In one corner is an upright piano from 1916, its antique wood glowing with a hundred years of hand polishing. The high ceilings, original hand carved dark wood and a fanciful mural behind the bar a landscape in soft colors, floating cherubs, dashing cavaliers and garlands of grapevines encircling nubile beauties. You find yourself stepping out of the 21st century right into a 1930’s prohibition bar. And here is where it becomes interesting and quite surprising. Coming in from the parking lot you enter a hacienda like patio where vendors of the traditional crafts may be set up for the day.
The Riviera Social, Civic and Cultural Center was a grand hotel built right at the water’s edge specifically to take advantage of the prohibition in the states. The US put the cork in the bottle making hooch illegal. But hidden inside is the story of the prohibition days with all of its glitz and music and famous names from the north. Driving by the majestic and historic Hotel Riviera del Pacífico on the way through Ensenada, the traveler might mistake it for a government building with its sweeping lawns and graceful arches.
