Here’s one for you! It’s called THE GLASS FACTORY…It’s ‘Off the beaten path’ and ‘Cabo on a budget’ other than the cost of getting there from wherever you are staying. Check with a cab driver before heading out, as a cab ride could be expensive. None the less, it is clearly worth considering. An upscale restaurant will soon be opening next door, which will make the trip even that much more inviting.
At the GLASS FACTORY, you get to witness a first hand glimpse into the centuries-old art of glass blowing. There are chairs in which to sit and watch an amazing transformation from pieces of smashed and ground up bottles and other remnants of glass, into useful pieces of art, and all in a matter of minutes. There are also all kinds of different creations available for sale such as glasses of all sizes and shapes, pitchers for water, beer, or margaritas, figurines of all types. They are all right there on shelves to look at and touch. The cool thing is that they are at prices less that what you’ll normally pay in Cabo San Lucas. Those savings may even offset your means of getting there. They are located right around km 18.5, on the non-water side, about half a mile back towards Cabo from the Dreams Resort. From Cabo, I make a U-turn by the Dreams and head back on the 4 lane (Corridor) but keep your eyes open for the relatively small sign.
During my visit, I found the people there to be quite friendly and knowledgeable, and best of all, it was free, and free is good. I recommend that a gratuity be given, to help the artists themselves, off-set the cost of their hospitality, their chairs, etc., but otherwise, you could spend a couple of hours there, to include some shopping at the art shops in the same area.
Glass, one of those most amazing mysteries of life, has been around almost since the beginning of time…The process used in forming functional pieces of it are simple, yet require, not only a strong understanding of how it is made, but the time and experience so that the desired results are as expected. We took a short video of the GLASS FACTORY making a CaboRicardo.com pitcher that turned out absolutely beautiful. We also bought a number of matching margarita glasses and even some miniature snifter glasses for sipping deliciously aged tequila. The Glass Factory Video
Basically, glass is made from sand with a few more natural minerals thrown in for good measure, heated in a melting furnace to approximately 2,500 degrees F, sometimes for as long as 24 hours. The molten glass is then cooled several hundred degrees, to a temperature at which it can be worked with. At this stage the glass is an orange-red color and looks like a thick liquid. The glass has to be worked quickly to form it into the desired shape, because as the glass cools, it becomes hard. The glass can now be blown, pressed, drawn or rolled. Finally, when the glass is formed into the desired shape, it is placed in a ‘lehr’ oven to be ‘annealed.’ This special process eliminates areas of stress in the glass to strengthen it, by cooling it down at controlled temperatures.
To blow glass, a blob of molten glass is placed at the end of a long, hollow iron blowpipe. Air is blown in and causes the glass to form into a pear-shaped bulb, which is then rolled on an oiled slab, shaped with tools and sometimes re-blown into a mold. To keep the glass from hardening during this process, it is periodically re-heated in small ovens.
Check out our video, as you will see exactly how these guys do what they do best. It is clearly a “work of art!”
Below are the guys that make it all happen!
Jose Hernandez
Rafael Alonzo
Oscar Escamilla
Oscar Basilio
