Captain Don’s is a Favorite Sports Bar in Puerto Vallarta, in the Cinco de Diciembre Neighborhood near Camerones Beach
An Interview with Captain Don’s Owner Berenice Martin del Campo
Then Get your Mexican Temporary or Permanente Residency with GreenGo4Gringo
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Hello fellow travelers, welcome this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show. I am your host Barry Kessler and I am just so happy to be introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. Those are La Palapa, Puerto Vallarta’s Oldest Restaurant on the famous Los Muertos
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Beach, and The El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club right next door so you can enjoy that fantastic view of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors, or during the day in its grand splendor for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with our toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
This week we are going to have a two fer. I’m taking you to a very popular sports bar Called Captain Don’s where you will meet the owner Berenice Martin Del Campo , and while I’m at Captain Don’s I’m going to introduce you to a couple who help people looking to obtain temporary or permanent residency in Mexico, Amy and Bill Triplett with a company called GreenGo4Girngo, but before we get to our guests, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta the 23rd of June, 2019.
Grill Kings Puerto Vallarta 2019, is a Success
The Grill Kings was a great success according to the event planner Edgar Rivas. Edgar was pleased at
how the first edition turned out, and is planning a second one next year. By the way, no rain got into his way, and Vallarta is still waiting on the first real big rain storm of the season. So far the weather has been hot and humid and in need of some long awaited wet stuff. They need the rain in Punta de Mita and especially in El Tuito, where they have really been suffering a drought caused in part to their growth, and they are digging a new well for the community which is badly needed, So yes, the rain would be a welcome thing.
Corazon de Nina are having Their 2nd annual Graduation Ceremony Thursday June 27th
This coming Thursday, our friends at our favorite orphanage in Puerto Vallarta Corazon de Nina are
having their 2nd annual Graduation ceremony at the Marriott Hotel in the Salon de Vallarta Room, and the ceremony starts at 5:00 with appetizers and refreshments. Seating is limited and you can find out more and reserve your seat for this lovely, heartwarming event. By emailing fundacioncorazondenina@gmail.com, again this Thursday evening at 5:00 PM at the Marriot in Puerto Vallarta, don’t miss it if you are in town.
Next Week The Podcast Visits the Orphanage in Puerto Vallarta, RISE
And speaking of orphanages in Puerto Vallarta next week I’m going to take you to RISE, Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza, and they are up in Colonia Benito Juarez. RISE needs your help, they are looking for volunteers during the summer months when the snowbirds leave and go home, they need people to fill in the gaps and help out, so next week, we will visit the kind folks at RISE.
Low Season Things to Do in Puerto Vallarta
There’s not a whole lot of things happening in town, It is the beginning of the slow season….
- You can take a tour of the Navel Museum on the Malecon.
- El Salado Estuary Mangroves Tours, bilingual guides.
- Marsol Friday Market
I got a message from my buddy Marsha Blondin at the Marsol Market and she asked me to remind everybody that every Friday Morning the Morning Marsol Market is still going on 9:30 till 1:30. So thank you for that reminder Marsha. Glad to see you are still serving the community during the slow season.
- Take a tour of the SPCAPV
- JR has his weekly meet and greets at Kelly’s Pour Favor Saloon and Cookhouse every Tuesday in the summer starting at 5:30 till about 7:30, so if you are in town, stop in and say hello to JR, buy him a drink and shoot the breeze.
- Sunday Malecon and Dancing in the Municipal Square
Of course, every Sunday from 6 till 8 there’s music and dancing in the municipal square and all the beauty and excitement of the acts on the Malecon, the families strolling, Sundays are always magical.
Buy Your Alcohol at the El Coyul Near the Airport
So, I had an interesting experience or two I thought I would share with you from my last visit to Vallarta last month in May. First, when I was taking that fateful sad ride to the airport on the way home, I realized that I hadn’t purchased any booze to take home. I began to panic. You see, I’m not much of a drinker, but my lovely wife has really gotten interested in the mescals, and she has always liked raicialla. So, I promised her before I left, that I would get her some killer mescals as a thank you for letting me go off and do my Mexican adventure while she covered for me at work. So, I’m starting to break out in that you know…uh oh sweat? I start working out the plan while at the same time, carrying on a conversation in Spanish with my Uber driver.
So, I get to the airport, and I had one bag to check, another to carry-on along with my day-pack. So I get on the phone and Google how much alcohol can I bring back to the US from Mexico, and up comes the answer… So, I unpacked some clothes, and transferred them to my carry-on to wrap booze bottles in, then I send the one bag off at the counter. I asked if I could still come back and drop off another bag later and she said sure.
So, then I needed to find a good place to buy my mescal without getting ripped off. The duty-free shops are a joke. The price is way inflated, but near the airport, where to go.
