Singer Joan Houston and Pianist Bob Bruneau Perform Weekly During High Season at Incanto in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Singer Joan Houston, Cousin of Whitney Houston, Entertains Vacationers, Expats and Locals Visiting and Living in Puerto Vallarta
Two Expats, Strangers, Both From Seattle, Meet in Puerto Vallarta and Join Together to Entertain Visitors at “The Joan Houston Show”
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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 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 your toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
The Joan Houston Show Starring Joan Houston and Bob Bruneau
This week we have a real treat, a pair of expats, both from Seattle Washington as a matter of fact who found each other in paradise not as lovers, but as a musical team. Joan Houston, who happens to be a cousin of THE Whitney Houston, is the vocalist, and Bob Bruneau, who founded the Vallarta Gay Men’s Choir, accompanies Joan on Piano. They perform mostly at Incanto…we’ll talk with them soon…they are so cute…but before we get to Joan and Bob, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta the 14th of August, 2022.
Owner of Margarita Grill, and Merida Grill, Assumed Drowned
Enrique, the owner of the Margarita Grill and The Merida Grill, in the romantic zone of Vallarta has gone missing and is presumed drowned. Here’s a report from notispaciopv.com. dated July 31st…
BY NOTIESPACIOPV NEWSROOM IN JULY 31, 2022LOCAL
The 55-year-old surfer, who owns a well-known bar in the romantic zone, was reported missing during the storm that occurred on Saturday night. Civil Protection elements continue to search for him.
Shortly after midnight, the disappearance of a male who had entered the sea to surf and who had not been seen leaving was reported to the emergency numbers. The events took place in Playa de los Burros by the Basilio Badillo during the storm that hit the port on Saturday night.
Civil Protection personnel and Firefighters from the Lifeguard area went to the place indicated in the report and met with some people who made the call for help.
The reporters pointed out that the 55-year-old male usually goes surfing every night, but on this occasion, they did not see him leave and there was no sign that the male had returned to his home or to his business, since he owns a popular bar in the romantic zone.
Lifeguard personnel as well as elements of the Secretary of the Navy from the search and rescue group began a search operation for the male without any success so far.
And I have a link to that rather sad report from Noticespaciopv.com in the show notes.
Continua la búsqueda de surfista desaparecido en Puerto Vallarta
I was introduced to Enrique by our friend Felipe Reyes, the masseuse and long-distance runner. I’ve had Felipe on the show. Felipe helped me set up an interview, I recorded with Enrique, over at The Margarita Grill, which I have yet to edit and publish which is why you haven’t heard it yet.
I spoke with Felipe a week ago, and he knows stuff. He and I will be having a meal and he promised to fill me in on what he knows, and I’ll share with you.
As far as the interview with Ernesto, I need to wait and see if they one, find the body, and 2, if I can get approval from his family.
As far as the future for the Margarita Grill and the Merida Grill, we need to wait and see. Both restaurants are open as we speak. So, there’s that. Strange stuff. More to come fore sure.
Barry Returning to Puerto Vallarta Via CBX August 15th
And I won’t have to wait long to see what’s happening on the ground because I’ll be returning to Puerto Vallarta Via CBX, Cross Border Express tomorrow, August 15 for a just a little over a week.
If you don’t know what Cross Border Express is, I explain the whole process in a previous episode which I will link up to this blog, or type in CBX to the search bar at the bottom of a page on my website, and you will get the episode. But basically, cross border express is a facility built right on the wall separating Mexico and the US. You can park or take a van or bus, which is what I do, to this facility which happens to be built directly adjacent to the Tijuana International Airport.
You get your luggage weighed and ticketed, then you print out your tourist card, your FMM…by the way, I’ll get back to that FMM thing in just a minute.
Then you buy a pass to allow you to cross over a bridge from the CBX facility, over the wall and down into the Tijuana Airport where you check through customs and immigration before being allowed to enter the departure terminal of the Tijuana Airport.
Now just for a minute, back to that tourist card. I got a message from my buddy Chris who said..
Hey Barry! We arrived yesterday in Vallarta to look at some investment properties and they no longer give you the FMM card at immigration. Instead, they ask how long will you be staying in Mexico. Not sure how this works but it’s a big change for sure. They said this change started last week.
So I looked for something on it and sure enough…I did find this Facebook post from KL Mexico which says…
FMM PILOT TEST!
A Pilot test has been started in Puerto Vallarta on the past Wednesday and it’s been used in Baja California airports and Jalisco airports only as TEST where FMM are not needed at the AIPORT anymore. If that works then will be mandatory in all Mexico, as the main reason for this is to speed the entries at the airport as mostly fill out the FMM forms by hand while are at AIRPORTS and makes lots of delays.
