in Life, Mexico

Gretchen’s Birthday in Puerto Vallarta

Gretchen recently passed an important age milestone, and to celebrate, we headed to one of her favorite Mexico beach towns, Puerta Vallarta, for some fun in the sun and rain.  It was my first visit to PV, and Gretchen’s 3rd, I believe.  We stayed in Melia Puerto Vallarta, a very fine all-inclusive resort with excellent staff. You’d be hard pressed to find a sub-par employee in that entire organization.

A few items of note:

  • We arrived a few days before the national elections here in Mexico.  Normally not a big deal, but Mexican law forbids the sale of alcohol nation-wide from 24 hours before an election day, up through the day of the election.  This kind of sucks when you’re at beach resort, where the beer should be flowing like wine!  Never fear, for Mexico’s determination to provide great service led to the set up of a ‘bar escondido’, which may or may not have been located somewhere within walking, swimming or crawling distance.  Code phrase?  “The arrow is on target.”
  • After our second-straight beach trip in which I impressed Gretchen with my open sea snorkeling prowess, she says that is has become my ‘thing’ in which I like to ‘do’.  I’ve never had a thing, such as ‘he’s a skier’, or ‘they fish’, so I’m taking to the idea.  I attribute my snorkeling ability to my body’s natural buoyancy in salt water, and my years of childhood training in various above-ground pools, motel pools, and bathtubs. I knew it would come in handy!