Out on the town

Sunday night is the best night to walk on the Malecon, Puerto Vallarta’s oceanfront walkway. It stretches right along the beach in the center of town. Originally, the Malecon was only on the north side of the river that runs through the center of Puerto Vallarta, the Cuale. Now there is a pedestrian bridge across the river that connects the main part of the Malecon to a “mini-Malecon” on the south side of the river. Well, part of it is under construction now, but it will b nice.
On Sunday evening, we ate a fairly early dinner at Machi’s Barbeque. Machi’s was recommended by other members of the All Vallarta board. We enjoyed our meal there, I had tortilla soup and Harold had the chicken special.
After dinner, we started at the south side and walked to the north end of the Malecon. There are always several musical groups playing along the way. The Folkloric ballet was performing at the Los Arcos amphitheater, 2 different pan flute bands were performing, a talented duo of keyboard and violin was there, and the Voltadores. They are a Mayan group that has an act where they fly around what looks like a big May pole, hanging by their ankles. We walked along listening to the music, stopped a few times to sit and watch the performances and to watch the people go by. There is always a mix of local families, tourists, teenagers and others to make the people watching interesting. The weather was perfect, warm enough to wear shorts, but cool enough to be comfortable. Altogether we probably spent three hours on the Malecon.
Last week, we got a phone call one day. It was a woman inviting us to the El Dorado Restaurant on the beach for cocktails. She mentioned the name of Nelly, who was someone we me through the RISE fundraiser. We went to the event not really knowing what it was. It turned out to be an art show of Nelly’s work. We had cocktails, ate a few snacks and looked at the paintings. We saw a few people we knew and visited with them. Nelly’s brother, Julian, was visiting from California. We enjoyed talking to him, also.
For dinner we went to Tia Catrina. It is a small restaurant on the south side of downtown Puerto Vallarta. The food and service were good and the prices were reasonable.
Another evening we went to Chris and Keith’s condo for dinner. Chris is the lady who chaired the RISE fundraiser. They live in a very nice condo in Conchas Chinas. It has a beautiful view of the bay. We had a fun evening visiting with them and enjoying the great meal that Keith cooked.
James, who posts as “earlyretire” on several boards, planned a beach party for Thursday afternoon. It was at the Lazy Lizard on Los Muertos Beach. There weren’t as many people there as James had hoped, but those of us who went had a good time. I think if another party like that is planned, a smaller time range would help. Some people apparently didn’t show up until after most of us were gone.