I walked out to the lobby and pulled $100 US worth in pesos, about 2,000 pesos, then went outside with the taxi hawkers. One of them approached me and asked if I needed a taxi and I said no, I need to buy some tequila. He said just go to the OXXO in the parking lot, they have lots of alcohol, but then I thought, hey do you have an El Coyul close by here? And he said yes, and he pointed across the parking lot. He said walk across the lot and cross the highway and you will see one. So I took off with my roll-on and my day-pack, and schlep through the parking lot, and then held my breath Is I crossed 200, and sure enough, there was the El Coyul. These are discount liquor stores and you can find them all over town. So I was able to buy my allotted mescal and raicilla right there, I wrapped the bottles up in my clothes and stuffed everything back into the rolling bag, walked this time up the street, past tacos de Marlin, and walked up the ramp to the bridge-way crossing highway 200 at the airport rather than the shortcut which included the thrill of crossing highway 200 at the airport. It was a better route for sure.
I was able to get my roll-away checked in, free, thanks Southwest, and I got all that booze back to Los Angeles without spilling a drop. So yes, if you find yourself at the airport, and you haven’t purchased your booze, this is the way to do it.
The other thing I wanted to talk about was just a weird thing that happened to me that’s never happened before to me I mean. My behavior is a little different than most vacationers. Sometimes I’m doing interviews pretty late in the afternoon or night and I don’t get a chance to eat dinner till really late. Sometimes 11 or midnight. So I had just taken a shower for the third time I think that day, and it was about 11 at night, and I got dressed and headed to Panchos Tacos. I was staying at an Airbnb at Insurgents and Aquilles Serdan. I crossed the street on Insurgentes and headed south towards Basillio Badillo, and I heard some female voices calling out behind me, in Spanish, so I ignored it, but when I got halfway down the block, one of the girls was right there beside me. The other, behind us. Hey where are you going, she asked me. I kept walking and told her I was going out for something to eat. Then she said how about we have a little sexy sexy and you can give me a present? I told he I wasn’t looking for sex, just food, I thanked her and sped up my pace. I turned the corner at Venustiano Carranza and headed down toward the direction of the bay. Then again about halfway down the block the same prostitute was right along side me again. She asked me again if I would trade a little sexy sexy for a gift and this time she decided to reach down and grab my junk, through my jeans of course, and the same offer. Now I’m getting a little mad, and a little nervous, first she is grabbing at and rubbing my crotch, but the second member of this prostitute tag team was trailing menacingly behind, her eyes darting from side to side almost as if she was expecting somebody else to join in.
As we walked along the sidewalk, I pushed her hand away and told her kindly, as I kept walking, that I was married, and wasn’t interested in sex right now. She said it doesn’t matter that you are married. I quickened my pace, crossed the street and made a beeline for Poncho’s Tacos where I got into line, the ladies of the night kept walking by. I decided to take a taxi home that night. Just a little unsettling, but a warning to you men walking late at night all alone.
Listener E-mails
Here’s an email from listeners Shelley and Karl
Subject: Cooking Class
We highly recommend Rosie’s Vallarta Cooking for anyone who wishes to experience a day of great food with an excellent host. The day begins with Rosie picking you up in her air conditioned van and a shopping trip to the local market for the day’s ingredients. As you walk through the shops, Rosie shares tips about the food and culture. She then takes you to her lovely home where you cook and eat all day long! From salsas and chips, to soup, to entree to dessert, it is a culinary and cultural delight. Rosie’s menu changes regularly, and she will accommodate food allergies as much as possible. The day is informal, and the group size runs from 2 to 8, depending on how many people reserve the day. At the day’s end, she will transport you back to your hotel. We’ve enjoyed cooking with Rosie six or seven times -it has become a tradition each year. We’ve taken friends many times, and they have enjoyed their time with Rosie, too. And, she shares her recipes! You can read about her on Trip Advisor, Facebook, and Vallartacooking.com
Contact for Rosie’s Vallarta Cooking
- Website: https://rosiescooking.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RosiesVallartaCooking/
And another email from Chunk….
Subject: We love your show
Hey Barry
The wife and I love your show. I’ve been traveling to Mexico for 20 years and love it there. I usually avoid tourist spots like PV. But, we have super cheap flights from Denver to PV so we have been traveling down that direction quite a bit.
We started listening to your podcast and have found it pretty informative. Our last trip down we met JR in Bar Playa. The only reason we went to Bar Playa was because we loved your interview with the owner. Great recommendation–we loved it there.
So we decided to go to El Tuito, again on your advice. We stayed with Party Matty at his little Jolla place. It was great. Our intention was to hit the area around Cabo Corrientes. We didn’t make it. We took a bus to Punta Perula instead. We loved it. It was fabulous.
Anyway, we love your podcast and would love to hook up with you and JR in PV next winter. Thanks for all of your work.
Chunk and Becky
And here is an email from Chris….
Subject: Help with Residency Card and Food Suggestion
Hi Barry- like and appreciate your podcast. As I remember you had some information on a service that would assist with getting a residency card in Mexico. I searched the podcasts but didn’t see it. Can you let me know who it is? Now for the food suggestion. It seems there are are a number of Sushi restaurants opening and in PV, as quality is important there some suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks, and hope to run into you someday down there.
