Puerto Vallarta

Crossdressing idiots!

We’ve reached our final port for this cruise, the resort town of Puerto Vallarta. We’ve enjoyed all three ports of call (Cabo, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta), but if we had to pick a favorite I’m looking  at it right now.
There are around 400,000 residents of the metropolitan area and approximately 10% of them are Americans or Canadians.  Beautiful beaches, inexpensive and great food, friendly people, living in a clean and very safe city......what’s not to like about a place like that?
Mexico has had plenty of negative press in recent years.  Some of which I’m  sure was deserved but a fair bit that has been oversensationalized by the media (imagine that!).  Like many places around the globe, if you go looking for trouble and act stupid you’ll probably end up in a bad situation.  The resort areas on the Pacific side that we have visited all boast of very low crime rates that would stack up well against many places that are considered “safe”.
We’re the only ship in the port today.  Yesterday all three docks were occupied.  Obviously, we’re happy being the only show in town.  We got off around 9:00 AM and took a cab ($10 for both of us) to the colorful downtown area which is about four miles from the port.
The Malecon, as it is known,  is a beachfront promenade that is lined with shops, restaurants and hotels.  It continues for what seemed like about a mile and a half  before we crossed a small bridge into the cobblestone streets of “old town”.  Again the streets and sidewalks were lined with shops, restaurants and hotels all of which were coming to life. We’re in port until 11:00 tonight so we wanted to make sure we paced ourselves, especially since we’re going to a dinner and show on a nearby island (I call it a Mexican Luau) After roaming a bit we found a nice table at a beachside restaurant where we made a glass of tea, coke, a beer and some chips and fresh guacamole last for two hours.  We’re back on the ship now, getting ready for our next adventure, which starts in about an hour....I think we’re on a good pace!

Early morning on the Malecon

Old Town with it's cobblestone streets

Makes for a strong neck

Lady of Guadalupe Church in the center of old town

We sat here so long I'm surprised we didn't get mail delivered to us

I’ll have some final thoughts on the cruise, add a few more pictures, as well as captions, once we get back to San Diego on Sunday. 

Mazatlán .....a very pleasant surprise!

There's a small lighthouse on top of the mountain behind us.  Although the lighthouse itself is fairly small because of where it sits it is the second tallest lighthouse in the world (Gibraltar is the highest)

One of the things we don’t do when traveling is set expectations.  This keeps us from being disappointed. We frequently find ourselves to be pleasantly surprised. Mazatlán turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.
According to Eric, our new best friend from Mazatlán, there are over 700,000 residents in this city which boasts of having one of the largest ports on the Northern side of the Panama Canal.  Eric was our Pulmonia (open air taxi) driver, who toured us around the very clean and orderly city.  A few other things we learned from Eric was that the lighthouse is the second highest lighthouse in the world (Gibraltar is the highest) and that the local baseball team has won the Mexican League Championship eight times.  I guess that makes them kinda like the New York Yankees of the league.  On the notorious side, Mazatlán is where the drug lord El Chapo was from and where he was hiding when he was arrested.  By all appearances the city seemed safe and quite vibrant with a nice mix of locals, tourists and seasonal residents mainly from the US and Canada.
One of the most interesting features of the city was the beachfront promenade which stretched 4-5 miles along really nice sand beaches.  We also had an opportunity to watch the cliff divers as they dove from 50 feet high into less than ten feet of water.  The downtown had a lively market, large Catholic Church and a block long shrimp market where the “shrimp ladies” sell fresh shrimp to local residents.

Along the promenade in Mazatlan

One of the many "shrimp ladies"

Me practicing my cliff diving...…..of course it's not me!

Beth taking off with Eric's Plumonia

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in "Old Town"

Interior of the church......much brighter than the large churches of Europe

Town square in front of the church

Speaking of shrimp, Eric told us that Mazatlán has the largest shrimp fishing fleet in the world. I’ll take his word on that fact. That makes for a nice economic example of supply and demand.  The supply is more than adequate to meet the demand, so the price for a meal of these “fruits from the sea” is very good.  When it was time to eat we told Eric we wanted somewhere that wasn’t touristy, and inexpensive.  His eyes lit up and he said “I know just what you’re looking for”!  He drove us through town until the road ended at a beachfront restaurant called Mr. Lionso.  It seemed to have a nice mix of locals and visitors.  Eric told us his favorite were Coconut Shrimp and Bacon and Cheese wrapped shrimp (probably not real popular with my Adventist friends).  We ordered both types, and threw in an order of crab empanadas for good measure.  For less than $30 total we feasted until we could eat no more and packed the remaining shrimp and one empanada up for Eric.

