Hola, Puerto Vallarta! Part 2

Did you read Part 1?  

Old town Puerto Vallarta is our (distant) backdrop here

Labor Day, our first full day in Puerto Vallarta, was filled with what most people do on any standard Labor Day holiday - sitting around, eating and drinking way too much, and relaxing!  Since we didn't really know how crowded the Marriot would be, I worked with the concierge ahead of time to book a cabana/day bed at the pool for the two days we planned to hang out at the hotel.  As it turned out, the answer to my question was "not crowded at all," but it was still nice to have a location reserved.  As you can see in the picture at the top of this blog, the weather was...variable...so when offered the opportunity, I stayed away from the cabanas out on the pool deck and on the beach itself, choosing instead to reserve one under the terrace area, which had a solid roof covering.

Picture courtesy of the Marriott folks - 

we went with bed #4,

figuring there would be less foot traffic there.

We were right, but only because no one else

used any of the other cabanas on this day.

Also, the yellow building on the left was the main hotel,

which was where our room was.

We could see this area of the hotel from our balcony.

After going for an easy jog around the nearby golf course and marina, cleaning up, and eating our complimentary "American breakfast" (kind of sad - just some strips of bacon, eggs, and toast - we'd wisely upgrade to the buffet in subsequent days) in La Estancia, one of the hotel's onsite restaurants, we headed outside to the pool deck.  Although we were a bit early (story of our collective lives), before too long, the pool folks had things set up, and we moved in to get ready for a day of sitting around, doing little to nothing.

Senor Olsen, wandering through the main lobby area of the hotel.

Ahhhh, time to chill out!

Our rental of the cabana came with a few bottles of water and the "seasonal fruit" platter from yet another one of the hotel's restaurants, Las Casitas.  We flagged down a server and put in our order.

The "seasonal fruit" platter was a bit more

"crudite" in nature - cucumbers, carrots, and jicama - 

but it was still delicious!

We read and napped and read and had some beers and napped and read and so on and so forth for the next few hours, until a sudden slapping sound startled us from our reverie.  In peeking out from under the covering of our individual cabana, I saw what looked like rain coming from above us (and to the side, very thankfully), until I looked down at the ground and noticed this:

Yeah, not rain.  Like, not at ALL.

It was then that we more closely examined the thatched roof of the terrace on which we were situated, only to notice that we weren't its only occupants:

This is the best picture we have of the scaly offender - 

there were at least 3-4 iguanas hanging out

in the leaves above us,

having a grand old time taking care of their

iguana business all over the terrace.

I can only imagine this was a really amusing game for them.

Here's a video of one wandering through, crunching on leaves:

Although they were somewhat difficult to see from below, on my way back from a run to the nearby bathroom, I got a better view:

Thankfully, we never got closer to the iguanas than this (or they to us); I had an image of one taking a wrong step and winding up directly in my lap, but that never happened, gods be praised.  We figured we were visitors in their space, not they in ours, so we just enjoyed listening to them stomp around above us, kept ourselves and our belongings under the roof of the cabana, and we made sure to watch where we were walking.

Eventually, all of that reading, napping, drinking, and getting pooped on made us hungry, so we wandered the 25 feet to Las Casitas, the restaurant near the pool.  We had no problem grabbing a primo table near the beach, and we feasted on some great local seafood.

Not a bad view!

We also watched this guy steal fries

from a nearby table.

After lunch, we wandered out on the little spit of land that marked the boundary of the hotel's land and took a few shots.  From here, we could see old town PV to our southwest, which we planned to wander around the next day.

A panoramic from both sides of the outcropping.

Chris asked why the end of the path was covered in fake grass,

and in case I didn't know this already,

I could clearly tell that he'd never worn narrow-heeled

shoes in a patch of real grass before.

This is obviously a prime wedding spot on the property.

Looking toward the "hotel zone," cruise ship port, and old town PV

PV's a neat place - on the coast, so there are tons of beaches,

but if you go a few miles inland,

you hit mountains, rainforest, and the like.

In fact, you can go on a zipline tour through the jungle

used for part of the filming in the original

"Predator" movie.

Looking back at our hotel's beach

Full of food, we wandered back to our cabana and chilled for another few hours, engaging in much of the same activities noted above (no more iguana pooping, though, which was most appreciated).  Sometime in the mid-afternoon, we bid adieu to our cabana and headed back to our room; it was time to start getting ready for dinner!

As you know from reading these blogs (and knowing us), we love to eat.  Like, we love to travel and we love to work out and we love to read good books and watch fun programs, but we looooooove to eat.  Given this, much of the planning I do for our vacations involves researching local restaurants, from the inexpensive to the super fancy, to figure out where we'll be dining each day of a trip.  For our first dinner outside of the confines of the Marriott, I picked La Leche; the Yelp reviews were good, but they mostly talked about the look of the space, which is pretty unique:

The outside of the restaurant - 

blurry picture courtesy of the internets.

The inside - again, thanks, internets!

La Leche translated into English means "the milk," and the restaurant's theme is quite clear; all decor inside is completely white, and white milk containers, buckets, and barrels stretch from floor to ceiling.  I warned Chris on our way that I couldn't tell if this place actually had decent food or if it was just good for taking pictures for the 'Gram, but either way, I figured we should try it out.

My attempt at artsy photos

Thankfully, everything at Le Leche was wonderful - the drinks were well balanced, the food was delicious, and the service staff was attentive and helpful (one of our two waiters had lived in PV for the past 5 years after moving from...Phoenix!).  Although you could tell some folks were there purely for the experience, they were in for a great meal as well - we actually did see some super dedicated Instagram peeps come in while we were eating - both the lady and guy of the couple had their phones up and on, shooting the whole thing while they were seated, and they left pretty soon afterward (their loss).  However, they didn't head out quickly enough to avoid Chris catching the gentleman of the couple taking tons of selfies in the bathroom.

It was kind of fun being a spot of color

in the otherwise white room.

Our delicious cocktails

My glass of wine - 

we picked up a bottle of a Mexican cab,

grown in Baja California, which was excellent!

Thanks, The Wine Show, for teaching us about Mexican wine!

My dinner - a local, mild white fish with snap peas,

spinach, grilled lemon, and a mild dried pepper (guajillo?)

in a lemony, brothy sauce.

It was delicious, and I literally ate every bite of it.

They describe their cuisine as "innovative Mexican,"

and that seems right on point.

You can kind of see Chris' duck dish as well.

Although I don't remember what we had for dessert, it was also outstanding, and before we sealed up the rest of our wine and hailed an Uber (super, duper easy to use in PV, by the way - while it was pricier than a local taxi, our most expensive rides were about $8 each - can't beat that around here, for sure), I paid a visit to the ladies' room, where I encountered this:

 I mean, they know their customer, right?

Can't really be mad at that.

This is pretty cute, if a bit short - 

even I had to sink down a bit,

and I am not tall.

Thankfully, I had the loo to myself,

although you guys know that wouldn't have stopped me

from finishing this photo shoot.

Overall, La Leche was fantastic, and if we end up back in PV, we'll absolutely pay a return visit!  Our Uber back to the Marriott went by without issue, and we headed to bed, well stuffed with food, glorious food!

Later!

Amy

P.S. - ...and what have Zoe and August been up to at daycare?  Learning to be brave, apparently:

I love how Augs is like,

"DO IT ZOE, DO IT!"

Splash!

"That was fun!"

"I'm proud of you, Zoe!"

"Thanks, Augs!"