We arrived into Puerto Vallarta right on schedule at 8:00 am. Our tour was to meet at 8:15, and we have learned to go early so we can be in the first group that leaves.

We boarded the tour bus (air conditioned this time, although the bus wasn't started and it was hot!), and began a drive through the city. The main street goes past several American places, like Walmart and Sam's, plus numerous places to eat. There were also a lot of resort hotels--for future reference, I liked the Westin. :))

Once we were out of the main drag, the area quickly turned very poor looking, with patched tin roofs, cinder block houses, you could tell we were in a poverty stricken area.

We were taken to a tequila distillery called Dona Engracia and shown how tequila is made. The blue agave plants they had on the property were quite large and they had several "babies." The plants propagate by shooting out new plants at the base.

They cut off all the leaves from the base, which leaves what resembles a giant pine cone. This is then cooked into a mush and the fibers are removed. The remains are then placed into the distillery and that product is distilled again, which makes tequila.

After the demonstration, we were led into a tasting room where we sampled 6 different types of tequila. The first one was silver, the second was a better grade and the third was really smooth. Next came the flavored ones--peach, almond (my favorite) and chocolate coffee. They were using the smallest Dixie cups but the pourer was generous and I was beginning to feel it, especially since I'd only had a small yogurt for breakfast!

There was a restaurant on the property and we bought some tacos and wolfed them down. I felt better after eating and shopped a little.

We returned to the bus and headed back to the city. This time we drove through the wealthy part of the town. The houses were right next to each other, meaning they shared a common wall like townhouses do, but they were all different. I wish I would've taken a picture but we were going too fast. We passed by a beautiful golf course and the guide told us the lots in the area sell for starting at $250,000!

Next stop was a shopping area and a chance to use the bathrooms. I bought some Mexican vanilla and Rich almost bought a shirt, but decided the price was too high. Pam was looking at some jewelry, but didn't want to pay what they were asking. This place was serving ice cold Corona, and it was quite tasty.

We left that area and drove to the old part of the city, where there are lots of hotels, shops and restaurants. Since it was Sunday, there were a lot of families out and about. We got off the bus and walked over to a church that had mass going on, but we were still able to enter. It was a very pretty building but was quite crowded, so Rich and I left and went to some shops across the street. He ended up buying a hat, I didn't see anything I couldn't live without.

We headed down to a plaza which was right next to the bay, so picturesque! We were then taken to a store called the Opal Mine, which was basically a jewelry store, but they were serving margaritas, so it was all good. This was definitely our day for drinking! :))

One of our group had gotten lost, so the guide tried to go find the person, but to no avail. This delayed us a few minutes, but was no biggie. We got back to the port and decided to just go ahead and get back on the ship. We went straight up to the grill for a hamburger, it's the first time I've eaten there.

I had a pedicure appointment at 3:00, so I left to go to that. Rich went to the pool and watched the Cowboys play the Steelers, Pam was sitting out on the balcony and I think Mike was watching tv in his room.

We all met back up for dinner, then went to the early show in the theater which was featuring a comedian, Doug Funk, who was doing improv that night. He picked a lady from the audience who did a great job helping him!

After dinner, I bought a purse I've had my eye on for a while and Pam bought a picture of her and Mike. We heard over the intercom system that there was a super moon so we went to try and see it, but it was too overcast. Later on, I could just barely see it by hanging my head over our balcony, so Rich went up top and took a picture.