Ponce Art Museum: After the Earthquake

Many have told us about the outstanding quality of the Ponce Art Museum (Museo de Arte), but two large earthquakes in January 2020 changed all that, when the main building was badly damaged and closed. They finally reopened a section of the museum this year, and we decided to check it out!

After the earthquakes, the Museum displayed items at its gallery in San Juan, and took to the streets with workshops to shelters and schools. When COVID hit, it expanded its digital platform. Now it’s gradually opening again while raising funds to repair the earthquake damage.

The museum still has very limited offerings, though we really enjoyed what we saw. It costs just $6 to get in, half price for seniors. Free guided tours are conducted at 10 AM (Spanish) and 1 PM (English).

Note: Ponce is pronounced POHN-say.

INFO

Museum website
Santurce Gallery
Status of reconstruction

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Stupid Drunk and Happy in Puerto Vallarta: Tasting Tequila at Oscar’s Destileria

We stumbled upon a tequila micro-distillery right next to the Pacific Ocean, on the grounds of Restaurant Oscar’s, while we were just bopping around Puerto Vallarta.  Blue agave plants and silver barrels beckoned us with the promise of a chance to try Jalisco’s specialty, tequila.

This is how they describe it on their website:

“Embark on a sensory adventure with our Mexican Distilled Spirits Tasting experience, where tradition, craftsmanship, and flavor converge in a symphony of delightful notes. Explore the rich cultural heritage of Puerto Vallarta through an expertly curated selection of premium distilled spirits that capture the essence of this vibrant country. Indulge in an unforgettable journey through the heart and soul of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico with our Mexican Distilled Spirits Tasting.”

We got a very thorough tour and tasting experience from a guide whose name Lisa unfortunately forgot. After giving us a quick history of how tequila used to be made and explaining how it’s distilled now, our guide even taught us how to drink it.

There were more types of tequila than we have seen anywhere else, including passion fruit, kiwi, coffee, vanilla, guanabana, and even one he described as “The Baby Maker” because it makes you “feel like a donkey from the waist down.”

He was so funny, we walked away with an expensive bottle in our hands and stupid smiles on our faces.

Info

Destilería de Oscars 

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Exploring Puerto Vallarta: Food, Booze, and Shopping on Mexico’s West Coast

From the bus ride in, to the airport out, we bop around Puerto Vallarta, a dynamic city on the west coast of Mexico.

Highlights include enjoying lunch and beers at Los Muertos Brewery; wandering through Mundo de Cristal (House of Crystal), our favorite pottery/souvenir shop; shopping and more shopping, watching a cocinero make tacos de pastor, Bob eating ice cream made in a garafón (barrel), Lisa drinking a horchata (flavored rice drink), walking along the Malecon (Boardwalk), dropping into a jewelry store that feels like a mine, and ducking out of the rain into the Huichol art store, where of course we buy a beaded mask to add to our collection.

At the airport to head home, we decompress in the Priority Pass Lounge, which has an excellent bar.

It’s a whirlwind tour.  Enjoy!

Info

Puerto Vallarta
Map

Vidanta Resort’s Heart of the House Tour

Vidanta Resort’s Heart of the House Tour

We donned dorky paper chef hats when Christan from the Joy Squad took us on a 90-minute tour behind the scenes of the massive Vidanta Resort in Nuevo Nayarit/Vallarta, Mexico. From housekeeping, to food service, to wine, to excruciatingly delicious gourmet chocolates, we had a chance to see how a large luxury resort is run.

Vidanta has six resorts in Mexico, and Nuevo Vallarta, just north of Puerto Vallarta, is the flagship, with 5,000 employees trained to serve guests with an amazing attention to detail to make their experiences at Vidanta extraordinary.

We traveled through 1.7 kilometers of tunnels in an open-air van escorted by a staff member on a segway. In the huge bowels of the complex, we found administrative offices, carpentry, laundry, vehicle repair, electrical repair, spare parts, supplies management, bakery, ice cream factory, homemade jams, grocery store, trash and recycling (11 tons of recycling per day!). We saw one of the employee cafeterias, the staff gym, shuttle buses for employees, a hospitality training classroom, and a simulator in which staffers learn to serve meals, clean and prepare bedrooms, and more. We were treated to bread, jams, charcuterie, chocolate, and – the best surprise of all – discovered a wine cave for tasting!

The Heart of the House Tour runs once a week, on Wednesdays, and is limited to ten people. It’s worth a few hours in the morning if you’re curious about how Vidanta is run. And it’s worth it to see chocolate high-heeled shoes!

Info:

Vidanta
Vidanta Nuevo Nayarit/Vallarta
Map

Sneak Preview of VidantaWorld Park

Sneak Preview of VidantaWorld Park

Vidanta Nueva Vallarta is giving tours as it soft opens its long-promised "VidantaWorld Park" -- for a fee. Is it worth $100? Come along and see! Vidanta describes this theme park as “a space that defies all the rules of time, gravity, and even reality. A vacation taken to the limits of your imagination.” I don’t know if it’s all that, but we paid $100 for the opportunity to find out, which we could put toward food and drinks in the park.

We boarded the “SkyDream Parks Gondola” from Vidanta, which gave us a nice aerial view of the complex, including its new pickleball courts in the middle of nowhere. We were also treated to lovely views of Banderas Bay on the Pacific coast of Mexico, and the mountains beyond. Vidanta says the SkyDream is the first cable car system in the world in a beach development.

The park is opulent and lovely, with spectacular fountains, beautifully designed restaurants, shaded spaces for relaxation, fountain light-and-fire shows, music, and more. However, the park is not yet not fully operating, and was still in “tour” mode as opposed to “use” mode. There is not a lot of THERE there.

We rode the Vista Wheel (the only other ride was not working) – slow and a little boring, with literally no view -- checked out the carnival games and enjoyed our pick of fantastic food.

In the future, Vidanta is promising a jungle park, “ruins” to explore, a water park, and all kinds of “thrilling attractions.” But this is Vidanta, so who knows when or if this will happen? As of now, there is no firm opening date, and a lot of staff members on hand to serve very few guests. But it looks good

Info

Vidanta Resort
Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta
Vidanta World
Map