The article goes on to explain how the process is currently handled as well as specific directions for those returning to Vallarta holding temporary residency and perminante residence cards. I have a that article in the show notes.
So, thanks Chris for the heads up on the FMM. I’m looking forward to seeing how they will deal with that tomorrow at the border.
I’ll be flying Via Viva Aireobus, Tijuana to Puerto Vallarta. That will be a long travel day, as usual. My wife drops me off in downtown Los Angeles in a graffiti crusted dark alleyway surrounded by homeless in tents at around 12:30 in the morning. Then 3 hours to the border. So I’m at the Tijuana Airport by 3:30 for a 8:30 flight which lands 2 and a half hours later in Vallarta. Add 2 hours for a time difference between LA and PV, and I get to Vallarta by 1:30 in the afternoon. So it’s brutal. I try to sleep on the plane and on the bus, but it’s not always that easy. Does it sound like I’m complaining? Not really….but I do have a welcoming committee waiting for me at the Tijuana Airport….. From Bloomberg Online…..
Mexico Flies Troops to Busiest US Border City After Gang Attacks
Masked gunmen block roads in Tijuana with burning buses
Wave of violence targeting civilians and businesses spreads
By Michael O’Boyle
August 13, 2022 at 2:48 PM PDT Updated on August 13, 2022 at 6:21 PM PDT
Hundreds of Mexican military troops were flown into Tijuana on Saturday to beef up street patrols after armed gangs hijacked and burned at least a dozen vehicles in the border city, the latest in a wave of attacks hitting civilians across the country.
US consulate staff were ordered to shelter in place Friday evening but no one was reported injured in the Tijuana hijackings that snarled traffic across the city and temporarily blocked access to one of the world’s busiest border crossings. Some 350 national guard troops were flown in on Saturday to reinforce thousands of federal troops already in the state of Baja California, daily Reforma reported on its website.
Simultaneous hijackings occurred in four other cities in Baja and authorities arrested at least 17 people, Milenio TV reported. Tijuana is home to the San Ysidro-El Chaparral ports of entry, the busiest US border crossing.
The disruptions in Tijuana follow attacks against businesses and civilians further along the border in Ciudad Juarez and the central state of Guanajuato the past week. The wave of violence now spreading to key manufacturing corridors is a major challenge to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s security strategy.
While so-called “narco blockades” have become common in states like Guerrero and Michoacan, where the Jalisco New Generation Cartel pioneered attacks on civilians over the past few years, this was the first time such tactics had been widely deployed in the major border city of Tijuana, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, an organized crime expert at Brookings Institution.
An escalating battle between Jalisco and the Sinaloa Cartel for control in the region could jeopardize new foreign investment, she said. Tijuana has seen horrific gang violence in the past, but not such disruptions directed at the general population.
‘Protect Us’
“Companies are being affected. Foreign companies are being affected,” Felbab-Brown said in a telephone interview. “It’s blowing up in terms of people saying ‘Hey government, you have to protect us.’”
Lopez Obrador’s government has come under criticism for shying away from directly challenging criminal gangs, such as its release of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son in 2019 following unrest in Sinaloa after his capture.
The government has deployed thousands of members of the National Guard across the country, giving the public the sense that the streets remain militarized. And although the homicide rate has fallen, it remains near record highs.
Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero, in a video message directed at the criminal gangs she blamed for the hijackings, said the city wouldn’t shut down.
“We are not going to allow a single Tijuana citizen pay the consequences of those who didn’t pay their bills,” she said. “We ask that you make the people who owe you pay up, not the families and citizens who work.”
In a separate press briefing outside a military base in the city, Caballero said there were some 3,000 federal troops in the state that would help 2,000 Tijuana police maintain order. She stressed no civilians had been hurt yet. “The problem is serious but it’s not that serious,” she said.
Several vehicles burned on Friday night blocked roads in two cities in Guanajuato state, Milenio reported. That’s also where gangs on Tuesday torched 25 Oxxo convenience stores owned by Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB.
The article goes on, but you get the picture….
I have a link to it in the shownotes….so yeah….coming down from downtown LA and the homeless encampments to this situation in Tijuana, may actually be an upgrade….
We’ll see, at any rate I embedded a video of the soldiers arriving at the airport. Beautiful new, crisp uniforms, new equipment….almost looks like the US government found some gear they hadn’t already shipped over to Ukraine. Ummm ….never mind.
