Paradise Revisited - February 2015 - Puerto Vallarta

Our trip to Paradise, aka Puerto Vallarta is at the same time each year.  We love to go in February when the weather at home is still usually rainy and we are ready for a change.  I love coming back and seeing that Spring is right around the corner.  Going any earlier would leave too much of a gap between returning home and the start of Spring, and going later would put us there when we are starting to have the first signs of Spring here.  So, early February is the absolute best time.  Puerto Vallarta also is usually sunny and 80 degrees, perfect weather for catching some Vitamin D.

Last year we decided to trade our Mayan Palace timeshare weeks through SFX and stay at the Sheraton Bougainvillea Resort.  We loved it and decided this year to once again stay there.  It is within walking distance to the Malecon (10-15 minutes) and an easy walk to Old Town.  The Marina is the other direction and a quick bus ride.
I was really not interested in going on any more tours.  We’ve done most of the land ones (Doug doesn’t want to do a boat tour), and rather than spend the money I opted to stay around the hotel during the day and catch up on some reading. 


My favorite resting place

The pool at the Sheraton is a very busy place and there are not a lot of umbrellas for those of us who would like shelter from the sun.  Therefore, everyone gets up early and treks to the pool with their towels to “reserve” their loungers. I tried to go before 7am each day and even then there were very few umbrellas left, if any.  Most of the time if I didn’t have an umbrella I was able to get the side with the shade the first half of the day.  Once staking out my spot, I would either walk to town with Doug for coffee at Starbucks, or stay in the room catching up on some laptop work, or watching TV until 9:30 or so, then head back to the pool.  This is my absolute favorite pastime; resting, relaxing and reading at the pool.  Every hour or so jumping in to cool off and move some muscles. 
Doug spent time in the morning catching up on work things, then usually spent the morning walking to Starbucks, then breakfast in Old Town and walking around that area.  He usually came down to the pool between 2-3pm, then we went to the room around 5pm for showers and getting ready for dinner.
This year Carnival (Mardi Gras) happen to fall during our visit.  We found out there was going to be a parade that began right at our hotel and went to the downtown area. So we had a great view of the parade which was unlike any I'd see before.  There were some weird costumes.  It actually seemed more like a gay pride event.




Sayulita

One of the days we rode the bus to Suyulita which we have done several times.  It is about an 70 minute bus ride north in Nayarit.  Once there we had lunch at our favorite restaurant on the beach, Captain Pablo's, then rode the bus back. I don't remember it taking so long in the past, and since it was very warm it was uncomfortable and a long day.  We were gone from about 11:00 am until 4:00 pm. We need to leave earlier in the day or opt for another place. 

We have our favorite places to eat but like to try new places too.  I would usually get ideas from people at the pool of new places to try.  Some of our favorites and places we’ve been and chose to go back:

• Derby Burgers – Old Town -  lots of choices of different burgers and you must try the fried pickles!
• 
  Joe Jacks Fish Shack – Old Town -always a line but worth it.  All you can eat fish and chips on Friday nights (not a good deal for us). We usually go there at least twice during our 2 week stay.
• Fredy Tucan’s –Old Town - breakfast and lunch only, but the best breakfast in town, and outstanding service.
• El Barracuda –just north of the Malecon – right on the water.  Mostly seafood – good coconut shrimp, fish tacos, etc.
•  
• La Cerveceria Union – on the Malecon strip - service was not as good this time but our food was.  I’m not ready to give up on it yet.
• Las Margaritas – Old Town – we actually met up with one of Doug’s business colleagues and his son and went for lunch.  We hadn’t been for a few years and it was very good.
• Victor's Place – At the Marina – always a line, fun atmosphere, good food.
• Los Palomas Doradas – Marina – great breakfast
• Dz’s Diner – Marina – 60’s diner – good hamburgers

New places this year:

• El Patron – close to the Sheraton.  A few blocks up on the left side of the Sports field.  Busy place with good food and reasonable prices.
• OchoTostadas – on the street directly behind the Sports field:  only seafood but good.  I had the Gorgonzola Penne with Shrimp which was excellent.
• Las Gaviota’s which is at the Sheraton. We didn’t want to go anywhere so we tried it and it was very good.  A little more expensive than the other places, but excellent Italian food.
• Pizza Hut – yes, that’s right.  We wanted pizza and it was a quick bus ride, and very good, clean and great service.  
• Senor Frog’s – on the Malecon.  I thought it would be similar to others like it but was pleasantly surprised.  The food was good as well as the service.  The wait staff had fun with the customers but were not intrusive. 

Since something usually happens, either medically, or we forget something, or the laptop breaks etc. I thought I would include the following:

Doug realized at the Airport when it was too late do anything about it that he left all his medicine at home.  He called his DRs after hour’s line and was told to go to a pharmacy and they would be able to determine if he needed a prescription for the meds.  To our surprise he was able to get everything he needed over the counter including Metformin, insulin, Lisinopril, etc.

I ended up popping my crown off by biting something hard.  It was salvageable so after calling my dentist for advice, we were able to go to a dentist that was able to temporarily cement it.   15 minutes and $45 cash US.  DR Noel Rivas at PVsmiles told us that 90% of his patients and US or Canadian and were coming for restorative work like crowns, implants, etc.  I would recommend him to others and may decide to go to him after I retire if I find myself needing a dentist.


