It's early June in Puerto Vallarta. By 8 a.m. the boats filled with fishing tourists have anchored just offshore in Mexico’s Banderas Bay. Lines are in the water, poles propped on rails. Libations may be in the hands of these fishing tourists, but my naked eyes see only outlines. Ostensibly these tourists are hoping to catch fish, but I can’t help but wonder if some are here in Puerto Vallarta fishing for something else.
By 8:30 the first party boat sails by. A catamaran, its crew gripping the sidelines in one hand and a drink in the other, rushes along the coast in a race against outbound schedules. I heard it coming; voices rising and falling with the swells carry far across water. These tourists are fishing also; not for the fruit of the sea, but for pleasure, experience, thrills. Anything that steals the stress even for an hour revives the soul in ways not yet known.
The morning broke with clouds resting upon the ocean. By 10 a.m. the clouds have broken, their edges now laced with blue like a doily thrown against a Pacific blue sky. The crashing of the surf, shadows of rippling swells, blue meeting blue in a forever line of vision, the salty sea air charged with invigorating ions; this is the ocean, relaxing and rejuvenating.
Watch out for Mexico. Time is a pirate here, it sneaks upon you without warning, ravaging your schedules, bombarding your agendas, stealing the minutes and leaving you afloat in the jotsam of your plans.
SITE Chicago's Annual Educational Retreat
World travel is a dream to some, a passion for others, and a perk to those who must travel for a living. Travel awarded to high performing individuals is a synthesis of purpose and pleasure, inspiring people to achieve their goals, while assuring organizational success.
Chicago chapter of the
Society of Incentive and Travel Executives brought us down to Puerto Vallarta for an educational retreat, in conjunction with Meeting Place Mexico. The
SITE Chicago board deserves a standing ovation or creating the perfect blend of educational topics, cultural presentations, regional activities, and dine-around delights.
See my website
gallery for more photos of passionate Puerto Vallarta.
Just in from San Francisco: New York Times bestselling author Sara Gruen (right), author of three novels, including the recently released Water For Elephants, met with poet and novelist Rebecca del Rio at SF independent bookseller Book Passage. Both authors met through the online writer's group Backspace.
