A Day in the Life of a Gringo in Sayulita
 Ed Schwartz - PVNN
| | Sayulita, only 25 miles northwest of Puerto Vallarta, is a drowsy little fishing village on a palm-laden arc of sand - and the perfect place to enjoy the quiet pleasures and local colors of Mexico. (PromoVision) | |
Several friends have asked me, "What the hell do you do in Sayulita every day?"
Well, perhaps I exaggerate. In fact, no one has ever asked me, but I thought I would answer anyway.
First of all, you have to realize that the concept of "doing nothing" is an actual event in a sleepy Mexican fishing village. Now that we have that concept in place, this was a day in our lives.
I got up in the morning about 7 am and did office work. Right now, I am promoting a jazz concert on June 14 for the San Francisco Jazz Foundation and doing a national travel feature for Falcor, a boutique winery in Napa.
I am also promoting a tequila bar in town, the Sayulita Fish Taco Tequila Bar. This is a lot of fun, because I am working with my creative property manager, Gabbi, and the equally creative bar owner, Mark Holt, who also has lots of bright lights on in his heard.
This morning, I also was carving a flaming sword for my piece of folk art, St. Michael slaying a dragon. The sword was missing, so carving a sword was important. God is in the details, as one says. The sword is 3" tall, so patience is necessary. I use a very sharp X-acto knife and carve away.
Just about when I was finished the a.m. portion of my work, Bambi came up (bedrooms are downstairs, palapa is up) and we had tea. It was now about 11 am and we checked out the garden, which is a delightful thing to check out. Things grow here with vengeance and fertilizing reaps big awards.
Then, we prepared for the beach portion of the day. We spent about 10 minutes looking for the keys to the car. We then drove the five blocks to the beach, because we pack our equipment, including folding chairs, so we don’t have to rent them.
We got settled, positioning ourselves close to the beach and observed the surf. The waves were very high, which I like. We both went in, Bambi with her Styrofoam noodle. My exercise is getting rolled by the waves, swimming against them and generally getting buffeted about — I just love it. The bigger the wave, the more I like it.
Next came a "doing nothing" part of the day. Bambi usually works on a Suduko puzzle. If I work on one, she kibitzes me, so I rarely do them. We ordered something to eat from Don Pedro’s, usually some chicken taquitos, a Diet Coke for Bambi and lemonade for me. It’s actually made from limes, but that’s the way it is in Mexico.
We came back from the beach at about 3:30. After changing clothes, we drove to our new place "The Medusa" a small bar and restaurant right on the beach, north of the river. They have a happy hour - two margaritas for the price of one and some finger food to slow the pace of alcohol ingestion. It really is a Corona moment (only with margaritas) as the sun sets over the ocean and we are in another "doing nothing" event.
We came home about 7. I check back on my emails, Bambi goes into the reading mode. I was still carving my sword — it really takes time doing those "flames" and one slip could mean either the end of the project or a bleeding finger.
All of a sudden it was 11 pm... We read and, as Pepys noted, "We go to bed."
If it wasn’t Pepys, it was someone like him.
We vary the routine, day by day. Sometimes we have breakfast/lunch at Rollie’s. Sometimes we have dinner at Calypso, Terra Viva, Sayulita Café, etc. Thursday we are going to San Pancho with Gabbi and Andrea for dinner. Or we go for cocktails at one of our friends’ houses. So, life is not dull. But it would be if it weren’t for those nice "doing nothing" hours.
Ed Schwartz has been involved in many aspects of fine wine for 30 years and has worked with top wineries in California, Italy and France. His writings on wine, food and travel have appeared in the SF Chronicle, LA Times and Image magazine. |
Vallarta Weddings
Vallarta Living | May 2009 
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