More Friends and Family...and Sun

As mentioned at the end of our last blog, the final day Dave and Sue were with us, Nancy’s granddaughter, Yarrow came to visit.

She was able to enjoy the “Dave and John Seafood Extravaganza!” They are both amazing chefs and worked well together (in case you need a private evening meal catered!  Sue and I will be the front of the house).

The next day, after Yarrow and Nancy (a.k.a Nacy) spent some time at the largest outdoor craft/food market in the morning, we spent the early evening at our condo’s pool bar watching Superbowl LIX. And wouldn't you know it our home team was playing! The three of us made quite a name for ourselves while watching Eagles VICTORY (GO BIRDS!) We couldn’t have been louder or more physically enthusiastic, jumping up whenever the Birds made one of their numerous touchdowns. Since most people at our resort are Mexican, they now know a little more about crazy Philly fans and their often-snazzy footwear…like Yarrow’s Eagles socks.

Monday was dinner at our favorite place, Margaritas on the Hill. As always, we were welcomed as old friends, hugs and handshakes all around. However, since it was a Monday night, we came without a reservation. Doh! The place was packed, all the tables were filled. Both Nancy and John told the owner, Hector, that we’d come back on Wednesday. Hector would have nothing to do with that; per Hector “You are family now” He immediately asked two of the men to go downstairs and hand carry a table up the stairs for us. After a few minutes, the three of us were sitting with cocktails in our own personal space. These folks are super nice. Of course, Hector’s son, Kevin, immediately came over to flirt sweetly with Yarrow and make her laugh, who could blame him?

Kevin sidling up to Yarrow

Yarrow, who is a ‘hard working woman’ in NYC, was very content hitting the beach, the pools and just doing a little R&R. However, any trip with Yarrow and Nancy (Nacy) together requires a little shopping. So, they took a day trip to a small town, Sayulita.

Kinda of a touristy town, they wandered the streets, popping into clothing shops and boutiques. They both managed to spend a FEW pesos. At one point Nancy mentioned that her hair needed a little trim. Didn’t Yarrow spot a hairdresser? With Yarrow translating via Google Translate, Nancy got her hair cut for the crazy price of 200 Pecos ($10 USD).

December through March is the season for whale watching. Humpbacks and occasionally orcas are frequently seen in the bay around here. We’ve frequently seen whales from our rooftop pool. Yarrow was thrilled to see them but not interested in a whale watching boat tour…the whales would be far too close for comfort for Yarrow. They are rather BIG!

Whale Watching in the Bay

One evening the three of us decided to go to a small local restaurant that the manager of our condo told us to try. Taco Junior is in the small town of La Cruz a few miles from our place. Taco Junior has one of John’s favorite types of tacos called Taco Al Pastor aka Tacos “Herdsmen Style”. The method of preparing and cooking al pastor is based on the lamb shawarma brought by Lebanese immigrants to central Mexico. Al Pastor features split grilled slices of pork. As you can see in the picture below, the pork is cooked on a spit similar to Greek gyros. Al Pastor is a popular Mexican street food that has spread to the United States.

Before the food arrived, John went next door to the OXXO, which is similar to a 7-Eleven or a WaWa (for you East Coasters) to buy a couple of beers since Taco Junior only had soft drinks. Nancy and Yarrow bought Jasmine fruit drinks, but John needed real refreshments. So, he picked up a Miller High Life in a can…talk about regressing to college age.

While we enjoyed our tacos, we were visited by the many stray dogs that travel around these street eateries looking for handouts. They spotted Yarrow as soon as she walked in, settling down at her feet.  She was ready to bring at least one dog home and they would have followed her anywhere; thank heavens for US customs!

Over the next few days, we pretty much did our own things: Yarrow hanging at the pool, Nancy staying busy, and John laying around reading books.

Yarrow went back to chilly New York City on February 14th, and we waited for our next guests, Liz and Dana, good friends from our marina in Oregon, who arrived on the 21st.

After so many days of relaxing, we decided to do something different with Dana and Liz. One night we went to “Rhythms of the Night.” This evening dinner theater is located at the secluded oasis of Las Caletamiles, which is an hour’s boat ride on Banderas Bay from Puerto Vallarta. The package included: the boat ride with free ‘drinks’, a leisurely buffet dinner, and a show that ranged from jugglers to trapeze, to guys twirling flaming hoops. Quite a spectacle.

