La Penita - January 7, 2015

We got up around 6:30 and had coffee in the courtyard.  We went to Hinde y Jaime's for Huevos Rancheros (why change a good thing) - excellent.  We then went for a walk for an hour along the Malecon.  We spent the day at the pool.  Bob mentioned that a great guitarist by the name of Tiki was playing at Las Brisas.  We went for another walk to explore town for awhile and then off the Las Brisas for dinner.  Bought some potato chips on the street - they slice the potato, deep fry it and add some salt and lime juice all in front of you on the street - delicious.  Tiki was fantastic and the shrimp fajitas were fantastic as well.  Oh yeah, had dinner with Steven Spielberg!

Ever have one of these?

Beach in La Penita

Malecon

Fish Market at the end of the Beach

So cute!

Chinese Restaurant?

Bringing in Fresh Fish

Tiki

Fajitas

Steven Spielberg?

Sayulita - January 6, 2015

Another leisurely morning.  We were going to meet up with Jan's cousin, Cal, and his girlfriend, Ela, in Sayulita.  It was leisurely until we realized that 30 minutes down the road was in a different time zone and we had to get our buns in gear or we would be late.  Our taxi driver, Miguel, was great, and we asked him to driver us around Lo de Marcos on the way.  We had contemplated staying in Lo de Marcos this trip and wanted to see it.  It looked like another great sleepy Mexican town with a great beach.  This place is now on our radar for a future trip.  

We met Cal and Ela at Don Pedro's on the beach in Sayulita for lunch and then headed to the beach for a swim and some catching up time.  Cal and I went to change and as we were walking down the beach, he realized that he had his trunks on inside out.  Ela was quick to announce this to all on the beach … into the ocean for a quick change.  The waves were big in Sayulita - as big as I have seen them. 

We stopped for a drink in a beachfront bar before we left and there was a lady getting a massage in the bar (only in Mexico) - she and the masseuse were covered in a white lotion and he was bending and twisting her like we have never seen.  We chatted with the masseuse afterwards and he told us he was more of a healer than a masseuse. He was using clay which he brings from the hot springs in the mountains by donkey - it takes him two weeks to get the clay and he lives off the land during this time (he told us that there is no reptile that cannot be eaten).  Another great Mexico story! 

Always a great trip into Sayulita, but it was busy with people and cars and we seem to be gravitating away from busy.  It was great to meet Ela and catch up with Cal.  

We took a taxi back to La Penita and were bound to try a different restaurant - they were all closed for some reason except for … yup you guessed it … Hinde y Jaime's.  Had a margarita, mojito and few shrimp tacos and back to our place.  We visited with Connie and Mike (from just outside Ottawa) for a few hours and to bed.  We are starting to get used to this …

La Penita - January 5, 2015

What a Great Day!  We started off slowly with coffee and toast on our balcony and then ventured over to Rincon de Guayabitos (the neighboring town) for the Monday market.  We walked through La Penita which is very old town authentic Mexico and crossed a suspended bridge into Rincon which is very touristy with hotels lining the beach.  The walk was a lot longer than we thought (about 30-45minutes - who knows - we don't wear a watch down here - it felt like a long time in the heat).  The market was great with everything from touristy stuff to handmade Mexican fare.  We did not buy anything as we are waiting for the La Penita market on Thursday which is apparently much larger.  We stopped for lunch at Tonitos I (recommended by Patty form Hinde y Jaime) and had fresh fish with cilantro and bacon wrapped cheese stuffed shrimp.  We walked along the beach which is beautiful, long and busy and then took a taxi home (30 pesos - about $2.50).  We relaxed around the pool for the afternoon and chatted with our neighbours from Alberta and BC.