Bacon wrapped shrimp, crab empanadas, coconut shrimp at Mr. Lionso's

Me and my buddy Eric!

We’re now back on the ship.  It’s a few hours until we pull away and head for Puerto Vallarta.  As we leave we’ll be taking great memories with us from our day in Mazatlán.......and full bellies as well.

Spring has sprung!

Cabo Cactus

Spring break was going strong when we left Florida last Wednesday. It was going strong in California and has moved down the west coast into Mexico.  We’re on the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam and unlike in the last blog I now know where we’re going.  We left San Diego Sunday afternoon.  Yesterday was a relaxing day at sea.  Today we are in Cabo San Lucas, tomorrow we’ll be in Mazatlan, followed on Thursday by Puerto Vallarta. We will have two days at sea before getting back to San Diego Sunday morning.
Holland America typically caters to an older crowd (like us). This week the demographic is much younger.  The ship is full of families with school age children on spring break. It’s certainly not a problem, it’s fun to see them running around and having a good time.  There are two things to be thankful for, first we’re not overrun with college kids puking over the side of the ship and two, that we’re not on the Disney ship that is right beside us.  We have a couple of hundred kids, they have a couple of billion.
The metropolotian area of Cabo has a population of over 300,000 people and is located at the southern tip of the California Big Sur Peninsula.  Cabo is known for it’s night life (we’ll be gone before sundown), sandy beaches, sport fishing and as a playground for the “rich and famous”.
I’m writing this on the I-phone instead of the laptop.  It’s not as user friendly so the blogs may be shorter and have fewer pictures.

The Arch of Cabo San Lucas

Cabo Marina

I put on my most festive head dress for lunch at "The Office Beach Bar and Grill"

A quite stretch of beach...…..spring break central is just a few hundred yards away

The Arch of Cabo San Lucas as we set sail

California!

A little Saturday fun at the Oakland Zoo

Late Wednesday morning we said our goodbyes to Ben at the Tampa Airport.  He headed back to Texas while we made our way to California.  Southwest doesn't currently fly nonstop to Northern California from Tampa.  We usually route through Denver, Phoenix or Dallas, however this time we went through Atlanta.  Usually we fly into San Francisco but this time we flew into Oakland.  Sarah, Joey and James live in Novato, which is north of San Francisco.  There's plenty of traffic to go around but my preference, especially if we're going to have a rental car is the Oakland airport. Getting a rental car out and back into SFO is a little challenging.
Although we had seen Sarah, Joey and James just a little over a month ago in Florida, it's always exciting.  We really enjoy watching his face light up when he sees us.  This time Beth decided to "surprise" him once we got to their house.  Beth jumped out of the car (after I stopped it) and hid.  I blew the horn, which brought Sarah and James out of the house.  Beth jumped out from behind the garage which was a big joyful surprise to James...…..and Sarah.  Thankfully she didn't drop him!
Sarah and Joey had work on Thursday and James had "school'.  We had a few options that we discussed for the day before deciding on driving up the Pacific Coast Highway through Sonoma Coast State Park to the small community of Jenner (not named after Bruce or Kaitlyn).
It was a beautiful sunny day, which has been rare out here in recent months.  The "drought" that had lasted for several years is officially over for now.  In this part of California that means that the wildfires have been replaced by mudslides.  Thankfully there was no mud sliding, although we did see a couple of coastal houses that unfortunately have been condemned.  It's not a question of "if" they are going to slide into the ocean, only a matter of "when".
The drive from Novato to Jenner goes through Petaluma before hitting Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway).  We've driven this before but are always surprised by just how rural it is, both inland and along the coast, even though San Francisco is only about 60 miles away.  The other thing that we always marvel at is the beauty of the California coast.  We're pretty much fans of any coast, but this one really is spectacular.  We enjoyed stopping at the Jenner Visitors Center, which is located on the Russian River just before it reaches the ocean.   The friendly volunteer offered several suggestions for lookouts, hikes and even a recommendation for lunch.  The overlooks were great, unfortunately the trails were still a little muddy from all the recent rains so we weren't able to take full advantage of them.  Hiking a little less than normal simply meant that we got to our lunch destination, Fisherman's Cove, which is located in Bodega Head a little earlier.  Not a bad trade off!

