Rico And Sandy's Last Night

Sadly, it appears that not too many pictures were taken of Rico and Sandy's last night in Puerto Vallarta. I suspect that this is partially due to the mini bar crawl that took place earlier in the day.

Rico and Sandy were kind enough to treat us to dinner at Cafe Bohemio. It is a nice little reataurant set in a bit of a courtyard with tables among the several trees.

Rico And Sandy Looking Good


Mysterious Chinese Woman Looking Good, Bar Man Just Looking


The Whole Crowd


We had a lovely meal with a couple glasses of beers and then it was an early night. As you have already seen, there was an early mimosa party held the next morning to see them off.

Sorry for the abbreviated post, but if you read my last two you can probably understand why. I will try to do better in the future.

Mini Bar Crawl - Part Deux

Back to my side of town and a couple of old regulars that remain popular stops on any bar crawl. First, of course, had to be the La Ballena Azul, the infamous Blue Whale. Always a crowd pleaser, but getting a bit upscale since they remodeled the bar and replaced the old wooden furniture with the free plastic stuff you get from your beer distributer.

Almost There


I am not positive, but Sharon seems to have that "Are we sure we want to do this" look on her face.

Are We Sure About This?


I think she was still discussing this point with Sandy.

Well, What Do You Think?


Eventually she resigned herself to the inevitable.

When In Rome


Of course Dennis and Katherine settled right in. Well, Dennis had to put a napkin in his ear because the jukebox was really blaring away.

Just Like Home, Can You Turn It Down


And, of course, Bar Man is happy in just about any place that has a bar.

Like Pigs In Mud


I think the real reason Sharon looked a bit upset is that she was in a hurry to get to her favorite place.

Oh, Goody, Now We Can Party


Alberto rushed over to greet us and I am really starting to feel like a regular. I wish he would have tee-shirts made.

Old Pal Alberto


Of course it didn't take us long to settle in for the afternoon.

Ah, Just Perfect


Although we didn't order it, we were served some excellent grilled bonito, a member of the mackeral family. Bonito is a firm fleshed fish that is rather dark in color. In fact when it was first served to us we thought it might be beef. It was quite tasty.

The Fish Was This Big


Wrapped up in a soft taco and doused with a bit of salsa picante this was an excellent afternoon snack.

Chowing Down Bonito Style


Nothing to do after a snack like that but have another round.

Set 'Em Up Again, Por Favor


And Sharon was happy at last.

Oh Paul, Just Like I Always Dreamed It Would Be


Even Dennis and Katherine were swept up by the romantic setting.

Can We Come Back Soon?


The girls really did have a good time, and next time I want to sit at the bar like los tres amigoes behind them.

Merrily Chatting Away


And Bar Man was content as well.

It Just Doesn't Get Any Better


And, lest you get the wrong idea, I am holding a shot of tequila. The water bottle just happens to be behind my hand. Never drink the bottled water in Mexico.

The most surprising part of the day was that Rico had recovered from what ailed him and the rest of us managed to recover from the day enough to go out for dinner. It was Rico and Sandy's last day so they treated the Mysterious Chinese Woman and me to a nice farewell dinner at Cafe Bohemio. More on that later.

A Mini Bar Crawl

The day before Rico and Sandy left I put together a mini bar crawl for a small crowd. We all gathered up at the fountain in our courtyard at 2:00 P.M. to head on out.

Part Of The Crowd


That is the Mysterious Chinese Woman, front and center, with Katherine, Dennis, Paul and Sharon.

Bar Man And Sandy


Okay, Where's Waldo, er, I mean Rico? Well, Rico was having a little tummy problem so he decided that spending an afternoon pounding down beers and tequila might not be in his best interest. Hell, it probably wasn't in any of our best interests if you stopped and thought about it.

I headed everybody off across the river to the north side of town to hit a small bar tucked into a flea market. A bar that hardly anybody seems to know about, or avoids if they do.

Hidden Away


This is another little gem where usually you only find locals having a cold one. Kind of nice though, drinking amidst the clutter with a view of the street outside.

