The crowning of the Carnaval Queen is tonight at 6pm. Carnival is a 3 day event, as much as I search I can’t find any daytime events.  So… 6pm Queen crowning today, tomorrow crowing of the  LGBTTTIQ+ King & Queen (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Transgender, Transsexual, Intersex and Queer. The + sign means the addition of new communities and dissidences.)

On our walk to Centro, walking over a bridge, a local points over the bridge and we spot this fellow  We walked around town and find a new (to us on this trip) huge flea market.  We vaguely remember being here years ago.  Not enough time to explore today, add it to our “to do” list.

Today’s Queen crowning is being held at the Malecon Arches   We decide to have dinner on the top floor at the restaurant that overlooks the Arches

Order food, get food – hamburger for Allan, shrimp burger for me!

Dinner done, 6.45p still waiting for the crowning to begin (this is at the entrance of the restaurant)7:35p still waiting.  Almost full moon, looks like the moon is on top of the pole7.50p: Finally they begin but there are so many people we can’t see in the bowl from the restaurant.   We’re a little fed up so back to the condo we go.    We were going to go to the crowning tomorrow night but not after the delay today. Fast forward:  We learn Friday’s crowning didn’t start till after 8.  We made the right choice.

We arrived back to this guy as a welcoming committee. 

Feliz cumpleaños para mi!!   Super wonderful to enjoy my February birthday in the !!!
Allan made us reservations at A Mar y Sierra which is an 8m walk from the condo.  Didn’t realize, until Allan read the reservation confirmation that there is a dress code, “smart casual”.  Allan is still keen to go but pants are a little too warm.  It’s my birthday so my choice.  I’d rather walk to centro and check stuff out there, perhaps grab one of the yummy shrimp burgers…

Off we walk, Kyle & Megan call to keep us company on our walk.  Stuff along the Malecon is more expensive and touristy, our plan is to choose a street within the Malecon ie 1st, 2nd, etc and walk up it till we find a fun looking grab a drink place. I selected street #3, up we goSights along the way

The bevvy location winner is…

Mariscos 322pv 

  Great timing!  It’s happy hour!!

Allan needs a hair cut, a few step away we find a barber

Think this is the best hair cut Allan’s had in awhile.  He’s “beautiful” again                      Not that he’s not always beautiful 🙂

Back to our walk on the Malecon   

The Waves are high today, have been for a few days.

I decide (love it’s my birthday, my choice day) to go back to the Mission Restaurant for a Shrimp Burger.  Allan is looking forward to a Hamburger.  In we go, but not so fast they close at 3.  Open doors are just meant for the attached hotel.

Where to go?  There is a huge restaurant on the corner across the street, we’ll go there.. Best decision.  I had shrimp wrapped bacon infused with cheese with a side of pasta; Allan had a burrito.  Such beautiful presentation!  Both were so, so GOOD!!

To make the day even more special, they came out singing “Happy Birthday Tequila, Happy Birthday Tequila, Happy Birthday to you Tequila”

Walking home we enter counter a whole whack of people sitting in portable seating stands as well as tons of first responder folks and vehicles.  No idea what is going on.

Back at the condo we are enjoying the roof top playing dice when we hear sirens.  A post the next day, on a PV FB page, revealed the event was to introduce the at least 30 new ambulances and fire fighter pick ups.

The day ends with a beautiful sunset.   A very memorable birthday it is 🙂

 

My question of the day,,,

 

A walk around Versalles, the neighbouring town.  Versalles isn’t known or all-inclusive resorts and beach access but instead for its fantastic dining options and livable atmosphere.

Start at Ernesto’s for that delicious tortilla soup!  I’m going to miss this soup.  Maybe I’ll have to put Chef Allan on learning how to make it, now that’s a good idea. I’m brilliant!

At the door we are greeted by this fellow…

Notice in the back right?  What’s that?                                                                                    Clothes washer, our course 🙂

My soup…yum, yum, yummy in my tummy 

Allan is having a chicken burritos.  Turns out it’s fairly HUGE!

Get it into you!!  Delicious is his report

Nice they built the road around the tree          Construction galore, it’s fun watching equipment in action.

