Driving to Mayto Beach

The next day after a great breakfast at El Jardin Del Tuito, we were off mid morning to take the only road to Mayto Beach area.  It is partially paved and mostly still dirt, but it has greatly improved from the first 2 times I ventured out that way over the past few years!  I am sure someday it will be finally paved all the way to Mayto.
You drive past a few small farming towns going up and down the small hills and finally only downhill toward sea level.  Remember El Tuito is a high altitude desert town!  The last 5 miles are actually nicely paved and the drive is great.  We arrived at Mayto Beach, but I wanted to explore a little bit of the other beaches as I had only briefly stopped at the small fishing village of Tehuamixtle the last time I was out there.  I had only done the overlook, but decided to go down to the village itself today.  It has several restaurants and is a oyster fishing village with oysters served as the specialty in the restaurants.  For some reason a large stuffed shark was right at the edge of the pier and I am not sure why?
After leaving Tehaumixtle I saw a sign straight ahead for a restaurant and thought it might be a place to have dinner later.  So we followed the dirt road around the hillside of rocks and found overselves over on the other side of a very long beach we could see in the distance fromTehuamixtle.  Located there was a resort of bungalows for rent on the hillside.  It was a simple place with basic amenities, but a nice pool and restaurant was available.  It was quite a view from there to miles of beaches with nothing and no one on them!
Back to Mayto Beach where our Mayto Hotel was prearranged for the night.  This is a 12 room hotel that was fully equipped including AC, Sat TV, nice towels, full baths, and a great pool right on the Mayto Beach.  They had their own restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner with palapas and lounge chairs on the beach.  The also provide massage services for an extra charge, full bar, and usually ATV rental eventhough they were out for repair.
It is just a wonderful beach with very few people and the ability to walk for miles and not see anyone!  There is a government run Turtle sanctuary on Mayto Beach with usage during the breeding season.  All of this will probably change one day as a large developer is beginning to sell lots for a rather large development just inland from the beach........so we will see how quickly that all changes!
If you are looking for unspoiled beaches miles long this is the place to go!

Driving to El Tuito

A short trip south of Puerto Vallarta was in order as my friend had a few days off and I felt we needed to get away from the hub hub of PV and find a tranquil quite place to retreat.  I have been to El Tuito for day trips several times before but this was my first overnight.  That means El Tuito where many Vallartans escape and spend time to relax, paint, draw, or write.  El Tuito is a quiet ranch town that happens to be the district area for many Mexican government offices and lies about halfway between PV and Tomatlan. 
We arrive after a 45 minute drive on a lazy Saturday afternoon and a few blocks from the main square is a quaint French B&B  El Jardin Del Tuito that provides just 3 guest rooms in a very nice setting with large rooms overlooking their own private backyard garden with large pool, flowers, animals, and a manicured lawn. www.jardindeltuito.com/  I do believe it is really the only place to stay in El Tuito and with breakfast included it is a great option.  Very peaceful, tranquil, and quiet....No TVs.
After we stopped at the Church to watch the entrance of wedding, we found a place for a late Mexican lunch of Chicken Enchiladas and Chicken Pasole at El Patio del Mario right next to the main plaza.  Very good and great prices!
Walking some more up the main street provides you a couple of restaurants, hardware store, grocery stores, etc. but not really any souvenir or arts & crafts places.  I was a little surprised to see the lack of souvenir shops, as I heard El Tuito has some great pottery creators. So back to El Jardin and an afternoon nap.....what else is there to do?  It was a pleasant day and I relaxed by the pool reading a book.
We decided to go back out around sunset to see if things might be happening on a Saturday night at the main square, but after sitting round watching the people.....nothing was happening.  A quick stop a taco stand for a dinner snack, we decided to go back to El Jardin.  If you are looking for a happening place, it is not El Tuito!  But we wanted a quiet relaxing place and that is what we got!
Tomorrow we go to Mayto Beach and I'm sure it will be a great place......

First Show at Teatro Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta

I finally made it to the Teatro Vallarta for my first show in February.  It was the ballet Romeo & and Juliet performed by a Russian traveling troupe.  Purchasing tickets can be very easy as you have the option of purchasing them online (ticketing fee) or in person at the box office.  I decided to purchase them at the box office as I like to see exactly where the seats are and that was not possible online.  Due to a friends recommendation I decided to purchase the tickets in the 2nd tier of pricing which puts you about 1/2 way up the theater seating from the stage.  Since the theater is relatively small with only about 2000 seats you get a good view from there without breaking the bank.
Arrived the night of the performance via cab, but noticed that they do have valet parking available and the lobby has a full bar/snack shop for you purchase items which you CAN bring into the theater.  As a matter of fact the seats have cup holders....very convenient. 
The unique feature of this theater is that entrance is only from the bottom, so if you have some who is handicapped there is quite a climb to your seats from down below....so be aware.  The seats were comfortable and movie theater quality with each step up a new row, so that big person in front of you is never an issue by blocking your view.  The stage was of nice size, but certainly not as large as I am accustomed to in the theaters in the US.  Emergency exits are only at the bottom of the stage and at the top of the last row.
The show was almost sold out, so it was nice to see that large of a crowd, but at least 75% were Gringos.  So it was nice to see the support from the expat and "snow bunnies" crowd.  The show was excellent and with a 15 minute intermission it was about 2 hours total.
A nice experience in a nice theater made we want to go home and see what else they might have coming up.  A great symphony performance will probably be my next choice, however they have their own weekly inhouse show "Fandango" which is features a historical dance performance of Mexico. I have heard it is very good.  For tickets and more information:  http://www.teatrovallarta.com/