Monday, 16 March 2015
Jasper - March 13-15, 2015
Jan, Robyn Randi, Scott and I attended the PJ Party at Jasper Park Lodge (well the girls attended - we helped with set up and packing up). We had a small pop up shop and the girls networked all weekend. Quite a success. Scott and I ate!
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Las Vegas - February 28 - March 3, 2015
Jan, Robyn, Scott and I booked a last minute trip to Vegas to attend a trade show which we learned about in Clearwater. Another busy few days with a little eating (Shake Shack, Fulton's Fish Market, Bachanal, Yellow Tail, Tom's Urban) and a little gambling (too much apparently as we were not so lucky this time). We stayed at New York New York. Found some great buys for the store!
Clearwater Beach, Florida - February 15-19, 2015
Sunday. Robyn and I are off to Clearwater Beach, Florida for some meetings with a group of 15 retailers from around North America to discuss issues and help each other grow our businesses. We left Edmonton at noon and arrived in Toronto about 4 hours later. After a 3 hour delay and several gate changes we left Toronto and arrived in Tampa around 1 am. In bed at 2 am.
Monday. We slept in (Robyn longer than I). I went for a walk for about an hour and then came back to meet Robyn for breakfast. I had grits and biscuits with sausage gravy. Love Florida! We spent the day on the beach mostly sleeping.
The rest of our trip was all business related and we were exhausted at the end of each day and dropped into bed early. It is draining when you are meeting with such great individuals from great businesses and sharing ideas. So many ideas, so little time ...
The rest of our trip was all business related and we were exhausted at the end of each day and dropped into bed early. It is draining when you are meeting with such great individuals from great businesses and sharing ideas. So many ideas, so little time ...
Friday, 30 January 2015
La Cruz - January 21 - 24, 2015
On Wednesday, we had a leisurely breakfast and waited for Jim to pick us up. We met Jim and Jeanie at Glorietas last week. We were having dinner and they walked in. I said hola to them and a conversation ensued. Turns out Jim is a lawyer from Edmonton and we crossed paths in Law School. They own a couple of places in a complex called Punta Esmeralda and they invited us to come see their place and the complex on Wednesday - we are always curious about real estate so we took them up on their offer. It would be a great place to own down here. We had lunch with them at their Beach Club and they asked if we wanted to go whale watching the next day. How nice! And at no cost - they had chartered the Chica Locca - capacity 80 - for 20 people including us.
We came back in the afternoon and went to the pool. As we are running out of time here in Mexico, we decided to start at Tacos on the Steeet (3, 3, 2 and 2 tacos respectively), then we wandered down to Glorietas for coconut shrimp and bacon wrapped cheese stuffed shrimp (we shared) and then wandered down to La Ballena Blanca for shrimp tacos, cheese cake and the most delicious carrot cake. They were actually out of carrot cake but when Eva saw us arrive she left and came back a few minutes later with carrot cake for us from another restaurant that gets the same carrot cake from a local baker. That is service. They had music again and they were great.
On Thuraday, we were up early and off to the Chica Locca. Jim and Jeanie were hosting some friends from Punta Esmeralda, some of Jeanie's family (2 sisters and her dad) and us. What a great day! We saw numerous whales, many moms with their cubs, dolphins, many different species of birds including the blue footed booby birds which apparently can only be found here. We had great food, drinks and visiting. We stopped at the Marietas Islands to swim, dive, and paddle board. The guides were fantastic. We went to Masala for dinner (tuna steak x 2 - what else - fettuccine alfredo with jumbo shrimp and a cornish game hen the size of an actual chicken). They had a group called Tatewari playing flamenco - amazing. See below for pictures.
On Friday, we hung out at the pool all day. For dinner, we started at La Ballena Blanca with shrimp tacos, a Shrimp burrito and 2 pieces of carrot cake. We planned to do the reverse tour tonight going from there to Glorietas to Tacos on the Street, but we had such a good time, we stayed and drank and listened to music again.
On Saturday, we had to check out of our room at 11 am but they gave us another room to use for the day because Robyn and Scott were not leaving until 3 pm and we didn't have to leave until 7:30 pm. We had a breakfast of champions as we had to finish off our groceries - ice cream, Nesquik cereal, taco chips with salsa and refried beans, margaritas, coffee with baileys, potato chips and eggs. Not so delicious. We spent the day at the pool. Robyn and Scott left in the afternoon and Jan and I went to La Ballena Blanca for one last time this trip. Our 10:30 pm flight left on time and we were home in our beds about 4 am.
Another great holiday!
Another great holiday!
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| Dolphin swimming with boat |
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| Scotty off the slide |
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| Robyn off the slide |
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| Bob off the second deck |
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| Groovin' |
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| La Ballena Blanca |
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| Adios Mexico! |
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
La Cruz - January 19-20, 2015
Monday was breakfast, pool, lunch, pool, dinner (at Raixes - the onsite restaurant - average food), bed. We did get to have the big italian sandwiches for lunch that we bought the day before at the market.
