Chapter 1

This is one of the two complete fragments of “The Acapulco Hilton Experience” written by Lalo.

            I don’t know why, but for some bizarre, baroque, balmy and breezy reason the Acapulco Hilton became the “magnet” for quite a few significant situations during my lifetime, including “the” experience which is the excuse for the writing of this manuscript. I've lost count of how many times I’ve been to Acapulco, but onhy because I was born in Mexico City in 1956 to a middle class family. Back then, and all through the sixties and seventies, Acapulco was the favorite and closest vacation spot for “chilangos” as Mexico City dwellers are now called; so naturally I went there many times as a child with my family: parents, cousins, aunts and uncles, etc.  And, curiously enough, many other times during my puberty and early teens with my grandmother and my “cousin” Carlos and his father, who piloted a small one motor Cessna. Not that we ever stayed at the Hilton; that treat was reserved for the rich and famous.
            I don’t remember, but according to my mother, the first time I ever saw the sea was in Acapulco as a toddler; I hit the beach running, towards the sea, with my Mom in tow, the chase culminating in a broken toe for my mother and me stopping short of the surf’s edge, in awe. The last time I saw the sea, a few weeks ago, was in Acapulco.

Lalo and Alda Villacorta Olivares

            Acapulco bay is a natural harbor, like San Francisco in California, and has a very interesting history. When Alexander Von Humboldt arrived to this port in 1830, coming from Prussia, he declared it the world’s most beautiful place. I myself shared the same feeling when, as a boy, I saw photos of the bay from the 1930’s and couldn’t believe the virginal beauty of its golden, palm-filled beaches which, by then, had been inundated with all kinds of hotels, condos, and hordes of people. The bay was “discovered” by the Spaniards, back in 1521 and became the port of departure and arrival for the “Nao de la China”, a small fleet of ressels that sailed west to the Philippines, trading in Mexico’s native cocoa, beans, tomatoes, silver and gold (during the XVI century, ¾ of the world’s silver came from Mexico) for silk, spices, and other products from China. These fineries were then transported to Mexico City via mule packs, through the treacherous Sierra Madre pathways. One of these mule drivers eventually became the second president of the Mexican Republic and the first Afro-American president of the continent (way before Obama); he was Vicente Guerrero (of whom I’m a proud descendant).
            The port became increasingly important and fell prey to more and more pirate raids,          (including Sir Francis Drake’s) until the Spanish built the Fuerte de San Diego, a bastion with 22 cannons.
            After Mexico’s Independence, the bay was virtually forgotten, until it was “rediscovered”, supposedly by the Prince of Wales, in the 1920's. From then on it evolved into a getaway for Hollywood stars and celebrities like Johnny Weissmuller, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor. Even John F. Kennedy and Jackie honeymooned there!
            By the time I was born, Acapulco was one of the foremost, glitzy, glamorous and exotic spots for "jetsetters” all over the world, as is mentioned in the song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn, “Come Fly With Me”, in Sinatra's classic and superb interpretation. 
Eduardo Olivares Bari