A Taste of PV

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Puerto Vallarta is located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, on the Pacific coast. It has a population of about 225,000, with a metro area of around 480,000. Puerto Vallarta is a popular resort town, perhaps due in part to the 1963 film, Night of the Iguana, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, which was filmed in Puerto Vallarta.

Our plan was to do a 4-hour self-guided foodie itinerary prepared by AI. We were not that hungry so we cut out a few of the stops. At the cruise terminal, there was a kiosk that seemed to be a good way to get a taxi to the “Zona Romantica.” We told them where we wanted to go and they pointed to the flat rate of US $8 per person for a shared van.  The price for a taxi was around US $35. We said ok to a van and they led us to a van that departed soon after. The driver took us to a busy street corner and pulled over and everyone got out. I assumed this was it, so we got out, too.

Once I was able to locate us on Google maps, it became apparent that we still had a mile to go. I had my doubts that the driver would have taken the two of us any farther. We probably should have tried to speak to the driver about whether he was taking us to the Zona Romantica, but we didn’t. It was a chaotic place. We got out and walked the rest of the way. I now think that the person from the kiosk at the pier did not tell the driver where we wanted to go, but just brought us to the van to fill it up.

We were near the beginning of the Malecón so we just walked along the Malecón toward our destination, Playa de los Muertos. We were going to try “beachside snacks” (fresh mango with chili and lime, roasted corn (elote), tuba drink, and agua fresca) from beachside vendors. The beachside vendors looked really sketchy, so we didn’t try anything. We wanted to visit an interesting pier in the area that we didn’t think we had ever seen before. (On a previous visit to PV we walked along the Malecón to see all of the sculptures located there. You can read about that and see the photos Here.

The pier turned out to be a little bit interesting, but part of it was closed off. It was actually the pier people use to get a boat to Yelapa, across the bay. It was curvy and had a sail-like structure in the middle.

View of the beach from the pier

We proceeded inland about a block to a park to do some geocaching. There were a lot of fun mosaic benches in the park. I really liked it.

I’m going to have to ask Libby and Eric who Holly and Bob are.

 

 

We stopped for paletas (popsicles) at Paleteria y Neveria La Michoacana. There is a place in Anchorage that sells paletas. It’s called La Michoacana the Last Frontier. I think La Michoacana has become a generic name for this type of shop, though it may have started out as the name of one particular shop or a small chain.

There were about 30 flavors of popsicles, and also a lot of ice cream flavors. I chose the guava. It turned out to be a bad choice because it had hundreds of guava seeds in it, and I found them unpleasant. I was not expecting seeds at all. Other than that it was good.

Next we went to a place called Mariscos El Güero for shrimp and fish tacos. The style of taco here is a small soft tortilla with a seafood filling. You can add salsa and lettuce, The tacos were US $2 each. While we were there, two food tour groups came by for a taste of the seafood tacos, and maybe some ceviche.

“El Güero” means the blond or the white man. Apparently it does not carry a negative connotation.

Mural on outside of Mariscos El Güero

We were near the river and we decided to cross back over the river and walk back to the Malecón as far as the Arches (Los Arcos) before returning to the ship. We walked across a very rickety suspension bridge that swayed every time you or anyone else took a step. We came to a small island in the river, where there was a nice craft market.

It’s fun to look at the handmade goods, but I can rarely find anything I actually want to buy. I am at a place in my life where I have too much “stuff” as it is, and I don’t need tacky souvenirs from every place I go. I always try to find little things for gifts, but that is hard to do. Most of it is pretty junky. I sometimes think I should buy something just to help these people out, but I struggle with the idea of buying something I don’t like and have no use for. If I get another chance before we leave Mexico, I will try to buy something if I think it will help someone out. I need to stop obsessing about whether the recipient will like it.

We reached the Malecón arches. These four stone arches dominate the site of a small amphitheater where concerts sometimes take place.

At Los Arcos. In the background you can see the tower of PV’s iconic
Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

At this point, we took a taxi back to the ship. It was less than US $8. We gave the driver $10 and he was very happy. So the $8 per person van at the port was a real rip-off. C’est la vie.

We had dinner on the ship. One of the desserts was a pastry called Paris Brest. This pastry was created to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris Bicycle Race. It is shaped like a bicycle wheel. (Use your imagination.) I had to choose that dessert, because I don’t see it often and it always makes me think of Pete, a former colleague of mine (now deceased), who participated in the Paris-Brest-Paris race at least twice, and probably three times. He was an incredible athlete, and I feel honored to have known him. 

Today’s fabric is “Summer Ice Pop Paletas” from byhandathome for Spoonflower. It’s easy to spot the guava paletas with those awful seeds.

Cooking Lessons

The Egg Slut

On a sea day some people have too much time on their hands. This could lead to something I call Entitlement Grouse and Grievance Syndrome, or EGGS. A noxious example of EGGS emerged this morning at breakfast.

I heard a voice loudly proclaiming that her eggs were overcooked. I looked around and saw it was a woman two tables away from us, sitting with her husband and another couple. I’m going to call her “the Egg Slut,” though this probably isn’t fair to sluts. (There is an international chain of restaurants called “eggslut”, and I am intrigued by the name.)

A waiter went over to her table and after some fussing and grumbling she accepted the waiter’s offer to bring her eggs that were more to her liking.

