“In all the Gin Halls of the world”

I arrived yesterday afternoon at Hotel Garza Blanca south of Puerto Vallarta. Lucas, the owner of Hotel Lagunita recommended it to me as a great new hotel. It’s an unbelievable 5 star hotel.

As I was sitting at the reception desk checking in, I looked up and saw a person from my past. It was Jackie McGrath from California. I had to look twice I was so taken by the sight of her. I had not seen her in over ten years. What a small world. There are hundreds if not thousands of hotels here. We hugged and sat for a while catching up on each others lives. She looked exactly as I remember her. Thinking about it still gives me goose bumps.

Seeing Jackie after all these years in a whole other part of the world made me think of the Humphrey Bogart movie line, “Of all the gin joints in the world, she walks into mine.”  I kind of felt like I was in a movie it was so unreal. It was a most pleasant surprise.
As for the hotel…… I can’t help but think of my famous quote, “CONTRAST INTENSIFIES THE EXPERIENCE”. Going from sleeping in a thatched hut with bugs, lizards, open air, and walking in the sand everyday, to this hotel, has been a contrast of experience.  I of course had breakfast and started chatting with a couple from Kansas sitting nest to me. I can’t wait to see who I run into next that I know.