When we first arrived here in Puerto Vallarta, we walked down to where the hotel used to be, and tried to figure out the mystery of Mesa Del Mar, but we were pretty confused, and really didn't have much time, so we gave up and saved it for another day.
Now we are back on the beach, by the sea horse statue once again.
This hotel is called Vallarta Shores, it is on the very end of the beach. When we think back, it seems like there might have been one more hotel after Mesa Del Mar before the beach disappeared into the rocks, but we really can't remember.
So we went into Vallarta Shores and asked them what they knew. They said that Vallarta Shores has been there for about 40 years, and Mesa Del Mar used to be right next door.
She said that it was torn down several years ago, and is now being replaced the a new hotel and beach club called Almar and Manta Mar. The tall white building in the background is the new Almar Hotel. It is still under construction, so there is a little evidence of what used to be there at the beach level.
The entrance to Mesa Del Mar sat high on a cliff, with the floors coming down the face of the cliff to the beach. The restaurant was on the second floor just above the beach, then there were stairs to get down to the beach from there. On the right side of this little building, you can see what looks like a chimney. We are pretty certain it is what's left of the stairs coming down to the beach.
Steve and I made our way through the construction zone to see if we could get up the mountain to the entrance of the new Almar hotel.
We found a path and some stairs that headed up the cliff, so we took them. No gates or signs so what the heck!
The only entrance to Mesa Del Mar was on a cobble stone street off the highway that dead ended at the hotel. They have now put a new road in coming from the other direction and leading down the hill into town. It is actually the same road that our hotel is on.
This is the new road coming in.
When we got to the top of the hill, we went into the hotel to inquire a further. They confirmed that they had torn down Mesa Del Mar and built the Almar Hotel in it's place about two years ago.
When we left the hotel, we walked on past it, and continued on the old portion of the road that used to come in from the highway. It isn't used much any more and isn't in very good shape, but it does still lead out to the highway.
We had a very leisurely afternoon at the beach, enjoying the incredibly warm water and the lulling of the waves carrying us along with them. It was so relaxing!
We decided to try a new restaurant for dinner tonight, so I did some research and came up with a place called Bravos. It looked like they had a nice selection.
As we walked along, we strolled by several of the same taco stands that we have passed on other nights.
When we got to Bravos, the sign said that they are closed on Monday's, and the sky was looking very stormy. So we looked up to see where else we might be able to duck and and find a good meal before the rains started, and right across the street was...you guessed it, Martini En Fuego. I won't go into details tonight, but again we received an appetizer on Chef Roberto, and
An amazing meal, that we shared to avoid leftovers. Look at the size of the platter. The fork and knife are dwarfed!
And as we ate, the skies poured. We were so happy to be in out of the rain, and we couldn't beat the food either!
At the end of our meal, Chef Roberto brought by his home made tequila, but this time instead of pouring us a glass to share, he poured us a glass and then left bottle on the table for us.
So how does the pear get into the tequila bottle?
Chef Roberto told us that they take the young pears and place them inside the bottles. Then as the pear develops and grow it remains in the bottle. Sounds like a very interesting process...maybe something we can see someday!
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