Every year, gray whales arrive in the Baja California peninsula for the winter after spending the summer in the Bering Sea in Alaska.

The migration of these magnificent creatures can be viewed from the shores of Ensenada, about 90 miles south of San Diego from mid-December to mid-April.

That’s why there is a whale peeping up rather merrily from the waves of the Pacific Ocean on this mid-century menu illustration for the Bahia Hotel, along with a surfer, a sailboat and a fisherman.

Hotel Bahía is an historic hotel with a good location in the heart of the tourist area of Ensenada, located on the Bahia de Todos Santos.

Ensenada is the third largest city in Baja California and the second largest port in Mexico.

Its nickname is La Cenicienta del Pacífico (The Cinderella of the Pacific).

This 63-room hotel was built in the 1950s and we believe this menu illustration is from that era or from the 1960s.