November 27, 2014  Thanksgiving Dinner on the Beach at Yelapa

We got up and Suzette wanted to eat yogurt and pineapple, so I peeled the pineapple we had bought on Tuesday.  When we tasted it, it tasted a little young and acidic, so Suzette suggested that we melt some honey to sweeten the yogurt and pineapple.  After she did that the yogurt and pineapple tasted great.

I wanted a little extra food so I took two raw shrimp from the fridge and cut two slices of bread and sautéed them in butter and olive oil.  Then I turned them over and sautéed them on the other side and then I removed the shrimp and bread and sautéed an egg in the skillet and then constructed a shrimp and egg sandwich.  We ate our yogurt and pineapple and the egg sandwich with cups of honeysuckle tea.

At around 9:00 we then took off for PV and Boca de Tomatlan to catch a water taxi to Yelapa for lunch.

The traffic was intense on the National Highway (big trucks driving slowly), so it took about an hours to get to PV instead of the usual 30 minutes. Traffic was intense in PV as usual and there were lots more topes (Road humps) on the road south out of PV, so we did not arrive at Boca de Tomatlan at the far south of the Bay of Banderas until around 11:30.  We changed to surf shoes and walked to the dock at around 11:50 and were told we could take the noon taxi that would return at 4:00 wo we purchased two round trip tickets for 140 pesos each.  The ticket taker was wearing a Domingo’s Restaurant shirt and we did not realize until we arrived at Yelapa that he was also a waiter at one of the beach restaurants.

The boat ride to Yelapa takes about 45 minutes and the scenery along the southern coast of Banderas Bay is magnificent, all tropical jungle rising from the rock faced ocean.  When we passed Las Animas, where the family played on the beach and Willy para-sailed a few years ago the small bay was filled with 2 party boats and lots of tourists and I had a ,moment of fear that the same fate may have befell Yelapa.  

Yelapa used to be a frontier city on the southern point of the bay because it was without electricity, a road or telephone, but that has changed now and Yelapa has electricity and telephones. Still everything from civilization must come in by boat.  The favored means of transportation is a long open narrow boat named about twenty to twenty-five feet long called a ponga that is powered by one or two outboard motors, usually 100 hp. They fly across the water cutting through waves and banging into the gullies between the waves; quite an exciting ride.

When we arrived at Yelapa, due to the quick drop off of the beach, the boat made its usual straight into the beach landing where the boatmen hold the boat in the rolling surf and everyone jumps into the shallow water to get out of the boat. 

Unfortunately for those of us like me who do not know how to exit a boat in the pitching tide, I got one foot down on the sand but fell into the water to my waist when I tried to step out of the boat with my other foot s it rose as the next wave hit the sandy beach.  I was helped to my feet by the boatman without any ill effect and the stretch of my legs may have even helped my sore right thigh by stretching it. We shall see in a day or two.  The boatman with the Domingo’s shirt seated up at a table at Domingo’s Restaurant and suggested we start with guacamole salad (70 pesos), which we agreed to and then we ordered one lobster dinner (250 pesos) to share. 

Guacamole Salad

  The lobsters are usually about 1 lb. and one lobster makes one dinner, but the lobsters were small today and so a dinner included 1 and ½ lobsters, which was okay because we found out quickly that the most fun in eating spiny lobster is removing the meat from the feet and head.  This can be done by running the tine of one fork along the thin shell and along its length.  The other thing that is wonderful about the spiny lobster is that its flesh is dabbled with red and white, just like its shell.  The lobster was served with a dab of refried beans and a small pile of rice and a large spoonful of sautéed vegetables, mostly carrots and Mexican and squash.  We were also served a basket of warm tortillas.  The guacamole that was brought before the lobster was not the best because it had been smashed finely, so it had a thick stew like quality to it but its flavor was excellent.   The reason we like to eat lobster at Yelapa is because the lobsters are caught just off shore on the Pacific side of the peninsula and so are fresh.  As we ate our lobster we saw an oyster man carrying platters oysters that appeared to be caught fresh in the area, so after we picked our way through the lobster we ordered a platter of oysters for 150 pesos.  The oysters were small but delicious and we ate them with dabs of catsup on them.   

Spiny Lobster Dinner at Domingo's on Yelapa Beach

dipping lobster into mojo de ajo sauce

Vouvray Chenin Blanc champagne

The occasion was made even more special because we brought the last bottle of Chenin Blanc sparkling wine we had bought at the wine fair in Vouvray on our last trip to France two years ago.  It was a demi-sec and had a delightfully light sweetness to go along with the lemony Vouvray citrusy flavor.  There were not as many bubbles as good champagne but we did not care, because the tulip shaped wine glasses dispelled the bubbles anyway and we were more interested in eating lobster in the strongly garlic flavored mojo de ajo sauce.    The waiter brought us an ice bucket filled with ice and water and we kept the champagne cold and even put our two bottles of Noche Buena into the bucket to keep chilled.

The oysters were good with the champagne also and we had a great meal.  After lunch we lay on lounge chairs on the beach and drank a beer and walked on the beach.  

Suzette reading on the beach after lunch

Finally at 4:00 the boatman told everyone that we would board the boat at the pier, probably for my sake, so we all walked to the pier on the side of the small bay and boarded the ponga with no further incidents for our return trip.

Suzette drove home and it was much faster because we took the bypass around PV and there was no traffic on the jungle road.  We arrived at sunset which is the time that the baby sea turtles are released, so we walked to turtle catchery on the beach near our condo and saw the last of the day’s hatchlings released onto the sand enter the water. 

We were not hungry after our big Thanksgiving dinner, so we did not eat anything for dinner and felt fine.  This may be the secret to losing weight; eat one great meal a day and several small healthy snacks.

Bon Appetit

Bon Appétit