Puerto Vallarta

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta after a sleepless night spent either in the air or waiting for our connecting flight in the International Airport in Mexico City. Neither place was conducive to sleeping but we tried. After procuring both our luggage and a taxi cab we finally made our way out to our hotel. Riding through the hotel district and then the marina area we both had our car windows rolled down and were enjoying both the warm sunny weather and the fact that we were blissfully free from any responsibilities for 5 days. Paradise!

Our hotel was located just at the beginning of the downtown area and the Malecon (boardwalk). After some initial snafu with our room (the first one they assigned us had one tiny window that overlooked the interior of the hotel and was very dark and dreary) we settled into our ocean view suite overlooking the swimming pool and bar area. The waves crashed just under our balcony it seemed and literally I could have thrown something from our room and have it land on the sand. We slept with the sliding glass door open every night and enjoyed several beautiful sunsets on our balcony.

The first order of business that first day was to wander around and get the lay of the land. We left our hotel and wandered in the direction of downtown, taking note of which taco stands were busiest and generally enjoying our new environment. First order of business? $1 Pacifico beers over looking the ocean along the Malecon. It was heaven. We wandered some more and found a wonderful little taqueria where the owner was friendly and helpful. He practiced some of his English on us and I dusted off a few rusty sentences in Spanish. 6 tacos, 4 Pacificos, and 2 tequila shots = right about $7. Gotta love Mexico!

We fell into an easy routine. I would wake up in the morning about 9:00 am and slather my lily white self with SPF45 and head down to the pool with my book for a couple hours until I felt TheBoy had slept long enough. We would then shower and head out in search of some breakfast. The afternoons were spent poking through shops and spending time in the flea market. We almost always found a screaming deal on Happy Hour cocktails, once involving a real coconut which was split open for us after the drink was gone and sprinkled with salt, red pepper flakes and hot sauce – it was divine! We would head back to the room to watch the sunset either from the pool area or from our balcony and then change and rest up for dinner. Dinners were cheap, several great little taquerias were within steps of our hotel. We would often stop for a late-night snack at one of the taco trucks that stayed open all night.

We didn’t do anything touristy. No tours of Tequila. No whale watching. No snorkeling. No booze cruises. What we did do was relax and defrost our frozen, soggy selves from the gloom that always accompanies winter for me. We spent time together just laughing and enjoying each other’s company. There was no talk of the wedding (except for the occasional vendor asking if we were honeymooners or “jus practicing”). No jobs to stress over. No home projects to consider. It was truly the best vacation I think I have had in ages. No agenda. No worries. Just fun.