Gone Coastal: From Guadalajara to Barra with No Reservations - Part 4
 Jan Baumgartner - PVNN
| | A native Californian, Jan Baumgartner is a freelance writer dividing her time between surviving in Maine and living in Mexico. | |
A Thousand Splendid Macaroons
We had taken a leap of faith and were not disappointed. We had been rewarded by the always generous and friendly Mexican people, a bounty of glorious land and seascapes, more than we could have wished for in accommodations and services. Sometimes, the most wonderful experiences and memories come when one has no plan, no expectations or real destination. It's the tossing of the stone across the water's surface, the kite released into the wind - the getting there, and the lovely surprise that awaits is what a leap of faith is all about. It's about the beautiful found shell along an empty stretch of beach, smooth and perfect, that we admire but leave behind for the next - knowing that someday we shall return, and find another.
In my suitcase heading home, I carried one small thing - a bag of tiny suns, sweet mounds of coconut - all I would need once back in town to remind me of the lightness of the leap.
* Para mi familia - mi hermana Janice y mi hermano Greg aka Tao - gracias.
** The Mexican bus line ETN offered the finest, cleanest buses and service I've ever experienced. Recommended places to stay in Barra or Melaque: The Hotel Barra de Navidad; large, clean rooms with king beds and balconies jutting across the sand, private beach, pool, restaurant, approx. $60 USD per night; and the Hotel San Felipe in Melaque, small family-run establishment, beautiful oceanfront rooms, good restaurant, very private beach, friendly and gracious owners, sea front rooms with balcony, some with kitchenettes at approx. $60 USD per night. Fabulous view, seafood and live music at The Sea Master restaurant off the main street in Barra, where we had the privilege of listening to the remarkable talent of Lavinia Negrete, click HERE to hear a few cuts from her CD, well worth your time...
A native Californian, Jan Baumgartner is a writer and book editor dividing her time between surviving in Maine and living in Mexico. Her writings on Mexico will be included in the new literary journal, Lady Jane (San Francisco Bay Press, 2009) Her background includes scriptwriting, comedy writing for the No. California Emmy Awards, and travel writing for The New York Times. She has worked as a grant writer for the non-profit sector in the fields of academia, AIDS, and wildlife conservation for NGO's in the U.S. and Africa. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous online and print publications including the NYT, Bangor Daily News, SCOOP New Zealand, Wolf Moon Journal, Media for Freedom Nepal, and BanderasNews in Mexico. She's finishing a memoir about her husband's death from ALS and how travels in Africa became one of her greatest sources of inspiration. She is a Managing Editor for OpEdNews.
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Vallarta Weddings
Travel & Outdoors | February 2009 
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