Part Two: Puerto Vallarta

Twice we took a little taxi to downtown Puerto Vallarta to walk around, shop in the markets, and eat delicious Mexican food. Employees and owners of stores hung around by their doors, and you couldn't pass one without someone saying something to you, making small talk trying to get you to shop or eat or buy their tequila or attend their timeshare presentation--

"Free shots of tequila guys! Come into my store!"
"Where are you from? You hungry? We got the best [insert food]!"
"Ohh, look at you guys, you almost as dark as Mexicans!"
"Hey, remember me from the Grand Bliss? I work for them!" [they didn't.]

But the town is beautiful. We stayed mostly in Old Town and downtown PV and walked a LOT. I didn't mind the walking--there was so much to see! Whenever it got too hot or we needed a break, we'd hop into a little bar and drink beers or margaritas for a dollar.

Yep, a dollar.

Those boys that look like flecks of black on the right had boogie boards and were SO GOOD! I never realized boogie boards are meant to do something more than serve as a flotation device in the ocean. These kids rode them like surfboards and I was so impressed. I wanted to jump in right then and learn with them. This was a feeling I had to suppress many times while we were near the ocean--the barely-repressable urge to jump in and swim. The water was so warm and the water was so beautiful!

A side street in PV. So narrow!

My favorite bar we visited. This circular bar was planted right in the middle of an outdoor market, and the whole atmosphere was so fun. Bob Marley, UB40, Inner Circle--you know, the kind of island-y tunes you'd expect to hear at a bar on a hot summer day in Mexico--were playing on a boombox, and everyone was smiling, laughing, talking, having a great time. The bartender was so friendly and cool. I remember sitting there and thinking how purely happy I was at that moment, being surrounded by these people--nothing could have marred my joy.

This picture doesn't quite show the magnitude of this drink--I had no idea when I ordered it that it would be the size of a 64-ounce Bucky's cup. It's called a cielo rojo, or "red sky", and is like a michelada with Clamato.

I've never had Clamato before because it looked gross, and somehow I always imagined it tasting like dirty clam water. But there was Clamato in this drink, along with fresh-squeezed limes and lemons, Worcestershire sauce, salt, beer, and whatever else goes into one of these. It was heavenly! So refreshingly delicious after so much walking that afternoon in air so humid you could practically swim through it.

Tyler was very happy that he got to smoke the cigar he bought in a little shop on the way.

The first time I "smoked" a cigar I thought you had to inhale. It was very disgusting. I gagged and never put one to my lips again, except to pose in this picture.

After that, we made our way to Pipi's! Why did we think it was a good idea to go to a restaurant with gigantic margaritas? This spot has long been a favorite of the Holzers, and Ty has told me many a time about stumbling out of Pipi's blackout drunk from their margaritas.

I ordered strawberry. I couldn't finish it. It was the Day of Large Drinks, and this one kicked my butt.

What I really loved about this place was the homemade guacamole. They brought out all the ingredients and made it at the table! Mmm. So delicious. Will I ever get tired of chips, pico, and guac? I hope not. I really, really hope not.

On the beach in town

So pretty!

An old church we walked into. I didn't catch the name of it. I took too many pictures of the outside of this church as we walked up to it, and I was so excited to see what it looked like inside. Then we stepped in and it was horribly disappointing, having been entirely refurbished in the early 80s with white plaster walls and shiny gold accoutrements.

The second time in town we ate at a restaurants called Oscars. This was our view!

This man was pretty cool. He was on the beach and would gather rocks and balance them on one another--huge rocks balancing on little baby rocks, as though they were all connected through the core by a thick metal rod or something. I was amazed by the physics of this.

What killed me was the tip box. If you looked too long one of his kids would come up to you and point at the box. I'm sure he does this every day with the same rocks, but I was still in awe. Look at the tower on the left!

Pretty sunset

Checking out of the resort on our last day. So sad :(