The "Beach"

Along about mid-November in San Miguel, the talk turns to "What beach are you going to in.....

December-January, January or........."soon"! Some of the areas people "escape" to during the cold weather are, Ixtapa-Zihuatenaeo, Puerto Vallarta and surrounding areas, or Melaque which is 30 minutes north of Manzanillo. I started in August looking for a place for January because I HATE cold weather and I knew I wasn't going to Texas this year for Christmas. After finding a wonderful house on the beach with a pool, I asked some of my nearest and dearest friends to join me in the rental and the plan was to be there for the entire month of January and hopefully "escape" the cold weather.

Melaque is a 7 1/2 hour drive from San Miguel (the way I drive) and is on toll roads almost all the way so it is not a bad drive. If you take the bus it is about 11 or 12 hours. I like to drive! It was wonderful there - warm, sunny, great seafood (lobster, 2 lbs, cooked for around $20 US) and beautiful vistas. Above is the picture from my bedroom looking out through the palms to the Pacific Ocean. In another blog I'll send the pictures of sunrises and sunsets!

The second photo, which for some reason didn't print at its right size, is of a woman who walked down the beach each evening selling fruit drinks in cocoanuts. It was a lovely sight.

I love a beach about 30 minutes north of Melaque called Tenacatita. It is in a beautiful bay and the water is calming and not big waves or undertow to knock you down...........While sitting under a palapa for a day, sipping drinks and eating seafood, a vendor came along loaded down with serapes, dresses, pareos (scarves you wrap around like sarongs) and various other things. There were probably 25 or so people on the beach that day. He was so clever, he set down his merchandise and started opening one by one what he had to sell. He would turn left and right so that everyone could see. The whole process took close to an hour but he did sell quite a bit! I thought it was wonderful to watch. I certainly admired his salesmanship. It's the little things in Mexico that "light your life"