Part Of The Crew Enjoying A Brew


Dennis And Kathrine And Bar Man


The bartender scooped coconut meat out of a young coconut, sprinkled some spice mixture on it and served it up as a little bar treat.

Fixing A Sweet And Spicy Treat


The bartender said it was his first day on the job here, that he had just quit working as a timeshare salesman out at the Mayan Palace. He just couldn't take it anymore, he said. I offered him my condolences but was secretly glad to hear that it wasn't just the victims who felt stressed after a presentation.

From here we just kind of headed around the corner to the little street that runs along the river. There is a second story bar that is kind of hidden away but is a nice place to sit and have a drink.

You Just Have To Know Where To Look


Just Up The Steps


Cafe Roma


It is just about a block away from the big flea market here in town.

If They Don't Have It, You Don't Need It


I should also add that if they do have it, you probably don't really want it. Great place to buy souveniers and tee-shirts though. But for heaven's sake, do not pay their asking price. If you pay more than one-third of what they originally ask for you are seriously over-paying.

Sitting up by the windows you have a nice view of the river and the island.

A Room With A View


There was a nice corner table available for us so we settled right in.

The Crowd Has Settled


There is a funky little bar in here as well.

The Funky Bar


And a bar called Cafe Roma wouldn't be complete without a picture of the collesium being destroyed by a giant iquana painted on the wall.

Kind Of Like A Mini-Godzilla


You can also scrawl your name on the wall if you want to be remembered.

For A Good Time...


We managed to get Sharon to pose with our waiter.

So Silly


Dennis Enjoying His Tequila


Bar Man Starting To Feel No Pain


After enjoying our beer and tequila here it was time to head back across the bridge to the south side of town to hit a couple more bars.

Across The Great Divide


I will post about the rest of our little excursion later today, so come back soon.

Another Long Pants Day

Ah, Long Pants Day, the day when someone leaves lovely Puerto Vallarta and heads home to colder climes. Today it was Rico and Sandy's turn to don the dreaded garb.

Rico And Sandy In Their Long Pants


But, Puerto Vallarta being Puerto Vallarta, despite their early departure it wasn't too early to have one last little get-together. The whole gang showed up to see them off and have a goodbye mimosa.

The Girls, Looking Lovely Despite The Early Hour


Most Of The Boys Looking, Well...


And Steve With His Personalized Shirt


He said he has to get his shirts with his name on them so that Allison doesn't wear them.

The Boys Chatting


Katherine Looking Glamerous


Kitchen Talk


And A Goodbye Toast From Allison


But, sadly, you can only delay the inevitable for just so long. Soon it was time to head down and load up everything into a cab.

Almost The End


The End


It was a good visit and in a a few months it will be my turn to visit Rico and Sandy in Minnesota when I head back for the annual Fishing Opener Weekend.

On another note. There are an awful lot of injuries, mostly minor, in Puerto Vallarta due to the high curbs, cobblestone streets, and sidewalks in poor repair.

Katherine's Knees


Dennis's Toe


As often happens when you have a bunch of people drinking mimosas early in the morning, several business propositions came to mind to take advantage of this. One, suggested by Paul, was that you could offer, for a price, to install a memorial tile at the site where someone sustained an injury. Similar to the crosses you see on the side of the road where a fatality has occured, this would be a mini-memorial. The injured person's name would be inscribed along with the date of the injury. Perhaps, for an additional charge they could add some kind of an inspirational message such as "A step mistimed, stitches nine," or "I really fell for Puerto Vallarta."

My idea was to sell albums and little plastic envelopes so you could start your own personal scab collection. I would imagine that over the years you could easily fill an entire album. Just the thing to pour over with your grandchildren. "And here is where Grandpa, after one too many tequilas, fell coming out of the Blue Whale." The type of scene Norman Rockwell would have loved to have captured.

All my guests are gone now, but I have a lot of pictures still to be posted about the adventures we had when they were all here. And a lot of my friends are still here so I am sure there is more mischief to be gotten into.