Puerto Montt

 We woke up to discover we’d arrived in Porto Mott,Puerto Mott, Puerto Montt, and about 12 other ways to spell the town. We didn’t have an excursion booked which meant it was time for my favorite activity- a walkabout!

We had to take a water shuttle/tender to the shore which always takes a little time but is generally no big deal. Except that one time in the South Pacific where it was very hot, no breeze, high seas, and we just sat there steamin’ and rollin’ till I thought I’d die. Coincidentally, this is also the South Pacific - but not THAT South Pacific. But, I digress…

We heard there was a fish market to the left and everything else to the right. At the smell of the intersection, we decided to turn right. There was a gorgeous, clean, spacious boardwalk that meandered all along the shoreline. It had plenty of green space, tons of play grounds, a little skatepark where a dad was helping his little girl learn jumps at the top of the ramps, and a zillion good spots for picture taking. 

We got all the way down to a large mall area and crossed over to the city side to mill about the local markets. It was awesome - we realized it was Saturday so all the locals were out completing their Christmas shopping and darn near everything you could think of was out for sale. And holy cow- the farmer’s market stands- they had the largest cherries I’ve ever seen. They were the size of apricots!! Some places just sold beautiful wrapping paper, bags, boxes, and bows for sale. You forget that some places don’t have Target or other general store to go buy all the things. 

The people were very relaxed and chill. No one approached us, hollered at us, or any other crazy thing you sometimes see when your cruise ship rolls into a tiny little port. 

We hoped to find a cool restaurant with a patio or cool sitting space to linger but no such luck. So, we ended up making a huge loop and getting back to the ship. I love a good walk about - especially in a new town.

Back on the ship, we noticed they were showing an NFL game on the massive movie under the stars screen so we went up to watch but man! It was so cold in the shade and then oddly hot in the sun! Hahaha. I tried to sit right on the line and get the best of both worlds but really I just ended up sitting there cold. That’s ok! 

After dinner, we cruised past some really cool landscapes - including one that reminded me of Morro Bay back home! Speaking of back home, we cracked up when we saw one lonely piece of litter - a Coors original:)