We started out on the cruise, which seemed to curmudgeonly John like the Gilligan’s Island “Three Hour Tour.” The boat was packed with lots of youngins’ drinking lots of watered down margaritas and fruity drinks. John figured it was going to be a debauched boat ride back. You can see his curmudgeonly sour puss in the next picture…with Nancy and Liz and Dana smiling and happy as always.

The Curmudgeon and Nancy

The Happy Threesome!

John’s sour mood disappeared after arriving at Las Caletamiles. We were greeted by various creatures with fabulous costumes.

The leisurely dinner was in fact leisurely and quite good. All the people on our boat were accommodated in a number of smaller outdoor areas with our own buffets and wine under palapas along the beach. After dinner, the highlight of the evening was the show, which was great. Check out this link for pictures of the entertainment. We all enjoyed the show…it was worth it…even John agreed!

On the ride back, the staff donned different costumes and entertained everyone with singing and dancing…not even close to professional but so cute and done with such enthusiasm, they looked like they were having fun along with us.

The other almost magical sight was the hundreds of birds following the boat. Because it was dark and the birds were white, they looked ethereal. We included a picture below but it does not come close to showing the majesty of the display.

Sunday was the craft/food market again for Nancy, Dana and Liz.  John was excused since this was the third excursion there and we know how most men love craft fairs.

Later that afternoon, the four of us met for lunch at another of our favorite spots, the restaurant La Cata Del Mar. Located in the middle of the fish market, the owner Paulo and his son Ever have a 10-table seafood restaurant where all the food is fresh from the surrounding market. Another place where they are so friendly and happy to see you return with more hugging.

Monday was some lounging for the two Portland visitors in the beautiful 78-degree sunshine at the beach and the pool. That night we took them to Margaritas on the Hill. This time we made a reservation and a good thing we did, the place was packed and jumping with a eight person table of Millennials celebrating one guy’s 49th birthday. Lots of margaritas and tequila shots were being thrown back at that table. Plus, we had a roving Mexican guitar player taking requests. One of the tables asked him to sing “Guantanamera,” which is Spanish for ‘The woman from Guantanamo.’ Anyone alive in the mid-1960s is familiar with the Sandpipers version of this song and its catchy tune. John remembers his mom singing it in the kitchen as she listened to the song on her portable AM radio. She would sing along, but in her hearing, it was…”one ton of tomatoes…” Ya gotta say it out loud to hear how it could be mistaken for Guantanamera.

Dana and Liz left on Tuesday and we got back to our regular schedule that sometimes includes going to the gym.

One day John was up on the treadmill watching pelicans dive for fish in the bay across from the gym. There must have been a school of bait fish right out in front. A bunch of pelicans would gracefully glide over the water until one would spy a fish and then turning and gaining height would then dramatically dive headfirst into the water catching a fish in its bill. Then, righting itself on the water, it would throw its head back and attempt to swallow the fish. Mother Nature in all her glory.  

Another day, there were a bunch of smaller white gulls who whenever a pelican would dive and catch a fish would fly over and sit on the water very close to the pelican. John googled this and found it’s quite common: gulls and terns are small white birds that sometimes follow pelicans around and try to steal their catch. This behavior is called kleptoparasitism, a feeding strategy where one animal deliberately steals food from another. John says he must have missed that class when going to college and grad school for biology.

Nancy and John like to ‘do lunch’ at new and different places. The other day we headed to a new place. To get there you must drive along a road that is seriously dug up for what we think is preparation for another new condo being built. We went UNDER a backhoe and through mud puddles to finally arrive at Sukha, which is a Sanskrit word that means "happiness" or "belonging to pleasure". It can also mean "pleasurable". The place was quite large and right on the beach and the day we were there it was quite windy. We had a really nice lunch, and well worth the drive. Johns barbecue shrimp were served on skewers that came out of a large cut of pineapple – beautiful presentation and just as good tasting.

Back at our condos at Bolongo can hold up to 1200 people, but most days there are only 300-400 here.  We often have the rooftop pools to ourselves…as per the picture below.  It is a tough job but someone has to do it.

Our next visitors arrive on Thursday. John’s son Andrew, his wife Samantha, and grandson Wild arrive for a few days. We have some fun things planned for eight-year-old Wild.

Our time in Mexico is short, so we may see many of you soon,

John and Nancy