Mexico

Cabo

It has been a year at this point, but in the middle of the gray that is the Seattle in March our family took off for the sun in Cabo San Lucas. After more snow, rain and cold than we are used to around the Seattle it was a much needed escape. Much like our prior trip to Mexico in 2019, we booked a stay at a resort outside of the main downtown. This time we found a deal to stay in one of the mountain villas at the Pueblo Bonito Resort right on the tip of Baja California. It was the perfect combination of inclusive resort and private house rental.

Our first night there we had dinner at the Market, a food hall at the resort. Then the next morning we drove to the Walmart (my first time driving in another country!) for our groceries. We spent the trip choosing between when we wanted to use the resorts pools and restaurants, and when we just wanted it to have family time at the house. Dom spent as much time as possible in a pool or hot tub, we took two trips into downtown Cabo, and went on an AVT adventure as well.

March 6th – 9th:

In the mornings we could see boats in the Pacific Ocean tracking the whales. At times we could see the whales break the surface from our balcony.  In addition to checking out the “kids pool” with swim up bar, Mom and Dad had a date night without leaving the resort. We had a fabulous dinner at  LaFrida Restaurant. It was high-end authentic Mexican food and some very good Margaritas.

View of the Ocean from the patio. Many of the boats are whale watching tours.

Our house for the stay, #122.

March  10th:

We had our first big adventure away from the resort! We went into downtown Cabo for the AvoCabo Food tour. There was more than enough food to try and we left with a few favorite places to eat. Never a fan of Mole I was converted with the version at El Burro Loco.

March 11th – 13th:

We spent the next few days building with legos, eating at the 50s diner at the Market, and testing out the resorts main pool right on the beach. On the West side of Baja California the beach is not safe for swimming, so we were not able to go into the water but watching the massive waves from the beach was very cool. We stood looking out at the ocean and thought about the fact that at that point of land there is nothing between us at the Antarctic but water.

March 14th:

A week into our trip we spent the day at Wild Canyon Adventures. It is a adventure park East of downtown. We went on an ATV drive through the dunes and down to the beach along the the Gulf of Baja California. It was Dom’s second ATV adventure and for the most part he liked it. He did say that a few times that while driving around the canyon Chris drove too fast. The rocks at the beach however were worth it for him, and he even did okay as we returned to the starting point by driving over a massive suspension bridge.

After the AVT adventure we had lunch then Chris and Dom went to hang out at the water park while did my first zipline course. It included 8 different lines crossing back and forth alone the canyon. Parts where a bit scary and a few times one of the guides had to go with me across, but it was awesome. The whole time at Wild Canyon was fun, and they had a photographer that followed the tours around to take photos so we ended up with a ton in the end.

Zipping across the canyon.

March 15th & 16th:

After a whole day out adventuring we spent the next day sitting by the pool. Dom wanted to play at the kids pool, so we had some lunch there and he managed to make a few friends in the water. For dinner we tried another of the onsite restaurants, The Bistro. The next day we returned to downtown Cabo. We walked along the marina, had some brunch, and got a Margarita to go. In addition to having a Mariachi band play for us we also saw a puffer fish swimming in the marina and some very cool murals.


March 17th :

Our last day in Mexico. Dom and I went down to the beach to play in the sand for a while, then we all had to go get COVID tests for entry back into the U.S.A.. That night we had milkshakes and drinks at the 50s cafe before dinner then ate at the sports bar. It was full with people celebrating both March Madness and St. Patrick’s day.

Just laying in the sand.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Did you know that Mexico is officially known as Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or United Mexican States? I think maybe I did at some point, but had long forgotten. We’ve always been Europe and Asia travelers, so beaches in North America were never really our thing. This vacation was booked back in the spring and  was meant to be a mental break from work and a mid-fall break from the Seattle doldrums. If I’m honest, the reason we chose it is because it’s sunny this time of year, is a direct flight on Alaska Air, and isn’t California… oh, and is considerably cheaper than Hawaii. Embarrassingly, we didn’t know much about the place going in. This was all before I was on leave and had any notion of van camping, Prague, or Vienna. So, yeah, it was meant to be a chill vacation with some sun, swimming, and hopefully some naps.

We stayed at Garza Blanca a few miles south of Puerto Vallarta’s more populated core. We wanted the ability to pool, beach, and/or drink alcoholic beverages with relative ease. I stumbled on this place having a big sale because apparently no one wants to go the second week of November, as most other kids are in school – we’ll enjoy it while we can. I did a bunch of math (shocking, I know) of the All Inclusive option and realized there was no way we’d break even with a three year old in tow. We opted for the Bed & Breakfast option, which meant we could always get some food in The Kid before he got too cranky. If you’re wondering, we saved quite a bit of cash even with both of us having adult beverages every day and us eating *off resort* only two meals (i.e. paying out of pocket for dinner at the resort other nights). Their market is people who don’t want to think about it and I guess that’s not me.

I think the property was everything we could have asked for, given our criteria. Our room was unnecessarily big, but it had two bedrooms, kitchen, nice balcony, there were pools to keep Dom happy, and the service was top notch. Meals at places like this are never ZOMG AWESOME; they’re fine for being able to walk back to your room. The unfortunate part of vacationing in such a heavy tourist area is you get a long, hard pitch for *excursion* up-sales both at the airport and when you arrive at your hotel. I got visibly angry at the airport because we’d been traveling with a tired pre-schooler and they refused to show us where our hotel transfer was until we listened to their hard sell. I eventually demanded they stop and show us – we later heard from other guests that the full sales pitch is 45 minutes… right after you clear customs in Mexico.  WTF??

Anyway, this hotel is away from the masses and is plopped right in the jungle. You’re not really in Puerto Vallarta proper, although that only matters if you want to go shopping or eat out every day.  It really was a nice place in a truly stunning setting, though. The sounds of the jungle surround you and the sounds of drunk tourists are miles away. The downside is you have to sit in a car or on a bus for 20 minutes to get to PV-proper BUT a ride-sharing hop there is < $5 US and the bus is $0.50 US. We spent our town time in the Malecon and Zona Romantica areas. The town was just cleaning up from Día de Muertos festivities, so we got to absorb of of the local culture. Those areas do cater heavily to tourists, but they’re not nearly as polished as the large shopping malls and restaurants farther north. Stay to the south if outdoor adults beverages at sunset is your thing. It’s kid friendly too.

I believe the Mexican people are the best part of Mexico. Conversing with them, sometimes in my very broken Spanish, I got the sense they were genuinely happy despite geopolitical and  challenges within their own government – much like Vietnam. In both places, people are proud of their culture and love sharing it with you. It would be great to visit more remote places and meet more people, but that’s where you start to run up against travel advisories. Not something we’re interested in… especially with a young child in tow. The good news early November appeared to be pretty slow, so we got to experience all the beautiful dispositions Mexicans had to offer without a crushing number of Americans. Yay Mexico!