Tuesday was breakfast, pool, lunch (at Raixes), pool, dinner at Sanzibar (again), ice cream at home along with a nightcap of mojitos. At Sanzibar, we had tuna (what else?), mahi mahi and a seafood pasta - all delicious.
Starting to get used to this life ...
Tuesday was breakfast, pool, lunch (at Raixes), pool, dinner at Sanzibar (again), ice cream at home along with a nightcap of mojitos. At Sanzibar, we had tuna (what else?), mahi mahi and a seafood pasta - all delicious.
Starting to get used to this life ...
Monday, 19 January 2015
La Cruz - January 18, 2015
Sundays are market days in La Cruz. Today we walked to the market - it is about a 45 minute walk from our place in the hills. We were starving so we went straight to the major food section on the wharf. We had a Moroccan sandwich of roasted pork, paella, a chicken quesadilla (to die for), 2 big italian sandwiches (as a reminder: italian sausage, spicy italian sausage and roasted pork) and 4 fresh juices. We then wandered the market but didn't buy anything else. We saw some huge tuna at the fish market. We stopped by the Big Italian Sandwich place on the way out for 3 more sandwiches to go (lunch tomorrow).
We spent the afternoon at the pool, had a few dirty monkeys at happy hour and then headed into town to Masala for dinner. We hit four home runs. Scott and I had tuna steak (best yet), Jan had herb crusted mahi mahi and Robyn had jumbo shrimp with a ginger sauce. Cheesecake and creme brûlée for dessert and then we were off walking to the best new little place in La Cruz - La Ballena Blanca. They had a band again - actually 2 members of the 4 member band we saw there a few nights ago. The place was hopping, the band was great, and the cheesecake, cervesas and margaritas were outstanding as well. They closed the kitchen as we got there because they ran out of food - not in a bad way - there were just so many people - great problem to have. The young ones running the place were so busy ad happy. We stayed until 10:30 - whatttttttt? Probably sleep in tomorrow after such a late night.
We spent the afternoon at the pool, had a few dirty monkeys at happy hour and then headed into town to Masala for dinner. We hit four home runs. Scott and I had tuna steak (best yet), Jan had herb crusted mahi mahi and Robyn had jumbo shrimp with a ginger sauce. Cheesecake and creme brûlée for dessert and then we were off walking to the best new little place in La Cruz - La Ballena Blanca. They had a band again - actually 2 members of the 4 member band we saw there a few nights ago. The place was hopping, the band was great, and the cheesecake, cervesas and margaritas were outstanding as well. They closed the kitchen as we got there because they ran out of food - not in a bad way - there were just so many people - great problem to have. The young ones running the place were so busy ad happy. We stayed until 10:30 - whatttttttt? Probably sleep in tomorrow after such a late night.
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| Our tuna supper! |
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| Le Gato (our Mexican cat) |
Sunday, 18 January 2015
La Cruz - January 12-17, 2015
These past few days have been pretty much action replay. Wake up, have coffee and breakfast, go to pool, sit there all day, go for dinner, come home and go to bed (usually by 8 pm). A couple of specifics:
On Monday, we went to the pool and had dinner at home - spaghetti and chorizo sausage … and our Gato (cat) is back from last year.
On Tuesday, we went to the beach club. Our place is loaded in the hills and they have a beach club on the beach (where most beach clubs are located). It is small but fun area - we spent the day there. We had dinner at Sandzibar. One of our best meals in PV. They made a fabulous tuna steak (Bob and Scott), mahi mahi (Robyn) and homemade sausage (Jan). We were the only people in the restaurant. What a shame because it was a fantastic meal - we sat beachfront and Leo our waiter was outstanding. Robyn mentioned that she loved the bread and they sent some fresh bread home with her.
On Wednesday, we went to the pool and had dinner at Frescati's - great italian food although I had a tuna steak (I can get italian at home).
On Thursday, we went to the pool and took a margarita making class form 4-5pm. It was really interesting - we made strawberry, classic lime, tamarind and jalepeno. The jalepeno margarita was delicious with only a hint of jalepeno taste. We had dinner at Xocolatl. Great view of the bay - we had fajitas (Scott), coconut shrimp (Jan), mahi mahi topped with lobster sauce and a jumbo shrimp (Robyn) and chile relleno topped with a lobster sauce, a jumbo shrimp and a shrimp enchilada (Bob).