They are still working at getting the water from the bad storm of last week under control

Very few workers, can’t remember seeing any, wear construction hats, eye &/or ear protection or even gloves.

We need a few more steps today so off to the Food Park for a bevvy.  My first mojito of this trip.

 

We’re getting the hang of this!  There are 18 stations, you take a tray add chili samples.  The containers have the station number written on the bottom, we were given a purple coupon when we arrived to vote for our #1.  Each station has a container, use that to vote for your favorite when all have been sampled. Our first testing          Put aside the ones you like the best, whittle it down to finally vote for your favourite.

   Entertainment…Mariachi Band   More chili samples

More entertainment     

     Beer can tower

Sunshine & pretty flowers!

Another band, we saw the blond in a grocery store last week, who knew they’d end up entertaining us

To hear, click here  Saxaphone

Sampling and voting done, Allan gets us our first tequila shot since arriving.  Not sure why we didn’t have one sooner.   Walking with the utmost care cause they are so full

        ¡Salud!

Walking back we pass a typical large Mexican home.  These cobble streets are difficult to walk on!The sponsors apparently win the cook-off every year, this one wasn’t different…   Captain Don’s, Murphy’s Irish Pub and Nacho Daddy, were the top 3 voted by the official judges.  Never did find out what the winners were of the attendee’s  purple coupon

February 09-11 was Madonnari ephemeral art festival, somehow we missed it even though we were looking for something to do on Sunday.  When we figured it out late Sunday we decided we’d check it out on Monday.

Monday we have breakfast at Ernestos Good Grub.  I am simply obsessed with their

Tortilla Soup,so breakfast for me is Tortilla Soup!      Allan had the Mexican Omelette comes with hash browns and beans.  Allan declared it yummy!                                    Breakfast done it’s off to downtown

So glad it didn’t rain, the chalk art is still beautiful.  It must have been so hard to choose a winner.   2nd place went to…  Notice she’s holding a “Rosie”?

Such talent   

Birds!!! 

Remember the pelican from earlier in the day, he came down to say “hi”  Look at those eyes!Back at the condo the clouds are visiting

Our roof top discussions of what to do    PEDIS!

Off we go for a 30 m walk to “The Nail Bar” 490 pesos ($38.68 Cdn) for a pedi with polish 430 ($33.94 Cdn) without.  PV, is certainly not an inexpensive place anymore.

Preparing for the pedi…The tap that fills the basin with water is so slow they supplyment it with water boiled in kettles.  They use a heat rod to heat the basin.

She’s preparing to insert the heat rod                     Pouring from the kettle

Filled it’s on to the pedi…

Drying the base coat                                                   Applying the first coat

Preparing for Allan.   Here’s the heat rod in action again..Almost done                                                        Oh no, a chopped head!!

All done!    Back to the condo we go….

We’ve been here a few times on our own, it’s a 35 m walk from the condo.

Side note:  They don’t recycle much here but do have these hearts in places to add your plastics to.We know this tour will show us places we’d never find on our own. 

We meet up with Joana, our guide and the group at 1030a 

First stop…

We learn that Mexico is the world’s biggest consumers of Coke.  This started years ago when the water was not fit to drink, parents preferred to have their children drink Coke rather than take the chance of getting sick drinking the unpurified water.  They prefer glass bottles as Coke doesn’t take as good in plastic or cans.

Next, fruit.  Can’t remember what it’s called but we didn’t like them. Getting married in Mexico?  You are required to post both his & hers information, DOB, place of birth, photo.  The reason?  Latin lovers, ie cheaters, were a thing, it is required you post this information not only in the church you are marrying in but in all the surrounding churches.

Next stop an outdoor restaurant

Next stop..Yahoo for me – Boo for Allan.  Seafood.  I had a shrimp, small scallops, octapus (octapus a first for me) tostada.  Allan had a quesadillas he added salsa to. Joana said that is what they give to kids to settle them down LOL

We all got to add our names to the wall 🙂  They are running out of wall space, it will be fun to see if our names are still there next visit.

