Paradise Revisited, February 2016 Puerto Vallarta

What can I say new about Paradise, when we go each year?  We both love Puerto Vallarta.  The relaxed, care-free and laid-back environment, as well as the beautiful weather.  February is the perfect time to go….. we made it through the holidays, the bills in January because of the holidays, and as we settle in to the new year we are facing the cold, rain, yucky Pacific NW weather. What better way to rejuvenate ourselves, come back refreshed and ready for Spring.

Once again we booked the Sheraton Bougainvillea’s Resort through SFX, trading in our existing Mayan Palace Timeshare weeks.  The Sheraton is close to town, about a 10 minute walk.    We arrived on Saturday, February 6^th.  We were at the hotel by 4:30 pm or so, and settled right in.  Of course my first order of business was the pool, as always.  Dinner was at the hotel that night.

This year we tried a few new restaurants and took a bus ride to La Cruz, which is just past Bucerias, and before Suyulita.  And the rest of the time I spent by the pool, reading and otherwise just relaxing, while Doug spent his days working for awhile, leisurely walking around town, then joining me at the pool in the afternoon.   Most days we were back to our room by 5pm, then heading to dinner by 6:30-7 when the weather cooled down.  It was in the mid 80's during the day which was too hot for me to walk around.
 

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, (La Cruz for short) – I had read that it was a great little area to check out, and have lunch.  Unfortunately, there is always a communication breakdown when we don’t really know the area or speak the language.  You would think that we would both be fluent in Spanish by now, however so many people speak English since it's a resort town, so we have never gotten fluent.  We managed to get on the right bus, and asked the driver to make sure to let us off at La Cruz.  When he indicated that we were at our stop, we got off along with another couple who seemed to know exactly where they were going.  We crossed the street, walked down hill to the marina, and looked around and discovered “nothing”.  La Cruz is a fishing village and there were fisherman cleaning fish, but that was it.  The one restaurant did not look even open.  We saw no sign of the town square or the city center.  We walked back up the hill, and tried to figure out where to go.  We finally saw a couple guys talking in the street so I asked where “Centro” was. 

Although neither one of us spoke each other’s language, we were able to communicate somewhat, and we learned that we needed to walk several blocks to find the town center.  In the heat. Up and down hills.  As we walked I made a mental note to remember to ask the bus driver to drop us off at “Centro” next time, if we came back. About the time we were deciding to give up, one of the gentleman we had talked to drove up and opened his door and motioned for us to get in.  By then we were ready for the ride and willingly got in his truck.  He drove several more blocks and there we were! Right in the middle of town.  He pointed out a couple little restaurants and we thanked him (gave him a few dollars) and jumped out.   So, we had lunch at a little street front café, and though we waited a little longer than we expected to the food was really good.  So, once again we had an adventure.  I made a note on our way back to the main highway that we need to get off at the “car wash” on the main highway, and or make sure we ask for the “centro” exit if we ever venture that way again.

This year we ate dinner at some of our favorite places, including Sr. Frogs, El Barracuda, Victor’s and D' Rock and Roll Diner at the Marina, Archie’sWok in Old Town, Joe Jack’s Fish Shack, and Margarita Grill as well as lunch at Derby City Burgers and breakfast at Las Palomas at the Marina on our last morning.  We also had nachos and drinks at Andale’s and met up with Kim and Mike at Langostino’s on the beach for their ExPat gathering.  The new restaurants we tried were Layla’s which I liked, and Doug thought was nothing special; LaDolce Vita for Italian food

 which of course I loved and Doug thought was just “ok”; Melissa’s a hidden gem which was great; Salsa Grill where I had the best steak skewer; and Casa Isabel which was above the city to the south and had a beautiful view and good food.   

I managed to get through one book this time – Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen, and caught up on a few magazines and TV shows.  

Once again it was all about the R and R before heading back to work… can’t wait to retire and spend more time in our favorite paradise.

