Bus To Bucerias

Today we decided to take a trip to the neighboring town of Bucerias, not to far across the Rio Ameca, in the neighboring state of Nayarit. This used to be a bit more of an adventure when there was just a gravel road connecting the two cities. Since they put up a huge resort at the north-end of the bay though they have built a fairly major highway that goes all the way out there and connects many of the the towns inbetween as well. Now it is a fairly short bus trip that only requires one change of buses. The local bus to the Sam's Club costs 4 pesos and then you switch to another bus that takes you to Bucerias for another 10 pesos. Bucerias, even though there is building going on in the surrounding areas, is still a pretty small town compared to Puerto Vallarta.

There are a series of restaurants along the beach in Bucerias that all have a somewhat similar configuration; a relatively plain large room at street level, an elevated balcony overlooking the bay, and steps leading down to tables on the beach. Many of these do not, however, have an actual bar and these I avoided.

267) La Palapa de Yemaya

This, the first I visited, had a bar with an orangish stained top and a rough yellow front. It had three very small shelves behind the bar that held a very limited selection of liquors. A Pepsi-machine looking refrigerator and a Sol cerveza cooler was also behind the bar and held the beer and sodas. The interior was pretty rustic with a faded red-painted cement floor, white plaster walls with blue trim, and orange and yellow arches. A few steps down and the beach and tables. A few steps up and the balcony overlooking the bay.

I had a decent blended margarita.

268) El Pescador

A dark-wood bar with two carved killer-whales decoration the front of the left side. It had a pool-table and a jukebox. The cement floor was unpainted and the ceiling was corrugated fiberglass. While I was having my drink a guy riding his horse passed by and the horse took a major dump in front of the place. The owner hollered at the guy who then got off his horse and cleaned up the mess. I reflected upon the fact that the horse that the mounted-police ride in New York City can pretty much crap anywhere they want and nobody cleans it up but in Mexico they have a bit more class. Particularly if the horse craps right in front of a restaurant. There was also an old parrot in a large wrought-iron cage that starting sqwuaking like made when a bunch of chattering schoolgirls passed by. There were a lot of little pinatas hanging from the ceiling and a nice balcony overlooking the bay.

I had a Pacifico.

269) Capri

A very small service-type of bar but it did have two stools. The bar had an orange cement front and a white-tile top. A nice view of the bay though, even from the bathroom if I stood on my toes. A half-dozen steps led down to tables on the beach and the main-room was extended out a bit for a kind of balcony. There was a red-painted cement floor and white walls. There were several white plastic tables and plastic chairs with a Pepsi logo on the back. The tables did have bright red and green checkered tablecloths. The whole place had a high palapa top.

I had a Pacifico.

270) Claudio's or Meson Bay

There was a bit of confusion about the name of this place. Multiple signs in front and a menu that said one thing and a card that said something else. I thought the ambiguity added to the charm so I didn't bother to clarify it. It had a cement-block bar with a dark wood top. There was a brick floor in the front and a sand floor in the back. A high palapa top with some large pinatas hanging from it. There were baskets of colorful artificial flowers hanging from the side of the bar facing the bay. The barstools were palm-tree stumps and not at all comfortable. Pretty much open air all around. There was a large Green Bay Packers banner and a smaller Minnesota Vikings banner hanging next to each other on the wall.

I had a margarita.

271) Mary's

We caught the bus and headed back to Puerto Vallarta. The bus stopped close to Mesa del CoCo (see an earlier post) and I wanted to show it to my friend. It appeared to be closed but very close to it was this similar local's bar. It had a nice wooden bar, a pool-table, 10 small wooden tables with green and white checkered tablecloths and wooden chairs. There was a jukebox and a large picture of Zapata hanging on the wall. The place had a pinkish-red cement floor and white walls. There were bare green lightbulbs in wall fixtures. There wasn't anyone in the place except for us and the two Mexican women running the place. Oh yeah, that Chinese woman was there too.

I had a Pacifico.

272) Mogambo

Walking home along the malecon I passed by this place, next to Zoo, which hadn't been open on my previous excursions. It must have just been opening up when we got there because it was empty. It is a nice, deep, dark place although it does have windows overlooking the bay. A wood and mirrored front to a black, marble-like, formica top and a nice brass rail. It was backed by very nice liquor cabinets that were lit from within. The barstools were plush fake leopardskin and swiveled. There was a fairly large raised dance floor behind the barstools and separated by a railing. Small tables with chairs lined the wall to the other side of the dancefloor. Above them on the wall were two large mirrors. One had a Led Zeppelin logo and the other had a Rolling Stones logo. There were multiple levels to this place and upstairs was at least one pool-table and several sofas.

I had a Tradicional-Jose Cuervo reposada. It was kind of unusual in that although they served it in a traditional brandy glass, the tequila itself was kept chilled, right along with the Jaegermeister. Guess this is a slamming them down type of crowd.

Headed home for good after this with 728 more bars staring me in the face. But they shall not defeat me. Tomorrow will probably be a much slower paced day.