I think we're at the entrance to the Jenner Headlands Preserve

Waves and wildflowers!

Goat Rock Beach

Lunch at Fisherman's Cove......Clam Chowder, Fish and Chips and a Crab Sandwich

Bodega Head Trail

Along the Bodega Head Trail

We enjoyed keeping James Friday morning (his school is M-Th) while Joey ran some errands.  It was a chilly, rainy day so we weren't able to get outside, however, today (Saturday) has been a repeat of the sunny skies that we had Thursday.  All of us enjoyed spending the day at the Oakland Zoo, which is a very nice zoo.

MiMi and James with a rainy day activity!

Sarah, James, a goat and a kid sitting in a way I'll never be able to sit

The Martin's!

On the sky ride to the recently opened upper section of the Oakland Zoo

Animals to see + Things to Climb On =A Happy Boy!

Buffalo James...…...

We've said our goodbyes to Sarah, Joey and James.  It was a fantastic four days that passed quickly.  We are now at the hotel near the Oakland airport.  Tomorrow morning we fly to San Diego.  First up is a seven night Mexican Riviera cruise before we have a few days in San Diego.  I honestly can't tell you where we're going other than Cabo San Lucas.  I guess it's a good thing I'm not piloting the ship!

Chasing baseballs!

Spring Training in Florida!

I've gotten a little behind on my writing over the last week or so.  It wasn't intentional, just a strange  combination of being a little busy mixed with a bit of laziness.  We're now in California.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, today not so much.  Hopefully it'll give me a chance to catch up while not missing any opportunities to be entertained by James and company.
Last Friday night Ben flew from Texas to Florida for a few days to visit and take in as many spring training baseball games as possible.  Our goal was four games at four different cities in four days.  If it hadn't have been for a couple of teams who clearly wanted a day off we would have made it.
We had our sites set on the following games;
Saturday:  Rays/Twins in Port Charlotte (Spring Training home of the Rays)
Sunday:    Pirates/Red Sox in Bradenton (Spring Training home of the Pirates)
Monday:  Tigers/Orioles in Lakeland (Spring Training home of the Tigers)
Tuesday:  Yankees/Rays in Tampa (Spring Training home of the Yankees)
Unlike Arizona (Cactus League), where the spring training facilities are all located in the Phoenix area. In Florida (Grapefruit League) they are spread out across the central and southern part of the state, so a little driving was required.  No problem, it gave us a little more visiting time.
Saturday morning we were off...……..

Game 1  Charlotte Sports Park, Port Charlotte   Rays/Twins...……..and rain!

Port Charlotte is located about an hour and a half drive south of Anna Maria Island.  We have a long history with Port Charlotte.  We lived there for about seven years back in the 80's.  My first job in healthcare was at the generically named "Medical Center Hospital" which is in Punta Gorda, a nice small city just across the Peace River from Port Charlotte.  Beth's sister, Debbie lives in Port Charlotte and most importantly, Ben and Sarah were both born while we were living there.
Port Charlotte was the spring training home of the Texas Rangers for a number of years before they moved to Arizona.  When we sold our home and stuff three years ago we did keep a few pictures.  I'm not sure where they are now but in that file there is a picture of Ben attending his first professional baseball game.  He was born on February 7, 1988.  The game was a Rangers spring training game so it would have been sometime in March.  I'm not sure how long we lasted at the game, but baseball clearly got in his blood at an early age!
Our adventure got off to less than a stellar start.  Ben, Beth, NaNa and I left the island early.  The gameplan was set.  Drop Beth and NaNa off at Debbie's house and head to the stadium in time for Ben to get a few baseballs autographed before the game.  He's got a very extensive collection of around 500 balls including numerous Hall of Famers, Rookies of the Year, Cy Young winners and much more.  Everything was working well...…...for a while.  We dropped Beth and NaNa off, said hello to Debbie and got to the stadium.  He had targeted three players whose autographs he wanted.  I think he actually got one or two of them, as well as another one or two that he was happy to add to his collection.
The game was scheduled to start at 1:05.  At about 1:01 it started to rain.  First it was a sprinkle, then a little harder, but never a serious downpour.  A quick glance at the radar showed that it was just a typical Florida passing shower and that after a short delay those famous words, "play ball" would be spoken and we'd be under way.  I guess the teams had a different idea because by 1:20 the game had been cancelled.  Maybe the fish were biting, the players had tee times for later that afternoon on one of the local golf courses, or just didn't feel like playing that day.  It certainly wasn't because the field was unplayable!  Oh well, we did enjoy a great dinner at Debbie's before heading back to the island already looking forward to chasing baseballs the next day.

