In Puerto Vallarta, we took our own advice. “Try to see a place through the eyes of someone who lives there,” we always tell people. “If you know someone who lives in the place you’re visiting, get in touch with them.” So, when Holland America Line’s Oosterdam called at Puerto Vallarta on the fourth day of our seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Diego, my husband, Paul, and I met up with our friend Liz, who has lived here for seven years.

“Many people who get off the cruise ships that call here never see the real Vallarta,” she told us as we chatted over breakfast at Daiquiri Dick’s, a restaurant that’s right on Los Muertos beach in the old part of town. Had we been on our own, we probably wouldn’t have chosen a restaurant called Daiquiri Dick’s—the name sounded touristy. In fact, owner Tari Bowman moved to Vallarta (as the locals call it) with her husband, Peter, more than 30 years ago and has created a place that’s popular with residents and serves great food (and has a AAA Three Diamond rating). Huevos con chorizo (eggs scrambled with sausage) were delicious and the hash brown potatoes that came with them were amazing—light and flavorful, and the crusty bits were appropriately crunchy.

“People also have misconceptions about Vallarta,” said Liz, who has adopted two dogs since moving here, an adorable Chihuahua named Leon and a sweet black mutt named Noble. “Some guidebooks say it’s a colonial town; it was never a colonial town.”

Francisco Hernández de San Buenaventura did lead explorers to Banderas Bay, where Puerto Vallarta is located, in the 16th century, but the Spanish never colonized here. Historians trace the town’s birth to 1851, when the Sanchez family settled here on the banks of the Rio Cuale. When silver deposits were found in the Sierra Madre, the town became an industrial port. It soared to the top of the visitor destination map when director John Huston shot the 1964 film Night of the Iguana at nearby Mismaloya. Reporters followed the actions of stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and the region’s beautiful beaches and nearby rain forest were caught on camera.

“I started coming here in the 70s,” said Liz, looking radiant and relaxed. “The place kept drawing me back until I decided to move here.” The relocation clearly agreed with her.

After breakfast, Liz led us on a walking tour. “Tourist maps call the whole downtown area ‘Viejo Vallarta’ (Old Vallarta),” she explained as we started out. “That’s kind of a misnomer. We call everything north of the Rio Cuale ‘El Centro.’ That’s more the visitor area. The region south of the river is what locals call ‘Old Town’ or the Romantic Zone. It’s where visitors will get a sense of the real Vallarta.”

Not that visitors should miss the Parish of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe church. The red brick building with a crown-topped steeple is a focal point of El Centro.

“I’d recommend that cruise passengers take a taxi from the ship to the church,” said Liz, “then walk to the Malecón. Walking the Malecón, the boardwalk that stretches along the beach, yields views of Vallarta’s legendary blue waters and buff-colored sand. “Walk south along the Malecón across the Rio Cuale,” said Liz. As we walked along, vendors proffered everything from jewelry to parasailing excursions. “’Suerte,’” Liz said to them each, explaining that it means ‘luck’ and also indicates a polite “no.” At a street called Basilio Badillo, we turned inland.

“This is Old Town,” said Liz as we walked along cobblestone streets past whitewashed buildings with red tile roofs and wrought-iron balconies. Up a few blocks, we entered a neighborhood of boutiques and art galleries, including a trendy clothing store called Cassandra’s. Along the way, store owners greeted Liz by name. Part of the fun of seeing a place with someone who lives there is getting to meet other people, too.

We turned on Constitución and browsed at Banderas Bay Trading Company, the design store operated by Tari’s husband, Peter Bowman. We congratulated Peter on having been named one of the world’s 100 best designers by an international design magazine. His design sense was evident throughout the store. Antiques and locally made crafts, including intricately painted wooden carvings and huge ceramic serving platters, filled the rooms.

Liz, Paul, and I continued our walking tour through Old Town. Highlights included a stop at a tortilla factory, where the smell of freshly cooked masa filled the air. And a swinging pedestrian bridge that led to Rio Cuale Island, located between the river’s two forks. At the outdoor market here, local vendors sell jewelry, crafts, and serapes. As we walked back across the wooden-planked bridge, we noticed that when the locals walked across, the bridge didn’t sway. We gringos couldn’t cross without making the bridge move.

Perhaps our favorite part of the tour was going grocery shopping with Liz. “You don’t mind do you?” she asked. “I need a few things.” We’re always delighted to browse in local grocery stores; they reveal insights in to people’s everyday lives.

So we went with Liz to Rizo’s and marveled at some of the local produce, which included bins of dried peppers, an assortment of squash in various sizes, and a tray of sugar cane.

After the shopping, it was time for us to return to the ship, so we left Liz with hugs and promises to return for a longer visit. As we rode in a taxi back to the Oosterdam, we recalled something Liz had said at breakfast.

“I love what D.H. Lawrence said about Mexico,” she’d told us. “He wrote: ‘Once the dust of Mexico settles on your heart, you will always return.’” Seeing Vallarta through Liz’s eyes had revealed a little of the dust of Mexico. We surely will return.
 
Have you explored a foreign destination with a friend who lives there? Tell us about it. We’ll have more about our AAA Member Appreciation cruise aboard the Oosterdam in a future blog. In the meantime, you can also listen to our podcasts about the cruise at www.OnTravel.com.