Casa Maria

Americans love souvenirs. If it has the name of the place we’re visiting painted on it, we’ll buy it. If it’s a dog wearing a hat, or a donkey smoking a cigar, more’s the better. And that’s fine, if you have room in your suitcase for more junk, and don’t mind a fire hazard.
I’m pickier, having learned a useful lesson from my dear, departed Mema: «If it’s coming into this house, it had better be worth dusting.»
I sometimes pass through Cabo San Lucas, and I’m a fan of Mexican craftwork, especially the wood carvings called «albrejes» and Barro Negro (black) pottery from the state of Oaxaca, so I always enjoy stopping at Casa Maria, a hole-​in-​the-​wall shop near the Marina.
Browse thoughtfully through this gallery; a visit to Casa Maria saves several trips to small towns in the Mexican interior. Owner Zenon Martinez and his kind and knowledgeable sales staff are gentle guides through the well-​organized shop, answering questions about the history and provenance of individual pieces.
Casa Maria is packed, floor to ceiling, with art and artifacts that surprise the eye, including a range of Oaxacan crafts; woolen wall hangings created by Zapotec weavers; Guanajuatense punched-​tin mirrors; impossibly delicate pre-​Colombian style bark paper art; and the always fascinating and entertaining calacas — decorative skeleton dolls used in the celebration of the Dia de los Muertos.
No room in your suitcase? Sr. Martinez, an honest and reliable man, will arrange packing and shipping to your home in the States.
And finally, when you’ve assembled a group of purchases, remember that the staff is flexible on price, as is to be expected in a Mexican tourist town. I prefer the opening gambit, «Ay, Señor … I wish I could afford to pay that much.»