Do I have to post the following?  NO  but is it a real part of Mexico YES so here goes (scroll down if you have a weak stomach)….

Cooked stomach, liver, heart, intestines, notice the braiding of the intestines?Whole chickens are dyed in a yellow tint busket for 5 seconds.  Mexicans believe white, un dyed chicken look sick and do not buy them.  Even Joana said she wouldn’t buy a white chicken.  They use all parts of the chicken, except, the nails!

Next up… goat!  It was rather good.                     Still can’t believe Allan ate it!!

Next Tamales and where they make them.  It’s family run established in 1980“Cenaduria” translates to eating house, a place to get a home-cooked meal. That’s exactly what you’ll find at Cenaduria Tia Anita, located on the patio of a home in one of Puerto Vallarta’s working class neighborhoods.  With the exception of tours they don’t get many “gringos”.  Women were busy preparing the corn husk s, tamal filing and making mas. There is only one man pernitted in the cooking area and that is mosting to move the heavy pots filled with goodness.   The process is remarkable.

We were treated to one chicken & one cheese tomale.  We split each to sample. We also got to sample a “masa” drink, sweetened with vanilla and sugar. It is served warm even on a hot day.

                                         The yummy chicken fillingThe different wrapping tell what is contained within the tamale

The finished product 

Final stop   

Not sure how they did it, should have paid closer attention but when they first opened they didn’t have electricity.  Our treat, which I should have also took photos of were melting when we said good bye to Joana and our group!

Really recommend this tour when in the area!

 

WHOA it’s an early morning for today’s tour!  Unfortunately, the Mexican Constitution Day  yesterday, Feb 05 woke me up midnightish.  Who would think they’d close the street and have music, singing and dancing the night of the 5th when most have to work on the 6th?  Things are a bit different here. I finally gave up trying to sleep at 3.48 (know time thanks to FitBit)  Allan of course slept away until I woke him to start our day 🙂

We meet at the Adventure Vallarta office at the marina at 730a,  Marco, our Uber driver, to the meet, tells us how Sayulita has gone down hill the last year or 2.  It has been and is a surfer & hippy town but it lost it’s luster.  Fingers crossed he’s wrong.    Our tour bus.

Danny, our tour guide, teaches us about the Mexican culture, food and that we are embarking on a tour of two magical towns. 

What are magical towns? Mexico’s Magical Towns (Pueblos Mágico),  are villages awarded with this designation for their mystical and mythical character and for maintaining their original architecture, culture, folklore, and history intact.

First stop, Mexican candies                                           We learn that we are not Mexican candy fansNext stop,  San Pancho 

Love this little town but my research reveals Danny may have been incorrect of this being a Magical Town.

There are many stray dogs here, this enterprising one made us chuckle.

San Poncho is otherwise known as San Francisco, hence their version of the bridge

We had 40 minutes to wander around town then meet to go to a restaurant for “sope”.  Second photo is the Owner giving us his interesting back story

This is sope.  A sope is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a fried masa base with savory toppings. Also known as picadita, it originates in the central and southern parts of Mexico, where it was sometimes first known as pellizcadas.

One was beef, other mushroom.  Yep we traded!  They were very good but the base was so hard, almost not cutable.

On our way to Sayulita we stop at a chocolate factory.  It smelt very bad, not sure what the smell was but did not entice us to buy any chocolate.

Across the street is their community centre.  The “tree” is built from recycled everything

Sayulita   here we are!So many golf carts as mode of transportation     

Love the colours!

We have to venture to the beach in this surfer town.    Entrance to the beach

A beach vendor   

So many boards out there!

Almost time to catch up with the group to head home.  Gotta have one here!  Look at my swinger!!

Today is our much anticipated Bingo Day.  We’ve been looking forward to it since the Hedda Lettuce the other night.

It’s official!  The place next door does stuff with coffins, what?  Still don’t know.  I thought they built them but they were unloading the pick up. 

We take a leisurely walk to Centro.  Stopping a few times on the way for a rest. Sadly,  Allan’s legs still hurt after about 3k steps.  So far, no one we have consulted can figure out what is causing this.                    Next stop includes bevies.As a bonus there is a show yonder way!

