If you’re looking for a weekend getaway that won’t break the budget, consider one of these Mexico vacation spots for places to playa (playa means “beach”) this Cinco de Mayo. During this traditional day of festivities, margaritas and tequila shots taste even better in Mexico. Besides the wild nightlife, these hot Mexico vacation spots offer plenty to do and see during the day.

LA PENITA DE JALTEMBA, Mexico – If you’re looking for gringos in this dusty town on Mexico’s Pacific coast, try Yuyis, a breakfast spot on main street; Hinde & Jaime’s bar near the beach — or Oralcare, the dental clinic on Calle Alfred Bonfil, a block over from main street.

Dreaming about living in a place like Puerto Vallarta but don’t have $3.5 million for a condo penthouse? Not to worry.

Your dreams can still come true, even though you’ll need more than the $1,500 of monthly income required for a long-term visa.

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Standing on our 10th-floor balcony at the Westin, my wife hands me her binoculars. “I think they added the verticals for another three floors while we were having lunch.” She points to the framework for yet another skyscraper along the Banderas Bay shoreline.

This is not the usual use of her binoculars. For much of the last week, she’s been watching pelicans and frigate birds that cruise the shoreline and the parade of sail and power yachts at Marina Vallarta.

Living in Mexico could be an affordable retirement option

PUERTO VALLARTA, Jalisco, Mexico — Standing on our 10th-floor balcony at the Westin, my wife hands me her binoculars. “I think they added the verticals for another three floors while we were having lunch.” She points to the framework for yet another skyscraper along the Banderas Bay shoreline.

For much of the last week, her binoculars have been focused on the pelicans and frigate birds that cruise the shoreline or the parade of yachts that emerge from nearby Marina Vallarta. But today she wants me to watch the workers maneuver a girder into place as they stand precariously over about 13 stories of air.

If you think buying a timeshare in Mexico sounds like more trouble than it’s worth, the Royal Holiday Vacation Club has a deal for you. It offers something completely different — let’s call it the un-timeshare.

Frontier Airlines sought bankruptcy protection Friday, the fourth carrier to do so over the past several weeks as exorbitant fuel prices eat into earnings and a weak U.S. economy keeps more people grounded.

Frontier says it will continue operations as it reorganizes.

Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc., the low-fare carrier’s parent, said it was forced into bankruptcy after its principal credit card processor, First Data Corp., said it would begin withholding a greater share of proceeds from ticket sales.

When we made Puerto Vallarta, Mexico our permanent residence a decade ago, our friends back in the States frequently asked if we felt stranded in the Third World. The answer was no; perhaps the Second World! Prior to the demise of the USSR, the Second World consisted of the communist bloc countries. Since the collapse of the iron curtain, there are no longer any Second World countries, so perhaps we can promote Mexico to the New Second World!

What’s Going on South of the Border?

Attention, baby boomers; don’t be late for the party! If you haven’t noticed what’s going on south of the border, but only heard about illegal immigration north of the border, the following may prove to be quite awakening and informative.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, a sleepy little Mexican fishing village located in the foothills of the Sierra Madres on Banderas Bay along the Mexican Riviera is no longer sleepy or little.

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Marina Nuevo Vallarta will be torn down and rebuilt as a luxury marina with a better mix of slip sizes, according to the marina’s new director general Lic. Emilio Oyarzabal Garcia. Marina Nuevo Vallarta is the older and smaller of two marinas located inside the popular Nuevo Vallarta Inlet, 3.5 nautical miles northwest of Puerto Vallarta’s municipal harbor.