Bienvenido, loyal reader. Please join Bruce and Mary as they enjoy the company of old time friends Robert and Lynn, visiting them in Puerto Vallarta.
We have just hailed Robert and Lynn from our table at Bar Oceano on the Malecon. We grew up with Robert and Lynn in our little home town of Princeton, MN so we were thrilled to hear that they were coming down to visit. We have not seen them since MDD last May and like Robert says, it’s getting a little late to make new old friends.
A toast to old times!
In the midst of our frenzied conversation, Robert informs us that they haven’t eaten since breakfast so we get in gear and order up some grub. This is Lynn’s Chile Relleno Mariscos.
This is the chicken mushroom dish that Robert made short work of.
And Mary and I split an Arrachera and shrimp combo. The Arrachera is good, but not as good as it is in Yucatan.
After our meals we take a walk on the malecon and come upon this firedancer.
We’re at the Sea Monkey for nightcaps. After killing our beers Robert and Lynn head back to their Spa/Resort in 5th de Diciembre and we to our flat in Old Town. Following are pix of our adventures, mostly in Old Town, throughout the week. Sadly we have to work our regular shifts, not able to get time off, but I don’t think Robert and Lynn mind whiling the days away in beach-side cabana beds and exploring 5th de Diciembre. BTW: We only play professional food photographers on TV, so if someone’s food shot is missing, it is not because they are fasting.
We do stray from Old Town to check out Robert and Lynn’s Spa/Resort Villa Premiere. Lynn did the booking so Robert didn’t even know it was a Spa/Resort until he got his 10 minute massage at check-in, which, BTW, he did not mind at all.
This is the view from their balcony, not bad, eh? And talk about lucky buggers, one morning as they are relaxing with their coffees down on the beach they spot a whale breaching, just off shore, and are treated to about 5 minutes of a whale frolicking with its calf. We spent 400P each for our whale tour and didn’t get that.
Robert insists upon treating me to a belated BD dinner so here we are in Villa Premiere’s fine dining venue, Restaurante Morales. Would you like an orange or lemon slice with your water?
Here is my catch of the day, a Mahi Mahi steak with a creamy saffron infused wine sauce over pasta. It is muy delicioso!
We’re in the Villa Premiere lobby, Robert and Lynn are seeing us off, as it is 8:30 and approaching our bedtime.
Having established the Sea Monkey as a reference point (and a source of 12P beers) we meet up again.
We are entertained by this familia cantadores. The young lad is featured and has a sweet voice very reminiscent of the singer of Tu Mirá
in Kill Bill 2.
Then we walk the malecon heading to…
The Pitt, which has probably the best burgers in Old Town. And we cash in some of our Cupocity coupons that we’ve been accumulating.
Now we’re at Roberto’s enjoying buck beers. This day we want to show Robert and Lynn some of our Old Town haunts.
We’re at what we call “the little market”, on Calle Madero, Constitucion y Insurgentes. It is a little more expensive than Mercado Emiliano Zapata, where we do our industrial shopping on Saturdays, but it is darn handy. Plus, owners Carlos and Alma are so charming we try to give them what business we can.
And of course, being in the neighborhood we have to show them our gym. I’m not sure they appreciate the warehouse basement ambiance.
Here’s what Robert’s been waiting for, a Mexican cantina experience, and there is no finer cantina in Old Town than Toños. Here is the whole spread of botanas, featuring caldo de camarones, shrimp stew. Que bueno!
My caldo de camarones is good to the last drop.
Our favorite mesera Ariana is quick to clean up after us.
I’m glad Mary knows how to do stuff like the self timer on the camera. We’re toasting la vida pura from our front deck. I like what Lynn says of the vantage here, “There’s so much to look at!” That’s one of the things we love about our little flat. And we love Robert’s stories. I particularly like the one about his, Kevin, and Bart’s European hitchhiking tour back in the early 70s that involved the three Swedish girls. And no, loyal reader, it does not go the way you think it does, it stays G rated the whole way.
After happy hour on our deck we taxi up the hill to Casa Isabel for dinner, right now we are gazing down on our little flat. Forgetting that this is high season, I did not get reservations so we are lucky just to get a table and of course all the perimeter seating is already taken. Shame on me.
We’ve ordered our food and surprise! Our server brings this complimentary plate of mussels. They are so tasty that Robert tries to get Mary to sample one but her marisco aversion is on high alert this day.
Lynn has the Yellow Fin Tuna. I sampled it and this may be the best tuna I have ever tasted.
And Robert enjoys the chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and spinach on a bed of almond mashed potatoes.
Hmmm… I think I see a pattern here.
After buck beers at the Monkey we take a slight detour to Cafe Bohemio to view this pretty cool mosaic wall on Pino Suarez.
Cafe Bohemio is packed and we are very grateful that our favorite server Skinny Alex is able to seat us so quickly. And we are also very pleased to see that owner and Broadway entertainer Sol is not only working the tables…
He is on fire!
Sol is helping Lynn with her menu selection.
Robert needs a little help, too.
Every meal at Cafe Bohemio includes soup of the day, and this day it is Sopa de Elote.
Robert has been hankering for some mole and today he is in luck as fish and shrimp mole is one of the specials.
Lynn has the Bohemian Meatloaf, one of the many delectable choices in Cafe Bohemio’s huge menu.
My Cuban style pork chops are mouth watering.
Mary is in love with Cafe Bohemio’s veggie chile. And with the huge salad that comes with it, she takes half her chile home for lunch tomorrow.
After our meals, Sol serves us complimentary Tequila sippers. Muy bien!
Fully sated, we take a walk on Muelle Los Muertos, the new pier. It is a beautiful night.
After our walk on the pier we take a leisurely stroll on the boardwalk to Calle Basilio Badillo and on up to Olas Altas. It is getaway night so this is goodbye to our old friends Robert and Lynn as we see them off on one last romantic stroll down the Malecon. Hasta Mayo, mis amigos!
Thanks for visiting, gentle reader. Bruce and Mary would like to note that no names have been changed and all are guilty as charged. Hasta proxima Domingo!
Bruce, we have enjoyed your blog. I was searching for Merida expat forums and eventually found your link. Its funny how time compresses. For me, you arrived in Progresso two weeks ago, for you its been somewhat longer. We will be retireing to Merida in a few months and we picked up a lot of really useful information from your blog. I’m glad things worked out so well for you and Mary and that you finally found your beach home. Have you ever thought of doing a Merida/PV comparison post? It looks like you met a lot more retirees in Merida and a lot more vacationers in PV. No surprise there. Best Regards, Mike
Hola Mike and Julia,
I am glad you’re enjoying the blog.
It’s rather hard for us to believe that we met Jaromey at the Progreso Pemex 5 yrs ago this Feb 15, the time has flown so.
We have thought of doing a comparison but are a little unclear how to go about it w/o making someone unhappy. Actually there are quite a few retirees here in Old Town, and in 5th de Deciembre, I understand. And there are quite a number of vacationers in Merida at any given time, but they are mostly Mexicanos from DF and Europeans. All we know for certain is that we very much enjoyed our time in Merida and here in PV we feel like we’ve really hit the spot, for us.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers!