honeymoon. day 4 . . .

. . . in PUERTA VALLARTA!

The fourth day was our first day off of the ship. Being on the ship was so fun and relaxing, but we were both ready to get off and explore the new places we had landed.

We got off the ship a little before 10:00 in the morning and didn't get back on the ship until 9:00 at night, so it was a long, hot, and fun filled day.

We paid a taxi driver $6 to take us a few miles into town from the port. He took us to the main shopping district which was right on the water. All along the water were several different sculptures and art pieces. We walked, and walked and walked, checking out the little shops and enjoying the scenery . . . until we got really hot and really hungry.

We walked a few blocks into town, just off the board walk and found a little restaurant that wasn't americanized (ie: Senor Frogs) or full of tourists. We got some enchiladas to share, which ended up being WAY too spicy for this white girl. So Trav ended up having those all to himself. Right after we went and found a taco stand that was selling tacos for $1 a piece for me. Taco stands in Mexico are totally the way to go. Yum!

Just a few blocks off of the boardwalk we saw a cathedral poking above all of the other buildings. We went and found it and were able to walk through it.

I really couldn't get over the color of the water and how perfect the weather was! The blue skies and the hot, hot sun were a welcome change after the rain and snow on Thursday and Friday in Idaho.

Travis and I both loved wandering the streets and seeing all of the beautiful colors. Puerta Vallarta was a very beautiful and clean city. These garlands and the flower boxes on the buildings were all over the place. I loved them! All of the streets are cobble stone or laid bricks. If you look close enough you can see the laid brick in the above picture.

Some more beautiful beaches we walked along . . .

Later in the afternoon, we came upon a small information booth on a street corner. Two nice folks who spoke very good English told us how the bus system worked. We told them where we wanted to go and they drew out exactly what we needed to do to get there and back to our ship in time on our map. So instead of paying a taxi the $20-$30 everyone else on the cruise ship was paying, we hopped on the bus for .55 cents! Oh how riding that bus reminded me of my bus traveling days in Hawaii!

The bus took us to the end of the highway, which stops at Mismaloya Beach. It was a beautiful little beach where all the locals were hanging out. It wasn't full of tourists like all of the other beaches we had been on earlier in the day. It was a welcome change from the craziness spring break brings to the beaches of Mexico! (I didn't even get a picture of the beach. I can't believe it.)

A beautiful resort sat right on Mismaloya Beach that you could walk right into. So we took a little swim in the pool and sat in their hot tub. Pool water was really refreshing after the salty ocean water! We stayed there until sunset and caught the bus back to our boat.


We wore ourselves right out that day, but it was well worth it. We had a great time walking all over the city, exploring the new places and chatting with some locals. It kind of reminded of us of our day trips we often took when we were dating.

Next up . . . MAZATLAN!