 

 

 

2015 October LA, MSPA Conferences and Skyler Visit

The MSPA Conference this year was in LA area, as well as the Shoppers Conference.  An opportunity for nicer weather, relaxation, fun in the sun and a chance to see Skyler, our 8 year old grandson.   

We flew into Burbank on Sunday, Oct 11th, and drove to our hotel in Sherman Oaks where we were staying for a couple days before checking in for the conference in Universal City.  After checking in at the Hampton Inn, we drove to Santa Clarita to go to the Saugus Café, which was where Doug’s grandmother had worked for many years.  It has a lot of history in the area.  It originally opened in 1897 and is still in business today.  We had a great lunch, and it was fun to look at the old pictures on the wall and read about the history of the café.   After lunch we took a drive and stopped at Glen Haven Cemetery where Doug’s mom was buried.  We also saw other family headstones while we were there.  It was very hot (102) so the drive was nice, but walking around was a little uncomfortable.

This year The MSPA Conference this year was in LA area, as well as the Shoppers Conference.  An opportunity for nicer weather, relaxation, fun in the sun and a chance to see Skyler, our 8 year old grandson. On Monday we headed to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  We both enjoyed spending time reading the history of Reagan’s presidency, and his personal life.  He is buried on the grounds also, just a few yards outside the building.  The Republican Debates had been held there the previous month so it was interesting to see and hear how they set that up on the upper level of the Library.    

Monday evening we went to Bob’s Big Boy, always a must when we are in town. 

Tuesday morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to Universal City where the first conference was to be held.  We checked into the Universal Hilton.  Doug had a meeting early afternoon so I had time to myself.   Of course I headed to the pool.   Later, I went over to the Universal CityWalk to check it out.   It is located next to Universal Studios, and has shops and restaurants, live entertainment, etc.   It's a fun place to check out.

On Wednesday I took a drive to Hollywood and walked around the Walk of Fame and the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.  There was an IMAX showing the movie “The Wire” in 3d so I stayed for that.  I loved the film, and seeing it in 3D was awesome.    That evening Doug and I went back to Universal CityWalk for dinner at Tony Roma's (another fav which is no longer in Washington).

Thursday I drove up to Griffith Park Observatory.  It is located in Griffith Park, on beautiful grounds, with beautiful views of  a hills all around.  You can see the famed "Hollywood" sign while there. The only thing making it better would be to come in the evening or during a special astronomical event.  That evening the conference social event was a Universal Backstage tour with dinner. They took us on the tram around the lot and through several of the special effects areas including  "Fast and Furious Super Charged" and "Jurassic Park".  Then we ended up at one of the private party rooms on the site for a catered dinner and their annual awards ceremony.

Friday morning we checked out of the hotel and started our drive to Anaheim for the second conference.  We met up with Bev Thornton at a Denny’s for breakfast that was along the way.  We checked into the Embassy Suites in Anaheim and I left to go pick up Skyler at his house in Trabuco Canyon.  Once we got back to the hotel Skyler and I went swimming, rested a little, then we went to Downtown Disney.  There were a lot of people, but it was fun to walk through the area. Skyler made his own remote control race car at Ridemakerz , then we ate dinner at the Rain Forest Café which Skyler had never been to.  We had a lot of fun and both were tired once we made it back to the hotel.  

Saturday Skyler and I went to the Discovery Cube ScienceCenter.  What a great place for an 8 year old!  There were lots of interactive things to do, including the dinosaur fossil find area, a wind tunnel, the Nascar race car section, and because it was close to Halloween there was a spook house.

That evening the conference social event was Pirate's DinnerAdventure.  We had a lot of fun watching the interactive show which included dinner.  

Sunday was time to go home.   After checking out we took Skyler to Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour, then headed to the airport.  We met up with Heather at a Starbucks close to the airport, and were able to meet Patrick for the first time.    Hugs and kisses goodbye, and we were on our way home. 

Nashville- Wedding, family and fun September 30 - October 4, 2015

Brittany and Isaac are getting married! This is a great opportunity to see family and also make a trip back to Nashville. Doug had never been, and ever since my "Traveling Sisters" adventure in 2013 I vowed I would take him there.

