After a big city stop in Puerto Vallarta, we were looking forward to our next destination in the sleepy beach town of Melaque. Whenever we told people we were heading to Melaque, they exclaimed, “Oh Melaque. You will love it!” Our drive was 120 miles but took more than 5 hours as we could only go about 35 MPH along the curvy mountain roads. It was tricky maneuvering our big rig through the tight cobblestone and dirt streets of Melaque but we managed! We reached Melaque in time to hook up and relax for lunch.
The best thing about Melaque is its location. We have a wonderful beach in back of us and a huge lagoon in front of us. We are on a peninsula of sorts and it is heaven. The lagoon is home to many crocodile and lots of iguana. In the near distance are groves of coconut and palm trees and in the far distance are mountains. Andrew and Ken went fishing and caught a “jack crevalle” (never heard of the guy) and we enjoyed it for dinner.
When we arrived, Andrew’s 13th birthday was the following day so we were preparing quickly for his emergence into teenage-dom. (YIKES!) Many of his requests for this special day included food (he is such a foodie!) and we had a fun hamburger BBQ on the beach with our Canadian friends too. When in Mexico, it is absolutely imperative you have a pinata for any celebration (at least that’s what everyone told us) so we felt obliged to follow the suggestion. In the late afternoon, we took the big honking pinata to the pool area, loaded it with candy (much of which turned out to be quite strange tasting), put a blindfold on the birthday boy and let him go for it. Roch held onto the heavy thing and kept it moving, just to keep Andrew on his toes. Finally, he hit it just right and the candy flowed. A little Mexican girl ran over and started helping herself. It was pretty funny!
For Andrew’s special b’day dinner, our family went to the “Salamander” which is an outdoor restaurant in the middle of a tree filled courtyard. The tall trees were lite up by small white lights and we were serenaded by two Mexican musicians. The kids and I even did a bit of dancing to the melodic music. Our dinners were superb and Andrew’s special b’day dessert (candle and all) was quite special.
The RV Park ( Laguna Del Tule ) is walking distance to the town of Melaque. There are many wonderful little restaurants and a lot of great street side taco and tamale vendors. There is a little store just outside our RV park that has almost everything you could need in a pinch, including french bread made daily. We’ve made it a habit of getting a few rolls first thing in the morning for breakfast. The shopkeeper also make tacos every few nights. At about 7PM, people come to the street outside our RV park, glass of wine in hand, and enjoy her homemade tacos. We plan to do this one night soon!
That’s it for now. . .Ken is making appetizers of pablamo peppers, plantain bananas and melted cheese to celebrate the end of our school week!! Adios!
