strolling down the streets howling poetry at each other, seeking the next adventure of the day.