It was to Zihuatanejo's bright shores that wrongly convicted prisoner Andy Dufresne dreamed of escape in the 1994 movie "The Shawshank Redemption." As I floated, suspended in the turquoise surf in the bay of Playa la Ropa, a flock of pelicans drifting overhead, I could understand why.
Unlike Ixtapa, a government-developed tourist resort full of high-rises and chain restaurants just four miles away, Zihuatanejo and its laid-back style and cobbled streets more closely met my needs. Plus this Pacific Coast town of 120,000 is just a three-hour flight from Los Angeles.
As 2014 was winding down, my friend Karen and I decided to explore this part of Mexico for the first time.