It was January the 1st and the hubs and I were looking forward to another beach day in Mar del Plata. But when we went down for our morning ritual (aka the hotel's breakfast buffet), we noticed through the dining room windows that it was raining.

We assumed it was just a morning drizzle. We were wrong. So, we consulted with the rest of our group to see what else we could do in Mar del Plata besides the pool and the beach. 

Hotel Costa Galana had an internal pool, but what we wanted was to walk on the sandy shores of the beach. So, we started searching on our phones for things to do in Mar del Plata and only a few options popped up. There was a casino and some museums in the area, but we needed a cab to get there. We weren't sure if they were even open on the first of the year. We tried calling a couple of places but no one was picking up. In the end, we felt there wasn't much of a point in spending money on a cab ride to places that might be closed. So, we chose to stay in the hotel and relax in our rooms.

The only problem was that the hubs and I were hungry. Then we remembered that we had seen a McDonald's near the hotel and decided to grab some lunch.

But before we came back to the hotel, we took some photos of the not so sunny start to the new year.

By nightfall, our group risked it and took a cab to the casino. It had been a few years since I'd been to one. The last casino I visited was in La CABA, and it was pretty cool. So, I was excited to (hopefully) make a little extra spending money.

As the cab rode through Mar del Plata, I noticed a lot of people walking around but there was virtually nothing open. Sadly, by the time the cab got to our intended destination, we discovered that the casino was closed too. So, we asked the driver to take us somewhere that was lively and had restaurants and shops. 

Well, when he dropped us off, there were only a handful of stores, none of which I found interesting. 

Everything else was on the verge of shutting down for the night, except for some restaurants and coffee places.

Then we stumbled on Hell's Pizza, a NY style pizza joint that was on our tiny list of things to see and do in Mar del Plata.

It was packed and with good reason. The food here was amazing! In addition to different pizza toppings that you won't find in Argentine pizzerias, Hell's Pizza also offered chicken wings and mac and cheese. 

Now if you're from the States, you're probably thinking B.F.D. But when you've been living in a country for over a decade that doesn't know how to make a decent pizza or chicken wings or mac and cheese, you learn to appreciate restaurants like these.

Hell's Pizza also got kudos for their "hellish" decor.

Of course, we've found restaurants that have offered these types of food in the past. Most of these restaurants were in Buenos Aires, and some of them went out of business because of the pandemic. (Rest in peace, Chicken Bros.) Uggi's in La CABA made a decent pizza but they didn't offer pepperoni as a topping. The pizza at Chicago American Bar (gone but not forgotten) in Cordoba City was okay. So was the pizza at PIBI Guemes, but Hell's Pizza in Mar del Plata is by far the closest match to actual NY style pizza.

Once we were done stuffing our faces and taking photos, we walked around a little more, but by this point, it was 10 p.m. Naturally, the mall and pretty much everything else you can imagine was closed except for an ice cream shop. 

This made me wish we were back in New York because you can always find something open in the city that never sleeps.

So that's how we spent day 3 of our vacation in Mar del Plata. Would we get to see the beach again on day 4 or were we headed for another rainy day? 

TO BE CONTINUED...