The O'Tuckers on St. Patrick's Day at LECOM Park, Bradenton...… Home of the Pirates

Sunday was St. Patrick's day.  It was somewhat cool and cloudy but there wasn't any rain.  The World Champion Boston Red Sox were in Bradenton.  LECOM Park (one of my favorite parks) was sold out.  About 1/3 of the fans were Pirate fans, 1/3 were Red Sox fans and 1/3 were just baseball fans.  Most were united in their affection for the green Bud Lite that was flowing from the taps.  Scores aren't important in spring training games, they often end in ties.  While I'm not 100% certain, I think the Pirates took this one.  Unfortunately for Ben, the autograph hounds were numerous and none of his targeted players were signing so he was shut out for the day.

A sellout crowd at LECOM Park

Day three, and we were off to Lakeland, about an hour and a half drive northeast of the island.  Ben's first professional baseball game was in Port Charlotte. I'm not 100% sure, but my first professional game was most likely a Detroit Tiger game in Lakeland.  The dusty little, one red light (now there are more) town of Mulberry where I grew up is just south of Lakeland.  I remember going to games with my dad and actually seeing, what back in those days, was a very good Tiger baseball team (1968 World Champions).  Beth and NaNa rode with us to Plant City (located between Tampa and Lakeland).  Beth's sister Cindy lives there so they were able to visit with her while we were at the game.  At the game we were joined by my brother Gerald, which made for an even more enjoyable afternoon.  The Tigers still play at Marchant Stadium, which of course has been renovated numerous times over the years.  It's a nice ballpark with lots of amenities and for me, lot's of memories of days gone by.  Neither the Tigers or Orioles are projected to have very good seasons this year.  Ben told me that the Orioles are projected to lose 100 games again this year (a feat they accomplished with ease last year).  On this particular day, the Oriole faithful went home happy with a glimmer of hope for a better season than last year. With regards to autographs, when you have two teams that are "cellar dwellers" playing there aren't that many that a professional collector like Ben is interested in, so there wasn't really any effort.  Just a lot of fun conversation between the three Tucker boys.

The Tucker Trio at Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland...….Home of the Detroit Tigers

Our last game of this "chasing baseballs" expedition was the Yankees/Rays game in Tampa.  Ben's a big Ray's fan and while I'm more a fan of baseball food (hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, etc.) than a particular team, I do pull for the Ray's.  They have a history of doing fairly well in spite of having a payroll that is miniscule compared to many teams, especially teams like the Yankees who have more resources than most countries.  Steinbrenner Field (Spring Training Home of the Yankees) is obnoxiously nice and large.  Of course it is, it's the Yankee$!  Their games sell out even though the ticket prices are comparable to those of a regular season game in Yankee Stadium.  The big money payroll of the Yankees prevailed on this day.  It sprinkled a little before the game started so not too many players were signing so Ben was shut out again.

Steinbrenner Field, Tampa...….Home of the Yankee$

Four games in four days in four different stadiums.  A few autographs to add to the collection and for me (and hopefully for Ben) a whole bunch of memories of valuable time together.  Over the years the Tucker family has taken in a bunch of baseball games across the fruited plain.  Sometimes it's all four of us, sometimes just Beth and I, sometimes just Ben and I and recently there have been a few occasions where we've had Joey and James with us.  No matter how many of us are together and no matter where we are...……….. a few hours at a ballpark relaxing, laughing and eating ballpark food is always a blast!