Puerto Vallarta and the Sayulita Redemption

Labor Day 2012 provided us with one last opportunity to visit the beach town that made us love beaches, Puerto Vallarta. Joining us on this trip were our friends Alex, who had not been to Vallarta since his childhood years, and Tom, a co-worker that loves PV as much as we do. We often cross paths with Tom in PV (like when he officiated this wedding), but this was the first trip we had purposefully coordinated together. Our ability to make this journey was appreciated even more so than previous trips, as security concerns over the previous weekend had initially made it look like this long-planned trip would have to be cancelled.

We arrived just before sunset on Friday evening and left midmorning on Monday. The weekend wasn't filled with anything extraordinary. Which is what made it completely special

We walked along the Malecón (Boardwalk), as always. We had a late night snack at The Dog House, as is the norm. We had breakfast at my favorite beachfront restaurant, Mi Querencia. We ate here for the first time in February 2010, then somehow "lost" it, and rediscovered it during a July trip to PV with our friends Carlos and Sergio. I'm not sure how we lost it, because it never moved, but I digress...We browsed the art galleries. We drank. We got too much sun. We swam a lot. The weekend was absolutely, perfectly, typically Vallarta. We did all of the things that we always love doing and will miss dearly when we leave.

We deviated from our normal course only once and booked a day cruise through our hotel which allowed us to go snorkeling alongside beautiful rock formations and spend some time on this gorgeous but tiny beach.

Monday arrived all too soon, and with it the sad understanding that this was or final beach day in Mexico. Tom and Alex still have plenty of chances to taste the salty sea air of any number of Mexican beaches, but it's over for poor Aaron and TJ. While the four of us bobbed lazily in the early morning waves of the Playa de los Muertos shoreline, TJ made an executive decision: we would load up the car and leave immediately.

Faced with the option of staying on familiar turf or taking one last opportunity to explore a not-as-familiar beach, we decided to use the last couple of hours before heading home to revisit the small beach town known as Sayulita. Our last trip had been un poco loco and we both wanted to take away an alternative memory, for comparison's sake. Tom and Alex, on the other hand, just wanted to try something new and unknown. There's not a whole lot to say, really. We traded one beach for another, this time bobbing lazily in the late morning waves of Sayulita's main beach (which, for the life of me, I can not find the name of). We considered surfing lessons but immediately decided that such exertion really would detract from the lazy bobbing. I haggled halfheartedly with a beach vendor (Well, he haggled wholeheartedly, and I haggled no-heatedly, so it averages out to half). We all agreed that Sayulita is a beautiful beach oasis worth visiting...but maybe only on your way to or from Vallarta. It's such a small town that the nightlife and energy of Vallarta eclipse it.

...But then we had lunch. We dragged our not-wanting-to-leave feet down Marin Street, Sayulita's main drag, looking for suitable dining options and ultimately settling on a street taco vendor. Mostly because she, unlike other restaurants, was open at noon. She only had two items on the menu: grilled mahi mahi and grilled shrimp. Oh. My. God. If the fish tacos TJ and I had last time were lackluster, these were blockbuster. Best. Tacos. EVER. We started out with two. Then had two more. *nomnomnom*. For these tacos, I could return to Sayulita every weekend. PV ain't got nuthin' on them. Nowhere else, either, for that matter.

While we ate, a woman peddling homemade jewelry approached us. We aren't normally keen on street fare, but I guess the good vibes from taco had heaven rubbed off. Tom and I both bought necklaces featuring handmade owl tokens, dubbing ourselves forevermore Owl Buddies.

Alas, sunburned and filled to bursting with seafood and memories, it was time to say goodbye to the beaches of Jalisco and Nayarit.

I hope life provides an opportunity to return one day. For someone that never cared for the beach or the ocean, I'm going to miss them both terribly. I look forward to Israel and the beaches of Tel Aviv.

But for now, I must focus on wrapping things up in Guadalajara. A meager five weeks remain in what has been an amazing two year experience. There's still so much to see and do. Let's see what we can manage, shall we?

Nuevo Vallarta

In what has become a Mexico tradition, we once again spent TJ’s birthday weekend on the beaches of tourist-laden Vallarta.

Only this time it wasn’t Puerto Vallarta, but nearby Nuevo Vallarta instead, that called our names.

Puerto Vallarta, the beach/hotel/resort getaway of choice for many Mexicans (as well as Americans and Canadians!) has gotten too big for it’s britches in recent years, and the solution was to set up a residential & resort community 15 miles to the north on the adjacent shorelines of the state of Nayarit.

Whereas Puerto Vallarta is filled with old hotels, restaurants, and homes, many of which are in need of maintenance but are nevertheless worth visiting for the historical element (and let's face it, party atmosphere) alone, Nuevo Vallarta was created merely to be a one-stop shopping experience for today’s R&R-minded traveller.

The beach is lined with sparkly, shiny, all-inclusive resorts, and we opted for one of three (three!) Riu resorts, dubbed Riu Jalisco (Never mind the fact that we were in Nayarit).

Joining us on this three-day weekend was our friend Sergio (Yeyo), with whom I had recently attended the Selena Gomez concert. He was replacing our other friend Sergio (confusing, much?), who himself was back in town for a quick vacation from his home in Mexicali. We previously visited Tesoro Resort with him, and he had been looking forward to this weekend for months but had to cancel last minute due to bronchitis. I saw him a couple of days before we left, and he looked a hot mess. Hope you feel better soon, amigo! Actually, since I’m writing this six days later, I hope you’re all better NOW. Otherwise, go to the doctor, cuz you might be dying.

