Last Sunday, the day after we arrived here in beautiful, usually warm and sunny Puerto Vallarta, I was going to take the Mysterious Chinese Woman to La Palapa for what I thought was her official birthday. La Palapa is probably the best beachside restaurant in this town. Also the priciest, but that stands to reason. We were at the poolside deck, or whatever, discussing our plans with friends of ours and before you know it we had a whole group joining us for the festivities.
Just Look For The Boat
There were nine of us altogether so we had to wait a bit for the restaurant to clear enough tables and push them together for us. It was chilly and drizzling so that precluded eating outside, which is often a pleasant alternative.
Pre-Dinner Cocktails
The first picture was with Bill, Marcie doing the snapping, and the second is with Marcie, Bill doing the snapping. Kind of like one of those can you find the 10 differences between the two pictures puzzles.
We had just about enough time for a cocktail and then we were all seated at a table with a view of the beach and bay beyond.
The Whole Crowd
And, of course, the Mysterious Chinese Woman got her un-birthday cake.
Isn't This Special
She is so cute when she is happy.
They did do a nice job on the cake. I think it was Marcie who arranged it, still under the impression that it really was a birthday party.
Nice Cake
The next day was also overcast and rainy. Man what a stretch of weather. I awoke to see what looked like a ghost-liner pulling into port.
Arriving In Sunny Puerto Vallarta
After moping about the house most of the day we did go out to celebrate the Mysterious Chinese Woman's real official birthday. This time there were only six of us and we went to new place. And I do mean new. It wasn't here last year.
Amapa Sunset
You can get to this place from either the street level one flight of stairs up from the beach or from the beach itself. The street level entrance used to have this statue of a shark and no stairs down to the beach.
The Shark
The Beach Entrance
The exterior shots of both La Palapa and Amapa Sunset were not taken the nights we went. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had to wait a couple of days before the weather cleared up to take some pictures in the sun.
The Happy Birthday Crew
I was very pleased with my dinner choice, grilled octopus. Maybe not the best I have ever had, but pretty damned good.
Crunchy Outside, Soft And Chewy Center
Even my friend Bill found something on the menu he liked.
We Could Have Gone To McDonald's
Everyone had a good time, as usual, and we all, except maybe Bill, thought we would come here again. But then Bill ran into trouble trying to bring four pounds of butter down here in his carry-on luggage because he doesn't like Mexican butter.
Note to self, butter is no longer permitted in carry-on luggage.
This afternoon a bunch of us are heading out of town a bit and going to a chili and pasta contest of some sort. I will be sure to post about that tomorrow, now that I have found a spot where I can get a fairly reliable internet connection.
Interestingly, or not, one of my Mexican friends here never heard of chili until she went to Wisconsin with with her husband who has a house/cabin there. She likes chili though, now that she has had a chance to try it.
Had to turn off CNN this morning because I simply could not take seeing Obama give another speech. Someone really should tell him that over-exposure in the media isn't helping his cause at all. At least in my opinion. And this seems to be an opinion shared by many of the people I talk to as well.
Okay, that wasn't meant to be a political comment. Just a comment about wearing out your welcome, I guess. Or something like that.
And rather than wear out mine I shall bid you a fond adios and will post about today's field trip tomorrow.
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