Interviewing Listeners Visiting Puerto Vallarta, Listeners of the Podcast, The Puerto Vallarta Travel Show
Open Microphone Podcast Episode
Ceviche and Aguachilli Festival January 26, 2020
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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.
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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 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 Kelly’s Pour Favor and Cookhouse and we will be hearing from a couple of friends of the show who stopped by to tell us what they were doing in paradise as well as a bit of a review of my very brief stay in Paradise, I’m back home in Los Angeles unfortunately but before we get to the meet and greet, let’s see what’s happening in Puerto Vallarta this week, the 18th of January, 2020.
The Puerto Vallarta Garden Club Gala Jan 21st
The Puerto Vallarta Garden Club is Having Their Annual Gala, tomorrow, Jan 21st at Coco Tropical…Let’s read from our friend David Muck from the Garden Club…..in The Banderas News…
We’re also now offering tickets for our annual gala, this year a “Fiesta Tropical,” to be held January 21, 2020 at Oscar’s restaurant. We invite you to attend this party to support continued beautification of Puerto Vallarta, have a wonderful time with friends and enjoy one of the best parties of the season. This is our largest event of the year and it sells out year after year. So get your tickets early.
For your convenience, you can both renew your membership and purchase gala tickets using your credit card through the new Garden Club website.
And I have the link to that Banderas News article in the shownotes. It should be a wonderful event. Check it out. Tomorrow, January 21st at Oscars at the tip of Cuale Island.
Tunnel Road BBQ Puerto Vallarta Grand Opening
Tunnel Road had their grand opening last weekend and it was a great success. Jimmy has an expanded menu as well as an expanded restaurant. Next door to where they were. Well, still are, is a space twice the size of their first spot, so check it out. I have pictures. Jimmy is also giving BBQ-ing lessons so like their Facebook page and keep on top of what’s happening at Tunnel Road BBQ over in Colonia Lopez Mateo. Take one of his cooking classes and learn how to BBQ like a pro in paradise. Congratulations to you Jimmy and Frankie nice place…great BBQ!
New Extended Hours For Puerto Vallarta to El Tuito Buses
The high season has brought a bigger demand for an expanded bus schedule to and from El Tuito and Vallarta, so the last bus from El Tuito to Vallarta leaves the stop in Tuito at 9 in the evening, and the last bus going from Vallarta to El Tuito, leaves the stop at Aguacate and Carranza at 10:30 at night. I have the new hours posted in the shownotes, but there you go.
Puerto Vallarta Plastic Bag Ban
I noticed they have stopped handing out plastic bags at the markets and OXXO’s in Puerto Vallarta. About time if you ask me. They were crap, so thin you needed three of them to hold a bottle of water so good riddance to those. For those of you who are worried about tote bags.. I did see a great selection of bags that you could buy to do your shopping with at Lay Supermarket. There were all kinds of sizes, materials, and very good prices too. So, check out the great selection of bags at Lay’s.
Ceviche and Aguachilli Festival in Puerto Vallarta
I had a chance to talk with our friend Edgar Rivas about his upcoming Ceviche and Aguachili Festival coming up next weekend January 26th at Parque de Los Azulejos from noon till 8 PM so let’s see what Edgar has up his sleve, let’s go to the rail overlooking Olas Altas at Restaurant Tuna Azul, and have a beer and Lobster Tacos and talk with Edgar..I’ll call him Mr Festival….Edgar Rivas..
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Okay, I have all the info in the shownotes. Don’t miss the event January 26th.
Rio Horcones Music Festival Review
The celebration of the Rio Horcones Canyon was a great success according to the planners of the event. I was told approximately 400 people came through the music festival over the 5 hour long celebration. The weather was perfect, It was nice to be back at Chico’s Paradise after so long. The river was flowing, the music was fantastic, they had a cliff diver, people waxing eloquently about our Rio Horcones and the surrounding canyon, singing, eating, donating to the cause and so much more. People were dancing, eating, drinking, and taking in all the natural beauty of that place…and While I was there I made a lot of friends, and also ran into someone I’ve been trying to catch up with and have on the show. Part of my evil plan to get as many interviews in one spot as I can. So let me bring her on right now…let’s meet my buddy Hannah Brady….
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I really like her don’t you? I have Hanna’s contact information in the shownotes so check out one of her shows next time you’re in town.
I also understand there are plans afoot for another Festival of Music for The Rio Horcones planned for this coming June 6th, so make your plans right now, mark your calendars. And in the next couple of weeks, you are going to meet some of the people I talked with at the Music Festival. We’ll be talking about the damn dam, the river, and other issues facing the town of Boca de Tomatlan at the mouth of the great Horcones that need to be addressed because they need our help. Those interviews are coming up in the coming weeks.
