 Nightly fireworks illuminate the sculpture In Search of Reason by artist Sergio Bustamante. It's the most recent addition to PV's seawall walkway. But Puerto Vallarta has many sides, and since it's a relatively young city, a little over 150 years old, the gay portion of PV is just a slice of what else is out there. We were staying at the Villa del Palmar in the Hotel Zone for the first couple nights of our trip, and in this area, timeshares rule. As more and more Americanos, especially retirees, look to Mexico as a place to spend their golden years, some travelers just want to dip their toes in via a timeshare. It seems that nearly every hotel, souvenir shop, restaurant and tequila store wants to sell you a slice of a beachfront condominium. One even said to us, "It is very important that you come for this presentation. You no come," she made a throat slitting motion and grinned, "my boss kill me."
When the timeshare onslaught got out of hand, we abandoned the Hotel Zone. I didn't really need swim-up bars, water slides, seven restaurants, and amusement park accommodations. All I needed was to be closer to Olas Altas, the southern (and gayer) end of Zona Romantica, and a decent air conditioner in my room. So we packed our bags and split for the other end of town.
The Hotel Emperador was perfectly situated at Blue Chairs. The beach was lined with thatched umbrellas and casual outdoor restaurants, along a line of low-rise hotels amid palm trees. Vendors sell jewelry and musicians play for a peso. So what if the hotel pool was across the street on the next block? So what if the bed was like sleeping on a wooden plank rife with springs? I planned to spend my time shopping, eating and drinking my way through Olas Altas.
Dragging Aaron through the heat and humidity in search of some retail therapy, we found our way to Wynn—a little shop filled with gorgeous Mexican antiques, paintings by local artists and astoundingly affordable home décor. The gracious owner and American expatriate, Christopher Wynn, chatted to us about the neighborhood, asking where we had been, and offering up his own recommendations on places to visit. "There are some fabulous places along this street—Kit Kat, Garbo..." I was pleased that I'd already figured out on my own where the locals flock. “In this lush enclave, the vibe is communal, which is right in line with the rest of gay Vallarta ”
Walking through Olas Altas, and closer to the heart of the Zona Romantica, you'll notice rainbow stickers in many of the storefront windows. Most shops, restaurants and bars here are gay friendly, and a significant number of the owners of these businesses are gay expats. In speaking with these American expatriates, a trend seemed to emerge. Most were from San Francisco and Chicago, both liberal towns with huge gay communities. Many of the proprietors had opened their businesses 6-7 years ago. What drove so many gay Americans to Puerto Vallarta?
The main catalyst for the growth in the gay expat population in Puerto Vallarta may be thanks to the dotcom crash. Web companies that flourished during the boom between 1997-2001 began to flatline, and stocks plummeted. Some businesses exhausted their venture capital without ever turning a profit. People in San Francisco were hit especially hard of course, since the dotcom era blossomed out of nearby Silicon Valley. Some had built up enough of a resume to secure work post-bubble. Others saw it coming, got out early, and left to pursue greener pastures—in places like Puerto Vallarta. Don Pickens is one such example.
 The gay beaches at Playa Los Muertos, known as "Blue Chairs" and neighboring "Green Chairs," both named for their signature color chaises, fly rainbow flags.
In the wake of the crash, Don was a high-tech refugee. "I was in tech for 20 years, 6 of them at Microsoft. I started my own dotcom in San Francisco—after we closed in spring of 2001, so did everyone else." Faced with the identity crisis that inevitably comes with leaving a career, Don chose to travel south to Puerto Vallarta and do a bit of soul searching. After throwing some raging "I-don't-know-what-else-to-do-so-I'll-entertain" soirees, Don realized that what he really wanted to do was keep the party going. High on hospitality, he decided to open Casa Cupula, a gay resort in the hills of Puerto Vallarta. My husband and I were fortunate enough to be invited over for breakfast.
Next page: A playground for the rich, gay, and adventurous
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