The Gold Medal game for the World Juniors was on at Hinde y Jaime's so off we went - yup the same restaurant again but why mess with a good thing - it ended up being one of our best night's in Mexico!  Patty also had a singer coming in last night - Roberto - and told us that we could watch the game but with no sound so that Roberto could sing.  He was excellent, but we felt bad, the crowd was obviously there for the hockey game and would cheer constantly.  He eventually just took a long long break and waited for the hockey game to end.  Winning gold was a great start to the evening, but the best was yet to come … we became part of the Hinde y Jaime family.  It was so busy that Patty called in the reinforcements.  We met Jorge (her uncle and Hinde's brother) and his wife and son.  Pam (Jaime's daughter) and her daughter were there from St. Louis.  Jaime's son and his wife and daughter were there from Hawaii.  Christina (Jaime and Hinde's daughter) and her young daughter were there  … and Hinde and Jaime were there as well (apparently they do not come to the restaurant often anymore).  Jan ended up helping fold napkins.  We sat with Jaime for quite awhile - he is 85 years old now and had many stories.  He arrived in this area 30 years ago when there was very little except trees and jungle.  He and Hinde built a hut on the beach which they lived in for 7 years.  They have owned many businesses in the area over the years but his greatest joy was seeing his family all here.  This is the Mexico that most rarely see and which makes us love it here so much.  By the way, eating and drinking all night (a lot) cost us about $40.

Estuary by the river separating La Penita and Guayabitos

Jan enjoying Guayabitos

Bob enjoying Guayabitos more ...

Pelicans on the beach

Hinde y Jaime Restaurant watching hockey

La Penita de Jaltemba - January 3-4, 2015

We are starting the year off with a trip to La Penita de Jaltemba and La Cruz de Haunacaxtle.  La Penita is located bout an hour north of Puerto Vallarta and La Cruz is about 1/2 hour north of Puerto Vallarta.

We landed in PV at about 5 pm on January 3 (Saturday).  We were one of the first through customs and then waited about 45 minutes for our luggage.  Casita de la Penita (our home for 1 week) sent Sugar (our driver) to pick us up - it is a beautiful drive north through the lush jungles.  Bob and Linda Gibbs are the owners and operators of Casita de la Penita - they are from Saskatoon and operate this place for 6 months of the year.  They have a local family who operate it for the other 6 months.  They bought a beaten up ocean front property in the middle of nowhere 15 years ago and have turned it into a great little oasis.  Our room is on the second floor with a great view of the ocean and a winding staircase to get to the second floor - Jan is still negotiating the stairs.  La Penita is authentic Mexico - not touristy as at all.

We were starving (although when aren't we?) - Bob and Linda recommended that we go to Hinde y Jaime's Restaurant (for those interested, "y" is "and" in spanish).  Patty is one of the owners and does everything but cook.  We asked for her best drinks to start - I had a Margarita (Patty won the Annual International Margarita Challenge in 2010 and 2011) and Jan had a Mango Daiquiri - both were amazing.  We had some fresh guacamole, salsa and chips as well as some fresh fish (verracruzanna style) and two large skewers of shrimp.  We were no longer starving.  We did a little grocery shopping on Main Street - La Penita is much bigger than we thought with a main street about 4 blocks long.  We dropped into bed the fell asleep instantly.

On Sunday, we were up about 8 am and sat on our balcony with coffee overlooking the ocean.  We have a great view of the fishing boats and Tortuga (Turtle) Island.  We then ventured to Hinde y Jaime's for breakfast (Why mess with a great thing?).  I had Heuvos Rancheros and it was the best Mexican breakfast ever.   We met several of Hinde's family (Patty runs the place and is one of Hinde's daughters but several other siblings are visiting from St. Louis and Hawaii).

We did a little more shopping (forgot to buy rum) and then headed back to the Casita for the day by the pool - nice and relaxing.  We headed back to Hinde y Jaime's for dinner - WHAT?  You may think that there are no other restaurants in town but they have big screen TV's and Canada was playing Slovakia in the World Junior Semi- Finals … and it was rib night.  All excellent again.  We were joking with Patty about having the best restaurant and that there must be others in town - she was smiling from ear to ear.  She later came back to the table and said there were some other great restaurants and gave us a couple of suggestions (in the next town over!).

Adios.  Mañana.

First Margarita and Daiquiri

Casita de la Penita

Our Beach at Sunset

Stairway to Heaven or ...

Authentic Mexico

Chicago - October 19-22, 2014

Robyn and I spent 4 days in Chicago with our Platinum Mastermind Group.  This is a group of 16 retailers from around North America who meet 3 times a year to discuss issues, help each other solve problems and network.  This is an amazing group.  We stayed at the Omni Hotel on the Magnificent Mile.  While we walked around a bit, we did not get to see much at all because the meetings took up most of our time. We did manage to stop at the outlet mall on the way back out to the airport though!