Get Your Mexican Temporary or Permanent Residency with GreenGo4Gringo
So, Chris, Thank you for listening and sending in an email. I will get to your sushi restaurants in a week or two, but your first question about getting residency is the topic we are going to cover with our next guests. Amy and Bill Triplett and their company GreenGo4Gringo will help you do just that. They help people through the process of obtaining residency in Mexico, either Temporary or Permanent residency.
Believe it or not, with all the talk of Mexicans coming to the United States to live the American Dream, Sueno Americano, there seems to be a trend where Americans and Canadians are choosing to emigrate to Mexico. It’s believed that 1.5 million Americans now call Mexico Home, and the trend is growing as the costs of living go up, and people look for options to get them through the retirement years. Puerto Vallarta of course, tends to lead the list for folks north of the border, to retire to.
Bill let me know that he is on disability, so most of the work performed, is done by Amy. Bill is just a pretty face, he says, both he and Amy are a fount of information when it comes to what they do, or what Amy does, and that’s get you your Mexican Residency. They run their business from a sports bar, Captain Don’s, so without any further ado, lets go to the Cinco de Diciembre neighborhood in Puerto Vallarta, to Captain Don’s Sports Bar, and let’s talk with Amy and Bill Triplett about their company GreenGo4Gringo.
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Thank you Bill and Amy. Amy is so cute. I just love her accent.
Suggestions From Amy and Bill
Places to eat:
- Taco Cart Outside Captain Don’s
- El Patron
- Mariscos Guachos in Coapinole, Puerto Vallarta
- Captain Don’s Likes the Wings
- Sonora Steakhouse
Hole in the wall
- La Mesa DelCoco – an Original Cantina Near the Soccer Fields
Day Trip:
Three Day Trip:
- Guadalajara
Advice to a first time visitor: Open your mind
Contact Information for GreenGo4 Gringo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/greengo4gringo/posts/
- Website: http://greengo4gringo.com/
Captain Don’s Sports Bar in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Now next up on the show, we aren’t going to go any further than Captain Don’s Sport’s Bar, and we are going to meet the owner of the bar Berenice Martin Del Campo. I’ve been trying for ages to get Berenice to sit with me for an interview, and I tricked her into it when I got an interview with Amy and Bill. I asked Amy to ask her pretty please if she would talk to me about Captain Don’s.
The bar is in the Cinco de Diciembre Neighborhood, if you walk north on the Malecon, then keep walking on Avenida Mexico, eventually you will get to Calle Honduras, where you will make a right turn towards
the ocean. And halfway down the block you will find Captain Don’s on the left side of the street.
So let’s go right now back to 126 Calle Honduras, in the Cinco de Diciembre neighborhood, and let’s meet my new friend Berenice Martin Del Campo, The Owner of Captain Don’s Sports Bar.
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Thank you Berenice. You are a treasure. They just did a nice remodel job at Captain Don’s, and I have some of the old pictures, and some of the new ones too.
I also have links to the Facebook page, so like the page and get all their information and specials as they post them. I really like this place. You can eat and drink all day there, watch sports, listen to music, and the prices are just perfect. It will not break the bank, and besides, you will be in a place where everybody knows your name.
Suggestions From Berenice Martin del Campo
Favorite Breakfast
- Mi Cafe– Loves the French Toast
Lunch
Dinner
- El Carboncito Across The Street…Tacos
Day Trip
Lake Chapala
3 Day Trip
Colima, Mexico: a small Traditional Mexican Place. Clean, Has a Small Beach, and likes to Camp there
Contact Information for Captain Don’s Sports Bar in Puerto Vallarta
- Address: 126 Honduras Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco 48350
- Phone: +52 322 137 2071
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaptainDonsPuertoVallarta/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
Okay that should do it for this week.
Next week, stay tuned for more on the ground reports from Puerto Vallarta Mexico, with travel tips, great restaurant and excursion ideas and more. Until then, remember, this is an interactive show where I depend on your questions and suggestions about all things Puerto Vallarta. If you think of something I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending us your message.
And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR’s website and reserve your tour through him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience and on the ground knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you’re just doing it through him as a way of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else
so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you can come on-board and share with others what you liked or didn’t like about the tour. Again, contact me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending off a message. Don’t forget his maps, his DIY tours and his revitalized Happy Hour Board. I have links to all of those in the show notes.
And once again, if you like this podcast, please take the time and subscribe and give me a good review on iTunes if you would. That way we can get the word out to more and more people about the magic of this place. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Remember I made it easy for you to do just that with each episode I
create. But if you haven’t been to my website, you really need to have a look there. I have the links to the places we talk about, interesting pictures and the more all right there in my blog-posts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.
Thanks to Bill and Amy Triplett from GreenGo4Gringo, what a deal, the services they perform for you to make it easy to get your Mexican Residency, it’s a no brainer to have them help you. Time is money you guys! And thank you to Berenice, I love your place Captain Don’s. You all will love it too. Get on over there and see what it’s all about. I have maps and links and pictures, come on out!
And thanks to all of you for listening all the way through this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show. This is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Nos Vemos amigos!