Since I vowed to include books that I read here goes: Chappaquiddick by Jack Olsen, Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius and The Promise by  Rachelle Friedman 

Two weeks in Paradise and we had to head home.  As soon as we can we will be adding time…



Twelfies in Paradise

My fav morning pick me up

Ahhh

Never get tired of this

A music studio in Old Town

 

Carnival

Sayulita

 








 

 

Orlando - October 2014

Doug's MSPA conference was in Orlando this year so we added on a few days to extend our time in the nice weather.

We arrived in Orlando Saturday evening about 5pm, got our car at the airport and drove to the Hilton Grand Vacation Club SeaWorld Resort.  It is in a beautiful setting, with the main building housing the big pool, restaurant, store, and movie theater.  Additionally, there are 10 separate buildings, each with three floors of units.  We were in the Smith House which happened to be the farthest building from the main building.  There was also a pool close to that building. 

Our unit was a one bedroom with a full kitchen and washer/dryer.  It had a screened in patio with a small table and chairs.  The décor was nice and it included a king size bed, Jacuzzi tub, and 2 flat screen TVs.

Once we checked in and got settled we drove out to check out the area.  We ended up at Tony Roma’s for dinner which was a nice treat since they had closed all the WA locations.

Sunday we had breakfast at Waffle House – Doug’s favorite “down south” location.   Our friends Harold and Patti happened to be in town also so we made arrangements to watch the Seahawks game with them at our condo.  After the game (we lost L) we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner, and made plans to go to Epcot the following day.

Epcot was having their annual Food and Wine Festival.  We got to the park at 10:30 after picking up Harold and Patti at their condo.  We tried to get a “fast pass” for a few of the rides that are in the front of the park; however most of the rides we wanted were not available for the “fast pass”.  After seeing the 80-90 minute waits, we decided instead to head to the back of the park where the different “countries” are located.  Each “country” had a booth located at the front of their location and had small bites of different foods and tastes of wine for sale.  Each of us tried different things as we meandered through the countries.  Once we completed that we went back to the rides and were able to go on Soarin' and Mission Space, both of them were fun.  Since Doug tends to have motion sickness he opted out.  It was in the upper 80s so we were all tired and ready to leave about 630 after a full day. 

On our way back to the condo we decided to stop for dinner at TIGF rather than go back out again. 

Tuesday morning we decided to drive over to Cocoa Beach and have lunch on the pier.  The weather was a little overcast but it was a nice one hour drive. There were quite a few people at the beach and it was warm and nice weather.  We ate lunch on the pier at Pelican's Bar and Grill.  After lunch we went to Ron Jon’s Surf Shop – always a fun place with lots of souvenirs for us and the kids.  When we came back to the condo, Doug worked for a while, I went to the pool, and then we decided to just eat dinner at the hotel restaurant which was good.

Wednesday morning Doug had to head to his conference which was in a different hotel, the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista, so I took our things over, got settled then headed over to the little town of Celebration which is a little village built by Disney Development Company in the style of downtown Disney. It no longer belongs to the Disney Corporation.  It's a fun town to visit.  The  Bohemian Hotel would be a fun place to stay if we ever go back.

On Thursday I met up with my cousin Lori Miranda who lives in Fernando Beach on Amelia Island which is in northernmost Florida.  We made arrangements to meet in the nearby town of Winter Park.   What a quaint little town.  We both like museums so we he a great time exploring the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of Modern Art. Among other things the museum had a lot of Tiffany Glass which was amazing to see.  There was even a chapel in the museum with beautiful Tiffany stained glass windows.

We had lunch at Paris Bistro, then stopped in for pastry next door at Le Macaron French Pastries.  It was so fun to meet up with Lori and catch up in person!  We have a lot of shared interests, including genealogy.  We are both working on learning more about our grandparents.  Her father Frank Bryson Smith and my mother Charlotte Roe Smith (Reimer) were siblings.

Thursday evening we attended the Medieval Times Dinner Theatre and Tournament with several others from the conference.  I had never been although there are several others, some in towns we have been to.  Basically it's a dinner theatre with a jousting tournament.  Live action with horses and several jousting "matches" until a final winner is declared. Upon entry we were given a specific place to sit so we knew which knight we were rooting for.    Dinner was a piece of chicken and a rib, corn, roll, potato and some soup.  All served without utensils (but handi-wipes).   It was a fun experience but I can say I've done it and don't need to do it again.

Friday we moved over to yet another hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Lake Buena Vista where was another small conference Doug was attending.  While we were at that hotel Doug was busy during the day so I spent a little time at the pool and checking out the nearby Orlando Premium Outlet Mall.  They had a Neiman Marcus Last Call store which had a lot of great bargains, especially in the baby department so I was able to pick up a few things for our Grandbaby Hudson.

I spend the day by myself Saturday, then in the evening we went to the Disney Outlet store then back to Tony Roma's for dinner.  Sunday Doug's conference was over around 2pm.  We spent the rest of the day at Downtown Disney.  We had dinner at Splitsville then stopped at the Ghirardelli Shop for a cone.

We had to leave Monday so we packed and headed to the airport.I wouldn't mind going back to Orlando, however it was too hot to do much sight seeing.  I would rather go at a different time of year when it's not so hot.