NYC - August 9, 2014 - Italian, Chinese and Broadway

Late start again which meant no breakfast and straight to lunch at Casa Bella (our favourite restaurant in Little Italy).  We were greeted by Wilson - the smooth talking maitre d.  We got a seat outside by the entrance and Wilson was worth the price of admission with his "forget about it" and "how you doin'" to all the passersby.  A young italian couple sat behind us with 2 kids about 3 and 1 years of age.  The 3 year old was crying and whining and Wilson said to him "Stop it.  You are in my house now!" with a very stern voice - the kid stopped crying instantly.  We had another great meal and then wandered into Chinatown to find the Ice Cream Factory - a famous ice cream joint in NYC.  They had great ice cream (isn't it all though).  We wandered around Chinatown for a while and came across Columbus Park and watched some basketball for awhile while Jan and Kate chatted with a lady with a baby.  We started to walk back to the hotel when a guy in front of us dropped a chinese dumpling in the ground.  Scott and I looked at each other and decided we needed dumplings so across the street to Tasty Dumpling we went.  We ordered dill and pork dumplings and an onion cake.  As we were waiting for our order, a guy came in and bought 5 containers of Kim Chi - he told us that it was the best chinese style Kim Chi in all of NYC and he came from the Upper West Side for it.  We decided we needed some too!  The entire bill was $7.  It was all delicious.  In the evening we ventured to Times Square for dinner at Guy's American and then went to Matilda the Musical on Broadway.  It was really cute.  Home on the subway (which is much quicker than a cab on Saturday night).  Ciao.

NYC - August 7 and 8, 2014 - Diners Drive Ins and Dives and Washington DC

Thursday started with a hearty breakfast at the Landmark - if you missed a previous blog post, we get bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast and coffee for the price of a Starbucks latte. The group split up for the afternoon with Robyn, Kate and Scott going to Central Park for a bike ride and Jan and I wandering around SOHO.  Jan and I ended up at the International Culinary Institute on Broadway in SOHO which is a Hells Kitchen type establishment where the students cook, serve and host.  We had a 3 course lunch with wine pairings and it was fantastic.  Had our obligatory nap and then headed to the Redhead Pub in the East Village - this place was on Diners Drive ins and Dives. We had fried chicken, bacon peanut brittle, burgers and a salad.  Another great choice for a restaurant.  After dinner, we went to Momofuku (aka Milk) for their famous cereal milk ice cream and cake donut holes.  The line up was about 1/2 hour long.  Jan and I sat on the bench while the kids waited in line.  We were speaking with a local couple for quite a while when Kate not so subtlety told Jan that her shirt was almost all the way undone.  Jan then gasped so everybody in the line looked over.  The guy we were speaking with said, "I thought it was just a new style - we are in New York after all".  We walked back to the hotel about 20 blocks (it took us about 40 minutes).

We were up at 5:30 am on Friday so we could be at the tour bus by 6:15 am.  We took a day trip to Washington DC.  Before booking, we did not realize that it was about a 4 hour bus ride there and about 5 hours back because of rush hour.  Regardless, it was great.  We visited 5 States in one day - New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia as well as the District of Columbia.  We had a champions breakfast at a truckstop consisting of Popeyes chicken, Cinnabons, Auntie Anne's pretzels and Starbucks.  We arrived in DC shortly before noon and saw the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery and Jefferson Memorial from the bus.  We then stopped and visited the Vietnam Memorial (there are 2 of them), the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, Mirror Lake and the Korean Memorial.  We then hopped  on the bus for ride to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - the White House!  It is much smaller than you think and you can actually get pretty close to the front.  We visited the Wax Museum which has all of the Presidents and numerous celebrities.  We drove by Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot and then stopped at the Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian for a short visit.  It was very fascinating and we needed a much longer time there.  We had a quick bite at the museum - from McDonalds - the only restaurant at the Air and Space Museum.  We visited the Capitol building and then hopped on the bus for the 5 hour ride home.  Great but long day.  On our arrival in Times Square, we hopped into cabs and ended up in Little Italy for a late supper.  We love staying in SOHO (and away from Times Square).