Susana Carreno Leaves the Hospital
A few weeks back we talked about a local reporter and journalist Susanna Carreno who was brutally attacked, stabbed multiple times as she left an interview at Ejido Vallarta. Suzanna is out of the hospital and is under a protection service. I’ll be following up to see they ever find those responsible, if any charges will ever be filed against the perpetrators of this attack on this particular journalist.
JR and The Donation Page Idea
Last week I was talking about setting up a donation page or a Patrion page to help raise money for JR when times are tight in low season, and I guess I should have asked JR, but he asked me in a very nice way to not set up a page for him. I have received a few responses and offers and even money form a friend of JR since I posted last week’s episode. But I’ll heed JR’s wishes for me to hold off on that donation page….for now…..
Buy a tour okay? Go to Vallartainfo.com.
Open Microphone Meet and Greet August 17th 5-7pm at Restaurant San Lucas
The last podcast episode I said stand by for a location and time for my meet and greet open microphone podcast where as you know we get some of our best conversations and ideas for places to visit and restaurants to eat at.
Information For Restaurant San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Address: 355 Lazaro Cardenas, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Phone #: +52 322 222 3126
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restaurantsanlucas/
And because it is the middle of August in the tropics, I was in search of a cool spot to have a Meet and Greet Podcast open microphone thingy, complete with a sunset and air-conditioning. You know what? There isn’t a place like that. I thought about a place on the beach but you never can tell if it’s going to be raining. But there is a place I would love to have the Meet and Greet and that is at Restaurant San Lucas. Let’s meet and greet before the sunset this Wednesday, August 17th, from five until 7. Sunset is at 8:30 so we will have plenty of time to take that walk to Los Muertos Beach. Assuming it’s not raining gatos y perros.
Restaurant San Lucas is on the corner of Insurgentes and Lazaro Cardenas, right across the street and up-stairs from farmacia Guadalajara and the taco stands and right there on the corner.
Let me buy you a beer and some guacamole, and come upstairs and spill the beans about what you are up to in paradise. If you are a local charity or want to tell us about your favorite charity, come talk with us. If you own a business and want to get the word out well, don’t play shy. If you are a listener and want to share your Puerto Vallarta experience with us, we want to talk with you.
So once again, Wednesday, August 17th from 5 till 7 PM at Restaurant San Lucas. Lazaro Cardenas 355, right on the corner and upstairs. Let me buy you a beer and some guacamole. And tell us your Puerto Vallarta Story. Check the show notes if you need further directions but look…you have a smart phone right? Type in Restaurant San Lucas Puerto Vallarta into your Google Map and like magic, you will be there. I look forward to seeing you there. It’s always a big thrill for me.
Email Bag
Almost as thrilling as getting emails from you. Here’s one from listener Allen. Allen is writing in response to last episode’s story about listener Craig who told me stories of danger and confusion. Sex, drugs and rock and roll in paradise. I had asked you what you thought, does Craig’s story belong on my sleepy little travel podcast, or is it too racy and not appropriate material for the podcast? Allen Writes…
Hola Barry,
As always, I am very grateful for all the work you put into your wonderful podcast. Thank you for everything you do.
On your latest podcast, you told us about an interesting series of events that Craig might be able to tell us about his story.
I think it would be a very good thing for all of us to hear Craig’s story. There are many hidden dark people, places, and dangers in PV that are unknown to most of us. Most of us probably get lulled into a false sense of security when in PV, because nothing of significance has ever put most of us in grave danger. I hope you choose to share Craigs story. Who knows, it may just help one person from repeating his mistakes.
Thanks again. Really appreciate you.
Allen
And I appreciate you Allen…So one vote for sex drugs and rock and roll…woo hoo…
Thank you Allen for your input and email. I’ve been in touch with Craig this week and will be talking with him while I’m in Mexico. Stay tuned.
Also another email from listener Heather who just returned from her first trip to Puerto Vallarta.
Listen to what this couple did….remember…first time.
Subject: Loved our first trip to PV!
