A Day at the Beach

It did not appear to be a good day to go to the beach. Overcast, cloudy, quite warm but not hot, and not too much humidity. The phone rang, about 1:00 PM on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 20th, and my friend, Leticia, asked me if I would like to go to the beach with her. Of course I said "yes"!! Why not? I always say "yes" to an interesting invitation!

Thinking like an American, I wondered: isn't it kinda late to be going to the beach for the day? But, thinking like a Mexican, I realized: the day is long, it is only early afternoon, and we have the day in front of us!! Then Lety added, "We are going to a restaurant" at the beach. Now it became confusing....are we going to to beach to swim or to go to a restaurant? I'll just wait and see! Everyone who knows me, remembers that I am not a swimmer, nor do I like sitting in the sun very much since I burn like a lobster in only a few minutes. So I was just as pleased when Lety said, "I am not going to wear my swimsuit".

She picked me up in 20 minutes with our friend, Guillermina and also Isthalia, a new preschool teacher in PV. We drove for an hour, north, to Punta de Mita, Nayarit. Nayarit is the state directly north of Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta's state is Jalisco) and the state line is only 10 minutes away from my house. Most Vallartans prefer to go to the beaches in Nayarit because they are sandy beaches whereas the beaches in Vallarta are very stony.

We arrived at the restaurant Anclote, which is directly on the beach in Punta de Mita. The owner, in the red dress, greeted us and asked if we wanted to sit inside or on the beach. We opted for the beach!





From my lounge chair, I watched the ocean and the boats which are for rent. The boatman tried to talk us into a boat ride but he had no takers!

Guillermina, me, and Isthalia relax in our chairs while Lety takes the picture! We ordered drinks: limonada for Guillermina and me, orange for Lety and a coconut for Isthalia.

Later we ordered dinner and ate that inside at a table. Of course, "inside" means no walls to the restaurant so we are still looking out at the beautiful view.

Dinner was Pescado Sarandeado, with white rice and steamed broccoli and carrots. The fish they use is Huachinango fish, and it is grilled with a dry rub and a special sauce of the restaurant added to it. Very, very good! Take a look:

After dinner, we retreated to the beach where Isthalia finished her coconut. They take a coconut, chop off the top, add a straw and you drink the coconut milk. Not for me, but it is a very popular drink here in Mexico.

We sat for a while, walked on the beach, read, and relaxed. Since the weather was not 100%, there were no tourists out, so we enjoyed an uncrowded afternoon of relaxation. About 7:00 we headed home. I had a nice afternoon on a day that I would not have thought would be a good "beach day".

Hasta luego.