Contact Information for Hannah Brady:
Okay, well, I said earlier that this was a short stay so let me explain…first of all…I’ve never done this, but I missed my flight on Monday the 6th out of LAX.
I made not enough time to do the deed. I was flying out on Alaska Airlines, and it was Monday morning rush-hour traffic, then LAX had been a total mess with the taxi and ride-share services being pushed out…nobody knows what’s happening, and the Alaska terminal, unlike the Southwest terminal in LA which is the first one in, Alaska is almost the very last terminal, it took 45 minutes to get around to my terminal and well, I missed the plane. I waited to see if there was anything they could do with my non-refundable ticket and low and behold, they did check but in the end, in fact in very short time the ticket lady determined that there was nothing she could do for me. Basically…go pound sand.
So I did my best to shake that one disappointment off, and sat down and started looking for a cheap one way flight into Valarta, and I found one for $180, the red eye…one in the morning Lax to Houston with a four hour layover in Houston, then Houston to Puerto Vallarta arriving Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM.
The meet and greet was at 5:30, so I met some of my buddies and dropped off the junk I mueled down for them, Christmas again in Vallarta, then I hopped in the shower of the new Airbnb and got ready for JR’s Meet and greet, and you will hear from that meet and greet coming up soon in this podcast episode.
Review of the two Airbnb’s
So last week we talked a little about the first Airbnb I stayed in. It was on the Malecon. The building is called Malecon uno, and I’ve stayed in that building many times. They have units that have balconies that face the ocean, they have more economical units that don’t
have ocean views but small patios to sit and read, but this was the first time I had a room that was right over Calle Morelos which is the busiest street leading into town. I even had a bus stop right under my window. So, this was no Bueno, not to mention the construction going on during the day. They were banging and chiseling all day long which kept me from recording in the room during the day. I will say that the internet was very good, the bathroom was sufficient, the bed was queen sized and comfortable, and the rooftop pool was nice in the evening after they were done banging on it all day too, and the location was central with all the conveniences at your fingertips…but the traffic didn’t quiet down till one in the morning, and started up again at 6. And for that reason alone, I won’t be staying in this place again. I have a YouTube video I made of the place in the show notes or go to The Puerto Vallarta Travel Show YouTube Channel, and you’ll see it there too.
The second place was great. It was In the cinco de diciembre neighborhood, up on Calle Bolivia and Honduras. The place was roomy, it had a wrap-around balcony two bathrooms, air-conditioning, ceiling fans in every room a comfy bed, great internet and the neighborhood was exceptionally quiet at night with the exception of the one evening the neighbor across the street decided to do a break job on his car on in front of his house. He was using an air wrench at one in the morning. Only in Mexico. At any rate. Loved this Airbnb and really hate to share it with you but I have a video in the show notes. Less than $42 a night during high season was not bad. Like I always say…love those Airbnb’s even if they turn out to be a challenge like what I found behind door number one.
I have video tours of both places embedded in the shownotes so check them out there. Also you can find them on the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show YouTube Channel, and I’ll maybe put them up on the Facebook page as well so look for them if you are interested.
Meet and Greet at Kelly’s Pour Favor Saloon and Cookhouse in Puerto Vallarta
Okay…so as I was saying earlier, I did make it to paradise in time to make it to the Meet and Greet at Kelly’s Pour Favor Saloon and Cookhouse on Tuesday January the 7th. And you can meet JR every Tuesday at Kelly’s as well. He’s there from 5:30 till 7:30 usually during standard time, and during daylight savings time you find him beginning at 6:30.
So, as I promised last week, let’s meet our meet and greet guests. Tom from Maryland, and our buddies from the Orphanage in town RISE, Lisa and Billy. Let’s go to the rooftop at Lazaro Cardenas 149 at Kelly’s Pour Favor Saloon and Cookhouse, and let’s meet the group!
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Thank you, Tom. I don’t know if you noticed but JR made a quick cameo during Tom’s discussion. I’m recording JR’s life story by the way and I told him he needs to stay alive long enough for me to finish it. By the way JR turns 80 this April. We’ll need to talk about that as the date approaches.
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 Edgar Rivas from the Aquachili Festival, make sure you get there this weekend, thanks to Hannah Brady, catch her singing next time you are in paradise, she’s easy on the eyes and ears and a sweetheart. Thanks to Listener Tom and Bruce, thanks for putting up with me and Tom. Tom, you don’t know how much it means to me that you stopped by to say hello and talk with us. Really…it means the world to me. And Lisa and Billy, thanks for filling us in on the goings on at RISE. Make some time is you have some in paradise, and lend a hand at that fine orphanage…
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!
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