Message Body:
I started listening to your show a couple months prior to going to Puerto Vallarta. My partner and I went the end of June early July and we had an amazing time. We checked out some of your suggestions and I wanted to tell you about a couple things that we did that you might want to explore further on your show. I haven’t listen to all of your shows so maybe you’ve already talked about this. One of the things we did was to visit the Mamma Lucia tequila distillery. I forget what road it’s on but it was on our way to towards Boca. It’s a family owned business and the young man who gave the presentation was very informative, friendly, and a lot of fun. We got to taste all sorts of different tequilas and he didn’t pressure us to buy anything, it we did because their tequila is awesome! He then recommended a really cool restaurant up the hill called Tony La Choza. It was and his little village area. We never would’ve found it has he not recommended it. It was kind of a house tucked away in the hills but it was charming with white tablecloths and all. The menu was a platter of fresh seafood and meat and you got to choose your meal by looking at that platter of fresh food. Their food, service, and ambience was excellent! There were three of us dining there and the drinks and all three meals I think it was like $60 plus a tip. We stayed in the romantic zone and a couple restaurants that we really enjoyed were margarita grill and Cafe San Angel. We didn’t have any bad meals, every restaurant we went to had really tasty food. We also like Ophelia’s Wine Bar. We use Eric, the Uber driver that you interviewed a while back. He picked us up from the airport and stopped at a grocery store for us on the way to our VRBO. He was super nice and informative. We Ubered everywhere, sometimes with Erik and sometimes not. We also hired a private Panga to take us all around the bay. We stopped to snorkel a couple times and snorkeling at the Arcos was phenomenal! They also took us to Yalepa for lunch. If anybody wants his contact information, let me know. All in all we want to go back and are thinking about possibly retiring there. Your travel show helped a lot in planning our vacation, so I wanted to say thanks.
Adios, Heather
Thank you so much Heather. Heather proves that with proper planning you can make the most of a visit, a first time visit to a city or town. It takes planning and a willingness to get out of your comfort zone and be adventurous. You will have a great time like Heather and her partner did.
Good for you Heather. Thanks for listening and for sharing those experiences and places with us. I’ve hears of Tony’s La Chosa in Mismaloya and that tequila tour there as well. I think need to get over there and see Tony. He’s been there a long, long time.
That’s how it’s done. That’s how you play the game. Thanks so much for your email Heather!
I promised I would talk about Mexico’s problems with the US and Canada, but I’m going to wait till next week to talk about those, let’s get to our interview shall we?
I met my next guests through my buddy Polly. You’ve heard Polly’s story on the podcast and as you know, she’s great.
The Joan Houston Show Starring Joan Houston and Bob Bruneau in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Where: Incanto Puerto Vallarta
- When: Friday Evenings 5:00 pm
Joan Houston I had already met and her friend Bob Bruneau I met at a rooftop party in the Cinco de Diciembre neighborhood, at Joan’s house overlooking the town and the bay.
There were a bunch of Joan’s friends from Seattle and the Seattle area either living in Vallarta, or visiting from there. So the fact is, that I met a bunch of once pasty faced Seattleites, now browned and tanned by the Mexican sunshine, right?
It was there that I introduced myself to Bob, after Joan said to me Barry, talk with Bob, he is the organized guy he’ll set you up…I’ll be there. So I pitched the podcast, hoping Bob would say yes, they might be interested in talking with me someday…and I guess my abilities to persuade a potential guest are still sharp because I managed to get that interview, the following week.
When I got to Bob’s condo in Olas Altas, and reached in my backpack for my recording equipment, I suddenly realized I only had 2 microphones instead of three.
I asked Bob and Joan to share one mike, and pass it back and forth, and that I would edit out any pauses or the sound of the microphone transferring from hand to hand, and I think I did a pretty good job of editing out all that stuff, but there are spots where I just couldn’t get it perfect, so if you do notice that, I apologize in advance.
These two are so good to listen to so don’t worry about that. Let’s go to a lovely condo situated just a block away from all the action in Puerto Vallarta, and let’s meet Joan Houston, singer, and Bob Bruneau, piano accompanist, and song coach, entertaining folks mostly at Incanto, on the Rio Cuale and Insurgentes. Let’s go to Olas Altas and meet Bob and Joan in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
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Thank you Bob and Joan.
I have pictures of these two lovely individuals in the show notes. A few embedded videos of the two of them entertaining the crowd at Encanto. I have links to keep you informed as to when they are performing, and Bob has told me they plan to start up again around November 1st, that October is their “Learn New Music Month”. Your will find all that at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com.
The Joan Houston Show Starring Joan Houston and Bob Bruneau in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Where: Incanto Puerto Vallarta
- When: Friday Evenings 5:00 pm
Okay, that should do it for today…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 follow share with a lover of Puerto Vallarta or give me a good review wherever or however you happen to be listening. 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.
Thank you to Joan Houston and to Bob Bruneau of the Joan Houston Show at Incanto. Catch all the important links in the show notes. I have links and pictures and maps of course you can find all that information in the blog show notes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com.
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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