Six Days in Puerto Vallarta

Daniel and I tend to plan our vacations well in advance of our travel dates – we’re already thinking about our next three trips.  For months, we had been sketching out a visit to Hawaii for this March.  But late last year, we crunched the numbers and travel time, and decided instead on a return visit to Puerto Vallarta, where we’d travelled in December 2021. For those with short memories, the world was a very different place 28 months ago.  We had to mask up while travelling and had to get a COVID test before we returned to the US.  A good part of that trip was consumed by the hassle of getting in and out of Mexico.  Not this time.  But out of an abundance of caution, I went into a partial quarantine the last two days before our trip.  I went to the gym for my usual leg day on Wednesday.  After that, I only left the house to mail a letter, take out the garbage/recycling, and pack up our vehicle for the trip to the airport.   

I'm a great believer in lists, and I love using Excel for cataloguing my physical media and other collections.  I have a template for traveling with tabs for our itinerary, places to go, and checklists. Everything has been preformatted, so when I decide to travel somewhere, I just copy the template, change the name, and fill out the fields. If things are planned, the experience is smoother.

Yes, I have eye bags - it was 4:30am.

We took pretty much the same flights as before: American Airlines, connecting at DFW.  We arrived at CLE at 2:30am for our 5:01am flight to DFW, only to discover that the ticket counter didn’t open until 3:30am.  We got checked in and went to the TSA pre-check, which didn’t open until 4:00am. Hurry up and wait.  DFW was very crowded, and it continually annoys me how people walk with their eyes glued to their phone instead of looking ahead so they don’t bump into others.  PVR airport is not large (a new international terminal is being built) but reasonably modern and very clean.  We were through passport control and customs quickly, made our way past the timeshare hucksters, out the door, past the official expensive taxis, and across the footbridge to the cheaper yellow taxis. 

Puerto Vallarta (PV) is very hilly, one of the reasons it has been called the San Francisco of Mexico - the other is the large gay community that has formed there over the past 20 years.  We had such a great time in December of 2021 that we regretted that our trip was so short.  We gave ourselves an extra couple of days this time.  One thing I didn’t notice the first time we were here is that even the birds seem to speak their own language.  

When we planned the trip, we forgot that this week is spring break for many colleges.  Since the drinking age in Mexico is 18, there were tons of American teens here - and it was amusing to see the look on their faces as they walked about in the Zona Romantica and saw all the rainbow flags.  But I didn’t hear any of them say anything homophobic.

We got to the hotel before noon and our room was ready for us.  The concierge, Gabriel Borroquez, took us to our room where we were welcomed with a “Feliz Cumpleaños” sign and a bottle of champagne.  We love Hotel Mercurio - it’s not the fanciest place preferred by the snobby queens, but the staff is on point and the location can’t be beat.  Many of the staff, including Joselo, Briam, Deyvid, and Ray have been there for years – and there are some new faces as well, including Danny.  The hotel’s longtime bartender, Jorge Gonzalez, was recently voted best bartender in Puerto Vallarta.  Breakfast is included with the room – and this is not the coffee & stale donuts that passes for breakfast at many hotels, but eggs made to order, pancakes, waffles, and several Mexican breakfasts – including chilaquiles, which were new to me and to which I am now addicted.

With Hotel Mercurio's resident cat, Junior.

Relaxing before breakfast.

Chilaquiles, my new friend.

As mentioned above, PV has a festive gay scene.  Both Dan & I have lost interest in the loud crowded places, preferring the smaller bars where one can enjoy conversation.  We found a place near our hotel called Kevin’s Hideaway and met the owner, who briefly lived in Akron.  The bar is on the 2nd floor, and we were able to watch the street scene below.  We also like Los Amigos – a great place for a quiet drink and conversation with Glenn the bartender.

With Kevin at his hideaway.

Saturday, we met up with some friends from our first trip here.  We hit up the art galleries and explored the foodie scene, which included dinner at Kaiser Maximilian - the Wienerschnitzel was simply the best I’ve ever had, not surprising since the owner is from Austria. 

Delicious.

Sunday was my birthday.  We started it off with a hike to Mirador de la Cruz.  The climb was even more arduous than I anticipated but we eventually made it to the top.  The view was spectacular.  The way down was almost as taxing and we rewarded ourselves with desayuno at McDonald’s, which has several options not available in the United States.  We walked around a bit more and stopped for some ice cream and did some more shopping.  That evening, Dan sprung his surprise: a delicious birthday cake presented to me by Mercurio's Danny while the staff sang Happy Birthday. 

My birthday cake and Piña Colada - purely nutritional.

By Monday our energy was winding down.  We did some more shopping and I found something for the house.  That evening we lounged in the hotel’s small pool. 

Tuesday was our last full day here.  We caught an early bus to the Vallarta Botanical Garden, where we saw many unique plants, peacocks and other birds, and butterflies.  I suddenly felt inspired and recorded several of the bird calls for possible use in a new musical work.  Unfortunately, despite wearing bug repellent I was bitten by a small bug which I hope was not a tick.  After coming back, we got some tasty street tacos - with drinks they were 170 pesos - about $10.  Aside from the chilaquiles we had for breakfast, this was the only Mexican food we had while in PV.   

We went back to the hotel to rest up for the walk to dinner.  Barcelona Tapas is far north of Zona Romantica - but totally worth the walk.  Everything was fab from the food to the service to the view.  We could see the planes taking off from PVR - doubtless filled with tourists sad to leave.  Then a last night of socializing before we packed and got ready to fly home.  

Wednesday, I awoke early and walked to the pier for some photos.  After a leisurely breakfast and packing, Danny & I said our goodbyes & walked to the corner to grab a taxi for the airport.  We arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before our flight, got our baggage checked, and went through security where some entitled American mother was complaining because they wouldn’t let her bring her kid’s play-dough on the plane.  Danny & I spent most of our remaining pesos at the duty-free shops before strolling to our gate.  The terminal was super crowded which explains why they’re building a bigger one.  The return connection at DFW was a nightmare.  Customs and TSA there are the least competently run I have ever seen.  I’m glad I got us a long layover because we needed it.  We landed in Cleveland around midnight.  The first thing we did after getting our luggage was to grab our jackets, then we headed to the shuttle that takes us to long term parking.  Unfortunately, their computers were down for about ten minutes as a queue of cars waiting to cash out and leave formed and grew.  We finally paid and made our way home without further incident.  After six days, it was nice to sleep in our own home again.  But I already miss Puerto Vallarta, especially the friends we made there.