 

We arrived in Nashville on Wednesday September 30th around 4pm.  We were staying in Smyrna at the Hampton Inn, so we headed to check in.   Carol and Mike were on our same flight, however they were staying in Franklin at a VRBO so we parted at the airport with plans to hook up in the morning.  Ruth and Earl were busy helping with wedding plans so we checked in quickly, but didn't plan to get together with them until Thursday.

After checking in we headed to downtown Nashville to get some dinner and see some of the Honky Tonks.  The weather was colder than expected and actually a little rainy (thanks Joaquin!).  We found a place to park and started walking down the Honky Tonk strip.  We should have done our homework, because we ended up at Tequila Cowboy which was not that good.  I guess we liked the name.  They did have a live band and it was better than the food.  We also stopped in a couple shops and other Honky Tonks on our way back to our car.

Thursday we met up with Carol and Mike on a walking tour which Carol and I had been on previously and enjoyed immensely.  Although we had experienced it before, we really wanted the guys to also so they could get some of the rich history of Nashville. The weather held out and we enjoyed the tour, even the second time around.  I highly recommend it to anyone coming to Nashville. Bill DeMain's Walkin' Nashville is very informative, and is he is happy to answer questions.  He will also send an email later with all the things referred to (and more!) on the tour. After the tour we met up with our cousin Karen and hubby Ron at Arnold's Country Kitchen which Carol had found online.  It was down home country cooking, was very busy and the food was great! It was fun to catch up with Karen, which was a pleasant surprise.  She had seen a Facebook post from the night before and IM,d that she was in town too so we arranged to meet.

Thursday evening was the wedding rehearsal which we didn't go to, but we were invited to meet up with the wedding party and family for dinner at one of the churches in the area. 
   They served chili and cornbread, baked potato bar and salad and few different desserts. It was fun to see all of Ruth's family who had come to their youngest sibling' wedding.

Friday we stayed around the hotel as it was raining hard, and Doug had work to do. I went up to the local mall area to look around, went swimming for awhile.  That evening we headed to World Outreach Church where the wedding was to be. Although originally the wedding was outdoors, they had changed that and had the ceremony in the courtyard, and the reception inside.  The wedding was great, bride and groom and the whole party looked amazing! Beautiful.  A fun touch were the tennis shoes, then sunglasses that the whole party wore.  

The reception was fun with all the kids getting into the dancing and just having fun, and the buffet style dinner.  Jon, Joyce and all their family were there also.  They drove up from Augusta and were planning to leave in the morning. The boys and kids decided to stay when they realized there was to be a family party Saturday night at the house that Ruth and family had rented for the weekend. Jon and Joyce had a previous commitment and couldn't stay.

Saturday morning we got up early and went to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast with Mike and Carol and Ruth and Earl.  Family owned, it has a rich history and is a must for anyone visiting the area. Typically there is a line but we were able to get there early enough that we didn't have to wait too long. Afterward we drove to the Opryland Hotel and walked around the atrium area which is huge with several different wings, each with stores and restaurants. We met up with Carol and Phil at the Grand Ole Opry for a concert with the Oakridge Boys. Their concert was wonderful, and their rendition of the gospel song "l love to tell the story" was very touching.

Saturday evening was the family party at the house Ruth and family rented.  The house was the perfect setup for gatherings, with a big kitchen, dining area and huge game room / gym on the second level. Additionally there were several bedrooms on both floors.  A pool outside would have been inviting had it not been so stormy. 

Sunday morning we went for a drive and had breakfast at the Loveless Cafe, which is an iconic place. We waited quite awhile for breakfast, but it was worth the wait.  Later we met up with Ruth and Earl in Franklin for a Civil War tour. There are several choices, but because we had limited time we went on the Carter House tour which was where the bloodiest Civil War battle started. It was solemn being on those grounds, and all the history that it held.  Afterward we went for coffee and visited for awhile before we left for the airport.

Short trip, rainy weather, family, and lots of fun!  Will come back someday after we retire and time permits.

 

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.