Fast forward a bit. I sensed a change in the mood of the room and looked up. The maître d’ was standing politely by her chair and listening impassively to a rant about eggs. It wasn’t difficult to overhear snippets of the conversation lecture. I heard things like this:

• You need to go and tell the chef this is how you make poached eggs . . .yada . . .yada . . .
• I know more about eggs than the chef . . . I used to raise chickens . . .yada . . .yada . . .
• This is how you make over-easy eggs. You flip them for exactly 6 seconds and then you take them off the stove.
• This is how you make fried eggs . . .
• I can go back there right now and teach the chef.

And so on, ad nauseam. The maître d’ listened and nodded until she finally stopped and then he walked away.

We were shocked and ashamed to see a passenger berating a crew member like that. It was egg-gregious. (Sorry, couldn’t help it.) The crew members, especially the restaurant staff, work so hard. Please be kind to them. If you have a problem and it has been corrected, just drop it. 

On the way out, the maître d’ was standing by the door. I told him he was very polite and professional. Another couple right behind us voiced their agreement. 

Namaste

Today there was a pop-up Indian restaurant at lunch time. It was  a fun idea. The waitstaff and hostess had Indian style-uniforms - each one a bit different and a bit understated.

Papadums with condiments

Tandoori broccoli

Front row: Chicken Chettinadu, Saffron rice, Dal

Fig, cardamon and rice kheer

If you know me, you will know that most of it was too spicy for me. This was not like Indian restaurants in the U.S. where they tone it down or let you choose a spiciness level, so that people like me can eat it. Oh, well.

How do you pronounce that?

These are things I have heard passengers say. Really.

“Osaka” for Oaxaca

“Hot taco” for Huatulco

“Paw-da Va-yada” for Puerto Vallarta (he was definitely from Boston)

“Laredo” for Loreto

“This place” or “I’m not even gonna try” for Topolobampo

100% of passengers pronounced Cabo correctly

Today’s fabric is Paprika Medallion by hazelrose for Spoonflower.

Joyride

Tuesday, February 10, 202

We are in Huatulco, Mexico, today. It’s on Mexico’s Pacific coast, way down in Oaxaca. Huatulco, population 50,000, is an eco-tourism destination as it is located near a large national park. The area has 9 bays and 36 beaches.

As we sailed into the port, we passed a Mexican Coast Guard station. On the boats there we saw coast guard members and army soldiers who were heavily armed with Uzi-type automatic weapons. They had flak vests on, and some of them wore balaclavas which concealed their faces. They looked just like ICE in the US. We also saw police on the shore who were similarly equipped. It seemed a little like overkill, but I really don’t know what they have to deal with here in the way of cartels and drug smugglers. Obviously, a lot of money is being spent to recruit and equip these officers and their boats. I also noticed that 95% of the officers I saw were young males, and they were tall and muscular.

Before leaving the ship we were reminded that no food or drink could be taken off the ship (other than water). We had to pass by agents with dogs, and we had to let the dogs sniff our purses and bags. They had a table with some fruit and a sandwich on it. I think the food had been discovered by the dogs. These guys also looked like they meant business. I wonder if the dogs were also trained to detect drugs.

We have been here before. Once we went to the beach, and once we did a kayak tour in the bay. Today we followed a suggestion made by AI to take a boat tour. It was a beautiful day and the water looked very calm, so it seemed like a good idea to  take advantage of the favorable conditions. 

We walked to the marina to see if we could find a boat to take us sightseeing. I saw a boat that had about 8 or 10 seats and thought it was a tour boat.  I asked the man on the boat what he charged for a one-hour tour, so I would have a ball park idea of the cost. 

We continued walking and came to another place that looked like it might offer tours. I spoke to a guy who approached us. We ended up making a deal for a one-hour private tour on a boat named Dilan. He sent someone to get the boat and bring it over to the dock we were on. We were introduced to George, who would be the captain. All accomplished quickly and easily. Then we climbed on board and the tour began.

Passing the Zuiderdam as head out toward the open water

I have marked the location of our wrap-around balcony

We drove right up to a couple of beaches in the Bay of Santa Cruz Huatulco. They looked inviting and less developed than the beach by the cruise ship dock. 

The water was so clear!

Such interesting rock formations

The Lighthouse of the Bays of Huatulco

George drove us to a blowhole. I got a good look at it and was finally able to understand how blowholes work. There is a cave right at the waterline. When a wave comes in, it fills up the cave and continues to flow forcefully into the cave. This forces water out of the part of the cave that is just above the waterline.

The blowhole

An unspoiled beach farther up the coast in the national park, one of many

Pelican

A rock that looked like a face, but not so much from this angle

Playa Maguey (I think)

Another perfect beach

The lighthouse seen from the other side

Sea tortoises in love

Captain George

One last bay on the other side of Huatulco

The boat ride was thrilling. It was gorgeous scenery along an unspoiled section of coastline. The wind and the waves were exhilarating. The wildness of the place made it really special. I loved this experience.

I don’t think it would have occurred to me to try such a tour without the suggestion from AI. I never really thought about it, but I don’t think I fully realized that you could just walk up to someone in a marina and arrange a tour like that. To be clear, the place did appear to be a tour company and not some random guy with a boat, but I would have thought it would be a little more structured.

To celebrate our wonderful tour, we decided to have lunch on the beach. It was literally on the beach. We were sitting (on chairs) on the sand. 

Back on the ship, we helped out with the Orange Party by wearing the brightest orange shirts we could find. They had a Dutch dinner and we got to try “hodge podge klapstuck.” With a name like that, how could you not try it? It was basically pot roast. And there were stroopwaffles in our dessert.

After dinner we went to hear a vocalist named Janice Martin. She was good but not great, IMO.

Today’s fabric is Serape with Flowers, by tina_salazar_designs for Spoonflower.