On Friday, we went to the pool and then decided to wander around town eating a various places for supper. We started at Tacos on the street but limited ourselves to 3 tacos each (Scott and I) and 2 for Jan and Robyn (not our usual 7-8 each). Delicious as usual and very hard not to order more. We then walked to El Asadero on main street and shared a BBQ plate of chorizo, chicken, flank steak, fried onions and refried beans. Delicious. We then wandered round town until we came across a little gem - La Ballena Blanca (The White Whale). You walk in and there is no roof, just tarp like sails stretched across various places. The menu is limited - Tacos (much like Tacos on the Street) - shrimp, marlin, fish - we tried the shrimp and marlin, both excellent, but the shrimp were better. We had some cervesas and a margarita (excellent). A band started playing at 8:30 (a half hour past our bed time), but we endured and the place was hopping. What a great little place! They only opened the previous Sunday and it is being run by a bunch of young adults and they were fantastic. I would recommend this place to everyone. It is owned by our waitress's father, but the building was once a restaurant owned by her grandfather which was destroyed by a hurricane a long time ago (hence no roof).
On Saturday, we had a spa day and had massages and pedicures. What a great day. We returned to Glorietta's for dinner. Ismael (my bro apparently) offered us a seafood feast. We jumped in. The huge platter came out with lobster, coconut shrimp, breaded shrimp, garlic shrimp, octopus, mussels, grilled mahi mahi, breaded mahi mahi, rice, baked potato and salad. We met 2 couples from Edmonton and they offered to show us their place at Punta Esmerelda one day. We then walked down to La Ballena Blanca for dessert - shrimp tacos and had some cervesas and margaritas. We wanted to support these great young ones in their new endeavor. Back to our place and in bed by 8:30. Can't party every night.
On Monday, we went to the pool and had dinner at home - spaghetti and chorizo sausage … and our Gato (cat) is back from last year.
On Tuesday, we went to the beach club. Our place is loaded in the hills and they have a beach club on the beach (where most beach clubs are located). It is small but fun area - we spent the day there. We had dinner at Sandzibar. One of our best meals in PV. They made a fabulous tuna steak (Bob and Scott), mahi mahi (Robyn) and homemade sausage (Jan). We were the only people in the restaurant. What a shame because it was a fantastic meal - we sat beachfront and Leo our waiter was outstanding. Robyn mentioned that she loved the bread and they sent some fresh bread home with her.
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| Sanzibar |
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| Good Morning! |
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| Beach Club |
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| Beach Club |
On Wednesday, we went to the pool and had dinner at Frescati's - great italian food although I had a tuna steak (I can get italian at home).
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| Frescati's |
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| Frescati's |
On Thursday, we went to the pool and took a margarita making class form 4-5pm. It was really interesting - we made strawberry, classic lime, tamarind and jalepeno. The jalepeno margarita was delicious with only a hint of jalepeno taste. We had dinner at Xocolatl. Great view of the bay - we had fajitas (Scott), coconut shrimp (Jan), mahi mahi topped with lobster sauce and a jumbo shrimp (Robyn) and chile relleno topped with a lobster sauce, a jumbo shrimp and a shrimp enchilada (Bob).
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| Margarita Class with Jairo |
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| Margarita Class |
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| Xocolatl |
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| Xocolatl |
On Friday, we went to the pool and then decided to wander around town eating a various places for supper. We started at Tacos on the street but limited ourselves to 3 tacos each (Scott and I) and 2 for Jan and Robyn (not our usual 7-8 each). Delicious as usual and very hard not to order more. We then walked to El Asadero on main street and shared a BBQ plate of chorizo, chicken, flank steak, fried onions and refried beans. Delicious. We then wandered round town until we came across a little gem - La Ballena Blanca (The White Whale). You walk in and there is no roof, just tarp like sails stretched across various places. The menu is limited - Tacos (much like Tacos on the Street) - shrimp, marlin, fish - we tried the shrimp and marlin, both excellent, but the shrimp were better. We had some cervesas and a margarita (excellent). A band started playing at 8:30 (a half hour past our bed time), but we endured and the place was hopping. What a great little place! They only opened the previous Sunday and it is being run by a bunch of young adults and they were fantastic. I would recommend this place to everyone. It is owned by our waitress's father, but the building was once a restaurant owned by her grandfather which was destroyed by a hurricane a long time ago (hence no roof).
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| La Ballena Blanca |
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| La Ballena Blanca |
On Saturday, we had a spa day and had massages and pedicures. What a great day. We returned to Glorietta's for dinner. Ismael (my bro apparently) offered us a seafood feast. We jumped in. The huge platter came out with lobster, coconut shrimp, breaded shrimp, garlic shrimp, octopus, mussels, grilled mahi mahi, breaded mahi mahi, rice, baked potato and salad. We met 2 couples from Edmonton and they offered to show us their place at Punta Esmerelda one day. We then walked down to La Ballena Blanca for dessert - shrimp tacos and had some cervesas and margaritas. We wanted to support these great young ones in their new endeavor. Back to our place and in bed by 8:30. Can't party every night.
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