A Little Magic Every Day: Spring Break in Mexico

What a great tradition -- spring break in Mexico! This year Bryan joined us for some sun, sand, and tacos in Banderas Bay, site of Puerto Vallarta. We cruised Silhouette here many years ago, so it was "old home" week in many ways.

For several days we anchored in La Cruz, a small, Mexican fishing village that is now home to the largest (and newest) marina in Mexico and many small, gringo oriented restaurants. Despite the glitz of the marina and obvious new wealth in the town, the day to day rhythms of La Cruz had not changed. It still took walking to 3 tiendas to find all our vegetables and both ice cream parlors have the same local treat.

Coinciding with Bryan's visit, the tourist board of Mexico (?) was hosting 2,500 travel agents to encourage them to support tourism in Mexico. This annual event is normally held in Acapulco but was moved to Banderas Bay for the first time. And the whole region was engaged in the preparations. La Cruz was to host the opening night welcome/cocktail party! Which meant that the streets in town had to be paved (no rough cobblestones for those fancy buses), a newly planted town square, an entire entertainment venue by the marina, and police and officials EVERYWHERE. The work seemed endless, but in true Mexican style if was all done hours before the agents arrived. The fireworks and nightlight show were amazing! And within a few hours of the end of the show...the venue had almost all been torn down.

We did spend an evening listening to many local musicians at a benefit called "A Taste of La Cruz." In true gringo fashion, many local residents have put together a non-profit organization and raise money to support local schools, senior centers, and public works. Some of the musicians (The Blond Gypsies) even were playing the same tunes as ten years ago! Yikes.

After La Cruz, we headed out to the anchorage on the northwest corner of the Bay: Punta Mita. It is a "surfing" spot so, yes, there was a bit of southern swell. Here we dove into water sports: dinghy landing, kayaking, swimming, and standup paddle boarding (twice). Oh yeah, and sitting in the palapa restaurant watching the surfers on break after break after break.

Too soon it was time for Bryan to fly north to rain and cold. And of course, that day, a HUGE swell was running and the surfers were just right there off the bow! So, I was having none of the captain's story that he could land us one at a time and no one would get wet. I just waved down an incoming pangero...with his panga full of the night's catch...and in my best Spanish caught a ride to shore. No problemo! The swell was down the next day, the surfers have all left of other spots, Bryan is back and Davis.

We are waiting a few days for a window to slowly trek north for a few months in the Sea.