beautiful beach sunset

My Big Sunny Mexican Vacation Part 3 – The Broken Shoe

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My Big Sunny Mexican Vacation Part 3

beautiful beach sunset

 

The good times rolled every single day. I can’t count how many times I caught myself sighing in content just looking at the ocean and being grateful for every single moment we had in a paradise.

 

We relaxed, walked a lot, lounged a lot, made some new friends, and both of us felt great. I’ll admit though that learning to relax took us both a few days to unwind and get into a slower pace of life mode. My favorite time of the day was early morning when the sun rose and I’d get to watch some ships docking from my balcony, and watching the beautiful sunsets while listening to a great band below my balcony at a local beach restaurant next to our condo. Many nights I’d get to watch a ship leave port too. We had a good view of the cruise port from our balcony, even though the condos in front blocked them partially between them leaving port and sailing off into the ocean.

Incoming cruise ship
Incoming cruise ship at sunrise

 

ship leaving
A beautiful shot of a cruise ship leaving port one evening

 

Video share:The beach restaurant below our balcony

balcony beach small vid

( *Note – I had a lot of trouble shrinking video footage and consequently, I could not for the life of me get the video to display any other way than sideways. But please enjoy and don’t crook your necks too much, lol)

 

We dined out with my brother and sister-in-law who were staying in the next buildings over at the same time we were there. We went downtown to walk and eat at a few of the numerous wonderful restaurants downtown  on the boardwalk, known as the Malecon. There were numerous artists set up there in the evenings from glass blowing to various crafts being made. There were also many restaurants up on the hill where people loved to dine and watch the panoramic sunsets.

 

family dinner downtown
Italian dinner downtown

 

The Malecon
Walking on the boardwalk

 

Malecon
Still quiet downtown before sunset

 

One night my brother cooked us a beautiful salmon dinner and we sat on his balcony and watched another ship leave from much closer up on their balcony than we could see on ours.

cruise ships docked
Two ships docked close to my brother’s condo, one about to leave

 

me and my sisterinlaw
Me and my sister-in-law on her balcony

 

On Saturday evenings, the big mall in front of our building provided entertainment – 3 tenors would sing for an hour in the center of the outside mall. One night while my husband wanted to sit in and watch a hockey game he found on one lone Canadian TV channel, and my friend Claudette’s husband never returned from a casino, Claudette invited me to go to the mall and watch the tenors sing. They were fabulous. The following Saturday night I had only to step onto my back balcony which faced the mountains, the main drag and the mall below, I sat and listened to them again on my own balcony.

full moon
Full moon hiding behind the mountains from my bedroom balcony

 

We laughed plenty there, particularly once we got settled and surrendered to the fact that the pots and pans in our unit were more suited for camping than a kitchen. We had one big frying pan that sufficed for most of my cooking, a small pot I used to boil water as a kettle, a big soup pot that was cracked and useless, and no lids for any of them. After cooking a pasta sauce one night without a lid and using tinfoil to lay across to avoid the splashing, my sauce almost evaporated. So after attempting a few makeshift meals and heating up the whole condo in the process, we decided it was easier to eat dinner out. Luckily there was a fantastic restaurant attached to our condo where we could go when we didn’t feel like venturing anywhere far. They had a huge menu selection and we could both eat, plus one huge margarita for me for a cost of about $23 Canadian dollars. You can’t beat that!

My husband’s daughter and son-in-law came down for a surprise visit for a few days, the last week of our holiday. It was a surprise for my husband but I was part of the plan with Sheryl. We had lots of fun with them there as we’ve traveled with them many times and we travel well together. But the funniest night was the time my shoe broke – not good timing.

broken shoe
The broken shoe event

 

We had planned to dine at a restaurant in the mall outside in front but I needed to go to the bank machine 2 blocks up from the mall to get more Pesos. We were across the street from the bank machine when the strap broke on my wedged flip flops. The ground was hard enough to walk on with 2 good legs never mind with a broken shoe, and I was not about to walk barefoot. I tried to walk while squeezing my toes together to hold the thong between my toes while I dragged the shoe on the bumpy ground but it was difficult and it seemed (to everyone in our party) that I was moving at less than a snail’s pace. As everyone was losing patience with my slo mo, Sheryl offered me her shoes to cross the road and go to the bank while she sat with my broken shoes. Luckily we wear the same size. And then as we began walking back a long block to the mall, I struggled with my shoe to walk down 3 stairs when Sheryl heroically offered to take on the task of walking with my broken shoe because she said she could navigate it better than me and wanted to get to the restaurant before breakfast, lol.

