Puerto Vallarta (Day 2) - Playa de los Muertos

First full day in Puerto Vallarta, and beach is the order of business.  We could have stayed sand-free on our private roof deck, but then we would have missed out on the people watching and wave-surfing.  So we walked down to the famous Blue Chairs section of the beach and staked out a spot near a couple of guys from Chicago who Randall, Todd and Justin all knew -- small world!

Unfortunately, we had a layer of clouds pretty much all day.  That didn't stop us from making the most of it -- we went into serious beaching mode (tan, swim, snack, repeat ad infinitum), and spent literally the entire day there.  And although I would have much preferred a clear, sunny day, it was probably good to have some cover on the first day on the beach because the rays were still plenty strong, and those among us who hadn't pre-tanned still got burned -- and those of us who had pre-tanned made terrific progress on our color base....
 

My beach reading this year:  A biography of Elizabeth I.  Super interesting.

Joel and Devin (both from Chicago), Jed, Justin

Hats!  Yes, Justin and I had basically matching hats.
They came in handy for those moments when the sun broke through the clouds.

Proving, yet again, that no place is too far for the Peruvian pan flute.
We had to pay him off twice to get him to leave.

Eventually we ran out of beach snacks and the sun got low, so we decided it was time for dinner.  We cleaned up at the condo and went out to a "grown up" dinner at Vista Grill, a restaurant perched on the hillside and famous for its views.  It was literally a hike to get there, and because I was in charge I volunteered everyone to hike there with me instead of taking a cab.  The views were truly spectacular, but the food less than inspiring.  We had a nice time but decided that next time we'd stick with the trusty taco stand.
 

The light was so bad I only bothered taking a picture of the appetizer:
seared scallops with foam