Sergio #1’s loss was Sergio # 2’s gain, as Riu Jalisco was a drastic improvement over Tesoro. The food was better, and more plentiful. The rooms were cleaner. The drinks were sweeter (not everyone’s preference, but they were just plain bitter at Tesoro, which is NOONE’S preference). The evening entertainment was less campy, and highly enjoyable.

I don’t want to speak too poorly of Tesoro, because we did have fun there. Of course, it was our first all-inclusive experience so we had nothing to judge it by. Now, we do. On second thought, our recent stay at a no-inclusive hotel in Manzanillo was better than Tesoro as well, so maybe Tesoro wasn’t all that great to begin with.

The weekend in Nuevo Vallarta was spent in perfect laziness. Mornings on the beach and afternoons by the pool interrupted only by our need to eat and sleep. I read most of Ricky Martin’s memoir, Me, which I’m hating so much that it will probably get its own blog post once I’ve finished it just so I can talk about how vile it is. We turned on the Super Bowl just long enough to watch Madonna’s Halftime Show…and then quickly made for the Internet to see what people had to say about it. Y’all are nasty. Give the woman a break, she’s in her 50’s! Okay, the new song and the cheerleader motif were a bit tacky and that trashy M.I.A. shouldn’t have flipped the bird…But the rest was rockin’.

We spent one evening in the resort’s nightclub, but it was so boring (i.e. full of old grannies) and smelly (THINK: feet or poop or used feminine hygiene products or maybe all three) that we decided to head into Puerto Vallarta proper the following evening for a true night on the town. Our final evening was spent dining at the resort’s churrascuria, where our table caught on fire. We suspect arson. Or maybe it was for show. Either way, it made the food taste delicious!

All told, it was an excellent weekend.

My only regret is that I am writing this blog from the Guadalajara International Airport, where I await a flight to Houston that will allow me to be with my mother as she undergoes a minor medical procedure tomorrow. It is my parents’ first health scare since I left Texas nine years ago, and I feel that it is important that I be there for them. They are both scared, and I want them to know that no matter where the Foreign Service takes us, I can, and will, be there when they need me.

I just wish I was leaving tomorrow instead, because today is TJ’s actual birthday. He assured me that it was fine, and that he had all the fun he needed over the weekend, but I still feel guilty for not being there this evening. And so, I end this blog with the one thing he wanted but did not receive this weekend, the Mexican Birthday song:

Feliz cumpleaños, mi amor. Ya te extraño.

Puerto Vallarta

For TJ's 30th Birthday Extravaganza we decided to go on a road trip to the American beach town of Puerto Vallarta for an extended weekend (thanks to yet another local holiday).

Puerto Vallarta is locat...what? It's NOT an American beach town? Well, ok, I guess you're right. But I will say that I haven't seen such a large concentration of gringos since my days living in central Texas.

Puerto Vallarta, along with Cozumel and Cancun, is one of the most popular tourist destinations for American travelers. I would encourage any of you in the states that have considered foreign travel but are afraid of the language barrier to give Vallarta a chance. Almost everyone speaks English (which wasn't necessarily a good thing for us, as we wanted to practice our Spanish...at least a little) and the environment is so laid back and relaxed that you'll never want to leave.

I have heard rumblings that some US-based cruise lines have cancelled cruises to PV. Visual evidence to the contrary, Americans aren't travelling here as much as they used to. They are afraid of the narco violence. To anyone reading this, I implore you: don't let fear rule your life. Vallarta is as safe as any of the other port towns your cruise ship will dock in. Violence on the border does not equal violence on the beach.

Anyway, Puerto Vallarta is a 365 kilometer drive from Guadalajara, and to get there you have to drive northwest for a while, then zig-zag through the mountains before heading southwest, ultimately arriving at a location that is directly west of Guadalajara. Most of that zig-zagging occurs on a two-lane road, and travel times will vary widely depending on time of day. For us, it was a six hour drive going and a four hour drive returning. (Tip: mid-morning travel is highly recommended). Despite the distance, the ride is a pleasant one filled with beautiful landscapes.

Now, for the beach...I've never been much of a beach person. Living in Florida for seven years, I think I went to Daytona and Miami Beach once each. My three trips to Key West never saw me setting foot on the shore.

With that said, I LOVE PUERTO VALLARTA!

Despite a day trip here and there, TJ and I haven't had a vacation to speak of since before this crazy Foreign Service life began. In fact, we're about to hit our one-year FS anniversary (stay tuned for a future post regarding that!) so a 3-night getaway was a welcome break from the day-to-day.

The beaches were gorgeous; Busy, but not crowded. The bars and clubs were fun; Crowded, but not overflowing. The restaurants were amazing; delicious, but not expensive. In fact, we discovered a new favorite dish (stay tuned for another future post regarding that!). I got the most amazing massage. Soaked in a little sun. Walked along the shore and just felt...at peace.

Vallarta is definitely somewhere to which I would like to return. And soon.

The area that we stayed (Playa de los Muertos) was bustling with activity of an artistic nature along the shoreline. There were sporadic sidewalk art shows, random beachside demonstations, inumerable art galleries, and dozens of permanent scultptures to be explored. Every turn of the head provided some new hidden treasure.

Here are a few of them.

(Oh, and for anybody that's wondering...no, he never did get that particular rock to balance. But I was quite impressed with the upper body strength it must have required to even lift it in the first place.)

This trip provided such sheer and utter physical relaxation and visual stimulaton that I somehow managed to walk away without capturing a single picture of us. Either that, or the fact that we're too self-conscious to take beach pics. Oh well. I guess that means we have to go back!

Wish I was here...maybe soon