Our plan was to visit the local archaeology museum and then the art museum, they are across the street from each other. We hoped to find a restaurant/bakery recommended by our favorite restauranteur in Puerto Vallarta, and then wend our way home via a restaurant cleverly named F.I.S.H. (Fresh International Seafood House). This venue was warmly recommended by our VIDA rep, who lives near it and knows the owning family well.
So off we go on the bus, 10 pesos all the way downtown. It's interesting to see the ebb and flow of riders as the bus progresses from resort to residential to business districts. We were able to communicate to the driver where we were headed, and he waved us in the correct direction. With a bit of dead reckoning, we found ourselves at the art museum ... which was closed. CLOSED? It was supposed to be free-admission on Sunday!
After enjoying a brief rest on the benches in a shady plaza in front of the museum, we went across the street to find the Archaeology Museum also closed. No clue why, but no help for it. So we decided to ramble along the self-guided walking tour of the old city, and enroute stumbled across a FABULOUS handcrafts shop, where we did a little buying. They, too, were mystified that the museums were closed ... just our luck, it seems.
We did locate the recommended restaurant, which had a banner with its name displayed on the street but which was locked up tighter than a drum even IF it was still in business, which was not clear. We stopped by several other points of interest, taking the breeze in the public plazas, and hopped a bus headed north. We craned our necks for a good view of the Miramar condominium where the Mexican drug lord Guzman had been arrested early Saturday morning -- big news, and frankly a little closer to us than we'd have preferred.
We got off at a storefront neighboring the jewelry store we had stopped at on the city tour. It had extensive ceramic offerings -- sinks, various dishes & bowls, decorative tiles -- and some glassware, but we were able to leave empty-handed. We strolled up the road to F.I.S.H. , looking forward to a good lunch but figuring we'd miss our VIDA rep (we had told him we'd be there LATE afternoon, and it was about 1P).
We took our seats and asked after the owner, who was due back in a half-hour or so. No worries, we needed a good cold brew and some fine seafood, and both were promptly ordered. Before the food could arrive, we were joined by Richie, who had come for lunch and was happy to connect with us. He augmented our order and we all enjoyed tastes of some remarkably fresh and well-prepared dishes. We had asked if we could purchase a small number of fresh shrimp to take back, and Richie went "to see that the bill was correct." Well, gentleman to the core, what he was REALLY checking was the amount of the total tab, which he mostly covered, leaving the tip to us. Delightful!
The bus got us the remainder of the way home in good order, but no one had room for dinner. The shrimp would have to wait until Monday!
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