Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (MAR 8)

We awoke after having reveled in sleep uninterrupted by excessive vibration and an annoyingly loud noise.

Whales off the mouth of the breakwall. - Blue-hulled boat a bit close?

Our arrival in the port was completely uneventful; no special scrutiny by local or federal authorities.

TOUR DESCRIPTION

Nestled in the heart of the Sierra Madre mountains, San Sebastian boasts a remote location and historic appeal. This outing offers fantastic scenery and typical scenes of rural Mexican life, making the journey into the mountains both thrilling and relaxing. The town is like a living museum, untouched by time.

You'll have time to wander about this beautiful mountain village of 600 residents, whose prosperity peaked in the 1700s. San Sebastian retains the essence of its colonial heritage, with its quaint cobblestone plaza lined with dignified white-washed buildings, a classic Porfirian bandstand, an 18th-century church, and many old-world haciendas.

Enjoy a traditional lunch in town before returning to the coast.

TOUR REALITY

Two tours took a big bus to a rendezvous point where our group boarded a 16-passenger bus. We drove inland out of the city and then started working our way up into the hills. We stopped at Carmen's Panaderia, a bakery on one side of Puente de Cristal (Crystal Bridge). 

looking across the bridge to the tequila distillery

After a visit to the "happy place" and some pastry, we drove across the bridge to a small tequila distillery.

looking back across the bridge at the coffee shop

It's 5 o'clock Somewhere tequila taste-testing.

Arriving in San Sebastian del Oeste, we first visited La Quinta Mari coffee plantation where our guide explained the process for picking, grinding and roasting coffee beans.

We walked across the street for a fun luncheon that included a wide variety of offerings.

Good or bad that the chef wore a mask when meeting us?

After lunch we visited the home of one of the leading families in town back when this was a major mining community with 30,000 residents versus today's 600. The great-granddaughter gave us a tour of the museum. There were pictures of past generations on the wall (upper right-hand corner).

This lady was the matriarch of the family.
Note the spooky shadow-hands on her shoulders.

We learned that three wealthy families intermarried to keep control of their money and power. This led to a humorous recounting of who was who while pointing at various pictures. I could not even begin to keep track of inter-relationships, but it was even more complex than the song I Am My Own Grandpa. (see bottom of this post)

We moved from the museum to the church which while simplistic on the outside was attractive on the inside.

Before returning to Puerto Vallarta, our guide gave us some free time to wander around the town square . It was Sunday, so people from the village and surrounding area had gathered there to visit with family and friends.

Our return trip was uneventful, our guide maintaining a surprisingly interesting patter the entire way.  

"Cellphone" instead of "six-gun" slung on his left
hip does not convey the same image.

We enjoyed this tour.  The guide, although by his own admission a non-stop talker, knew a lot of subject matter and imparted it so well his constant chatter was not the least bit annoying.  This is high praise indeed coming from me as there is usually a point on a tour where I've had enough and start tuning out the guide's monologue.

While waiting for ROTTERDAM to depart, we stood on our verandah and watched the crew of this ship(?) herd on a load of passengers, put on what appeared to be a really cheesy pirate show, then get it underway for a (sunset?) cruise.  

While we were at dinner, ROTTERDAM took in her lines and departed the harbor. 

This was our second, and last, port call in Mexico.  Next is San Diego, California after two sea days.

_______________________

I AM MY OWN GRANDPA

Now, many many years ago

When I was twenty three

I was married to a widow

Who was pretty as could be

This widow had a grown-up daughter

Had hair of red

My father fell in love with her

And soon the two were wed

This made my dad my son-in-law

And changed my very life

My daughter was my mother

'Cause she was my father's wife

To complicate the matters

Even though it brought me joy

I soon became the father

Of a bouncing baby boy

My little baby then became

A brother-in-law to dad

And so became my uncle

Though it made me very sad

For if he was my uncle

That also made him the brother

Of the widow's grown-up daughter

Who, of course, was my step-mother

My father's wife then had a son

That kept them on the run

And he became my grandchild

For he was my daughter's son

My wife is now my mother's mother

And it makes me blue

Because, she is my wife

She's my grandmother too

Now, if my wife is my grandmother

Then, I am her grandchild

And every time I think of it

It nearly drives me wild

For now I have become

The strangest case you ever saw

As the husband of my grandmother

I am my own grandpa