And they’re back on the ground!

Kill a bit more time and head to Cantina Cantina, where the bingo is, there is a dude outside who said we can’t enter until 4.  Sounded strange for a show that begins at 4 but…

Walk around a bit more and return shortly before 4 to find the place is packed!  We pay our pesos, get our cards, get asked if we have reservations (the flyer didn’t say you can make reservations), only to determine there is nowhere to sit.  We ask and surprising get our dineros back and leave pretty disappointed.

Too late we find this “Saturday February 3rd come to Hedda Lettuce’s world famous bingo! From 4-6pm only at La Catrina Cantina in #PuertoVallarta #mexico reservations highly suggested! Text: +1 (832) 603-1394 on whatsapp. Last weeks winner of the 50/50 took home 8000 pesos. The other half went to RISE Puerto Vallarta  Fabulois prizes, full bar and delicious food only at La Catrina. See you there!”

Oh well, on we go to dinner at “A Taste of Italy”.  I enjoyed my meal more than Allan did his.We walked by a “gringo supermarket” where we were able to get gravy mix! We used the Hollandaise for Eggs Benny. They also had these cute little dice we bought, can again play the Ds’ dice game.  We’re using a tiny strainer as the shaker cup.  We are pretty ingenius 🙂

We, or at least me, wondered what that palm tree area is we see from the roof topIt’s an Trailer Park 

We walked by on our way to “La Playa Liquor Store”.  Who’s happy to finally have Fireball with ice.  Our freezer is now over run by ice!!   

 

But first, off to Pitillal to find a barber to make Allan beautiful!  He’s looking a little like a hippy.  We walk the 40m to this small town and find a barber.   On the way we pass a yard filled this individually caged roosters.  We have learned these roosters are for cock fights.  Sad but that still happen here. 

    Pretty bushes along the way

The art of beautication has begun 🙂  No more hippy, just ☮️&                                         150 pesos, 200 with tip; $15.65 Cdn

Walking back, how would you like this job??Chill at the condo play a game of cards and off to dinner we walk.  This walk is about 1h  We will be happy for dinner and a REST!  Made it to El Granero a brewery and pizza joint.  I of course, didn’t have pizza but rather a super delicious Stuffed Portobello, Shrimp & bacon.  Allan had the Pork belly pizza , BBQ sauce, red onions, jalapeños, “sin” pineapple with a local amber beer .  Isn’t he beautiful!!  My portabello photo came out blurry, guess I was too anxious to devour it

A typical street heading to Hedda Lettuce

The magazine in the waiting to enter area, guess which tour Allan was in for?What I didn’t know, or even heard of (guess I live a sheltered life) is this is Bear Week.  Yep! I thought it had to do with bears.  Allan did the “oh Mary-Ann look”

Bear weeks in the world, will take place in Puerto Vallarta Mexico from January 28th to February 4th.

What’s a bear (when it’s not a bear?)  In gay culture, “bear” is a term for men who are large, hairy, or both. The bear concept can function as an identity or an affiliation, and there is ongoing debate in bear communities about what constitutes a bear.  Moving on..

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A fun day!!  Steps galore

Who is Hedda Lettuce?? Hedda is the stage name of Steven Polito, Lettuce was born 1968 (56 years old) as Steven Polito in New York City and raised on Long Island. an American drag queen, comedian and singer who lives and works in New York City. Polito debuted his character Hedda Lettuce in 1991 on the Manhattan Cable TV show The Brenda and Glennda Show. Lettuce’s appearances include MTV, Comedy Central, The People’s Court and a cameo on Sex and the City as Samantha’s ex-beau turned Bingo Drag impersonator. 

Lettuce was a model and client of Stephen “Suede” Baum during a challenge in the fifth season of Project Runway.  On the set Hedda had several disagreements with Suede, especially over his not designing gloves for her, which caused Hedda to call him “lazy”.

This led to designer Jerell Scott using the name “Hedda Lettuce” as a term for a model that is hard to work with.

If you are ever in PV, strongly suggest taking in this show!