the shoe
No explanation necessary

 

I never laughed so hard as we all walked in single file on the narrow sidewalk on the main street – Sheryl and I both with unmatched shoes and her dragging her foot along in my broken shoe. It was still very hot out after 6pm, between the sweltering heat and humidity and my laughter, I had laughed off all my mascara from tears. People stared at us and we didn’t even care. And as we continued to walk to the mall in slo mo, Sheryl’s husband hightailed it back to the condo to fetch me a different pair of shoes, knowing he’d get there and back to the mall before we would. It was hilarious.

All in all, it was a fabulous vacation. and one of the most relaxing ones I’ve had in years. We have next January booked to go back and rent the  beautiful large condo from our friends and my mission is to find a vacancy in that building to tack on to February. Right now I can’t find availability but I have my feelers out and have sent many emails to property managers and keep my eye out on Airbnb. I’ll keep you posted!

Every night surprised us with a different colored sky. Spectacular!

sunset splendor

sunset

sunset

 

Thanks for reading about my Big Sunny Mexican Vacation.

 

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87 thoughts on “My Big Sunny Mexican Vacation Part 3 – The Broken Shoe”

  2. You have a spectacular photo/video album here, much better than the scrapbooks we had to use in days of yore. My favorite line: I can’t count how many times I caught myself sighing in content just looking at the ocean and being grateful for every single moment we had in a paradise. The pictures are great. I remember a few from Facebook, especially the broken shoe. Knowing your craze for shoes, I’m sure you had other pairs, just not THERE!

    And a return trip in your future, lucky you too. There are bound to be cancellations and you’ll find a beatiful, large condo. On our trip to BC, we used Airbnb exclusively. 🙂

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    1. Lol Marian. Glad you enjoyed. The broken shoe event is one I’ll never forget LOL. Yes, I had plenty others, but not close by. Good thing my son-in-law was a good sport, lol. We have January booked in our friend’s huge condo but we’re having trouble finding a spot in the same condo to move into for February. Yes, I like airbnb too. 🙂

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  5. Hi Debby – sounds like it was one wonderful holiday – and no-one you’re booking again for early next year … I’m sure your plans will come together – I am quietly envious!! Cheers Hilary

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    1. Lol, thanks John. I have come to accept that I am a victim of circumstance in most things I do. On the bright side, nobody has ever called me boring!!!! LOL. And you know, winter is busy in PV, but still, a quieter pace of life. 🙂

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  8. Wow, what a wonderful time you had full.of fun, laughter and relaxation. So glad you had such a fabulous time. Makes me want to go somewhere like that too! Scotland was freezing! Lovely seeing the folks but not a patch on sunny Mexico! Lol.

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  9. What a fabulous vacation and travelogue, Deb. I’ll be returning from my trip to the East Coast around the time you’ll be leaving in January. We’ll vacay together one of these days 🙂 ❤

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  10. Debby, I’m not sure whether I enjoy your writing more than your photos. Both are touching. I particularly love your first photo! Ever think of sending some to travel magazines? xxx

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  11. So much fun Sis. I loved the cooking difficulties. I know they weren’t fun but I did get a chuckle. ❤

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  12. Wow ! What a lovely time you are having my friend !

    PS. An update on WP emails. Likes & Follow (thanks) link to the cooking blog. Comment email does link correctly to this blog. Oh boy ! Wonky WordPress is at it again !

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      3. Okay. You asked me what is now happening Debby. You have just replied to a comment in my post and the email links are to The Sisters of the Fey. What ? 🙂 ❤

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      6. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, really? Now that is strange? Well, because I’m part of that blog group this may be trickier than removing the other links, but now that I know, I’ll see what I can do. Thank you my friend. Happy weekend! ❤ xoxo

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  16. What a fabulous vacation, Debby! You are too funny with the broken shoe. I would hav laughed my head off and peed my pants if I were there with you! Love the photos! The sunsets were fantastic! Thanks for sharing! Hugs xx

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    1. Lol Janice, thanks so much. I could just imagine us laughing together. If you travel with me I promise, there’s always a story to remember. ❤ xx

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  18. It’s always so great to get away during the cold months. My trip to New Orleans was good that way in that it was 80 degrees every day except for the first, which was in the mid-50s. At least it finally looks like it’s deciding to be spring in the Boise area, but it looks like you’re dealing with an extremely late spring. Mother nature needs to get her act together 😉

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    1. Hi Jeri. Oh, I’d love to go to New Orleans one day, hope you had a well deserved blast! Yes, mother nature has been cruel to many of us in North America this year. I hope today is the last very cold day. The weather channel is promising sunshine and warmer temps in the upper 50s starting Sunday. They better not be lying!! 🙂

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  20. My goodness, I’m glad there was plenty of laughter, Debby, even if it were over a broken shoe. I love that neither of you could care about who was looking at you both laughing so much. That’s what part of life is all about, and you nailed it – good for you.
    Fingers crossed you’ll find a vacancy for February 2019. It’s obviously a very popular location during the winter months.
    Loved the music and your video, even with my head sideways, but it did help me get rid of some of the shower gel bubbles from this morning, so thanks for that. 😀
    xx

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    1. Lol Hugh, you crack me up as usual. Guaranteed, if you’re going to travel with me, you’re gonna laugh! And I hope you didn’t crook your neck watching the video. ‘Shower bubbles’, that’s hilarious!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 xxx

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  21. Sunset, music and the sound of ocean waves – all worth a sideways glance, Debby! What a wonderful vacation and worth the effort to get back there next year. I am traveling vicariously through you! Such a fun trip and the shoe incident, while inconvenient, made for some great laughs!

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  22. Aaah, what’s not to love about Mexican malicons? 🙂 I remember your broken shoe photo and story from seeing it on Facebook. Hilarious! I would have just walked barefoot, but this sounds like much more fun! I’m glad you had such a relaxing holiday. You both deserved it! I’m looking forward to, one day, having one of those (or any vacation, really) as well!!

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    1. Lol thanks Liesbet. I swear I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard with that shoe episode, and I laugh a lot, LOL. Glad I could make you laugh too. Yes, I think it’s time you and Mark had a real vacation – one that doesn’t involve chores. 🙂

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      3. Our business defines (and has defined) our lives for nine years, Debby. Every decision we make/made during that time was based on needing internet to run the business and attempt to please and help customers, deal with Blue Host issues, hackers changing files and crashing the website, suppliers running out of stock, new developments, problems with our manufacturers who don’t speak English, you name it. Nine years without a vacation, despite the way our lifestyle might look like. 😦 That’s why I made that comment. It’s been quite challenging. 🙂

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  23. I’m glad I came back to this post, Deb, I must have read it on my tablet but couldn’t like or comment! And like Liesbet, I saw the photos of your broken shoe and other escapades. Laughter was certainly the medicine you needed after your hubby’s illness and the long winter. Also just read you marked yourself safe from that driving idiot incident. What a world we live in!

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    1. Thanks for coming back again to read Terri. Glad I could make you smile. And thanks for your concern with my safety post. I’m still in a fog over this senseless killing. Hugs my friend. 🙂 xx

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  24. What a lovely holiday, it’s making me start thinking about planning for a sunny break at some point, it’s been a few years since we did one of those.Wwe’re usually too busy rushing around seeing countryside regardless of the weather.

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      3. That’s what I like to hear! Planning to do the new leg of the Rocky Mountineer from Seattle to Vancouver, then take the cruise and possibly then do the one bit of the train trip we didn’t do last time, Vancouver-Kamloops-Jasper. Love that train ride!

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  25. Wow! What an amazing vacation, Debby! I’m so happy for you. You and your hubby deserved it. The pictures are amazing. I loved the one with the shoe swap. It tickled me. Great post! ❤ xx

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  27. I’m so glad you had a spectacular vacation–and of course the best memory will be about the shoe. You’ll tell that story while howling with glee for many years. (You look put together, mismatched shoes or not. It’s the laughter that caught their attention.)

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