Day 1: Resort Day

The couples split up when David and I went for a walk and Patti and Javier did their own thing. The birds weren’t as talkative, but the path was shaded and stunning as we explored the property. We found the pool and beach and then David went to stretching class with Javier before our brunch.

What an amazing spread! Most of the food was native Mexican so I had fried plantains, chilli quilles, a cactus dish called Nopales, quesadillas made to order and the hottest salsa I’ve ever had. We got a table right near the door with the most delicious ocean breeze and the ocean right behind us.

We planned out our afternoon carefully to include swimming, napping, and drinking. I broke the rules and included some reading and blogging (until the battery died.) I booked time for a pedicure and took great pains to enjoy every moment of it.

When I got back to the room David and Patti were hard at work making dinner while Javier prepared the drinks with the cactus fruit. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help because it would mess up my nails so I had to watch. 

The dinner was terrific – chard cooked in olive oil, onions and garlic pasta with tomatoes…mmmmm.

Back out for ice cream, dancing and bad jazz.

And so it begins

We are very excited about this vacation. It feels as though it's our first "Grown Up" vacation -- no kids, no work, all fun.

We got started at 5:45 in the morning. It was certainly startling to think I was ready to go and then realized I didn't have my phone! How many other things was I going to forget?!

Getting to the airport by subway was easy. It was a little surprising how crowded it was that early in the morning.

While waiting to get our boarding passes I called Verizon to shut the data connection off on David's phone. The Verizon Customer Service Rep was happy to help me until she found out where we were headed. Despite her jealousy, she did turn text messages off.

I forced everyone to join me at Starbucks for a good cup of coffee before we headed out and by the time we got to the gate, they had started boarding our first leg.We sat down behind two women who were also headed for Cancun. Patti, Javier and I were in a row of three seats in the rear-most row on the plane. David was across the aisle from me. A woman, heretofore called the "Crazy Woman" sat next to David. She had a talkative nature that was amplified by the cocktail she got on-board so that she m Permalink ade the one-hour flight feel like three for David. At one point a small child in the back of the plane was crying and Crazy Lady let out a shout that quieted everyone on the plane. Eventually she spent about 20 minutes in the bathroom. I don't know what she took in there, but when she got back to her seat she literally passed out until the flight staff had to rouse her at landing.

I worried that our connection was only 45 minutes after landing and hoped that we didn't have far to go. As it turned out, we landed on time in gate B8 and our connection was gate B9. Even so, there was no time to spare before they started boarding that flight. On this flight David had to sit next to TWO crazy ladies, but fortunately, he's more tolerant when they are me and Patti.  Javier was off the hook rockin' out to his iPod across the aisle.

Second cup of coffee of the day

At this point we had our second drink of the morning and were starting to feel as though we were on vacation. The flight was easy and short and in no time we were through Immigration and Customs. It was great that we had Patti and Javier to work out the rental car for us. All of the rental car staff speak English, but Spanish was easier. Patti and Javier also knew the importance of inspecting the car for every little ding and nick. Before driving off, we wanted to go to the ATM of the S network, as we had been told that getting Pesos that was was the least expensive.

I was reluctant to eat in the airport figuring we’d get overpriced “Red Robin.” But we were so hungry that we felt we no longer had a choice. As it turns out, it was terrific. We got sandwiches, beer, margaritas from the kind of service you expect at a five star restaurant.

We figured we’d have to go to downtown Cancun to find the ATM that we needed but just in case, we asked a fellow who works at the airport if he knew where the closest one was and without even looking at us as though we were “special needs” he pointed to the ATM sign. The machine was in this odd hallway and then the pressure of trying to figure out the conversion while everyone is watching you and feeling as though we are ideal robbing targets. We needn’t have worried we were fine. 

On our way out of the airport we decided, unwisely, to make one quick visit to Starbucks. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to pick up some ground coffee to have in the hotel and some water for the drive? It’s only 400 pesos for about ¾ of a pound of coffee. Later, we figured out that was about $33 US! A real “WHAT were we thinking!?” moment.

Back to the car and we were off on our adventure. It took almost no time before we were at the spectacular entrance of the resort. Of course Patti negotiated an upgrade on the location of the room.  Once we were finished check-in, we were directed to Diana who would “describe the features of the resort.” Patti knew what was coming and said, “Here we go.” Diana took out a map, told us about the restaurants and activities and began offer steep discounts on local attractions. Patti kept on trying to get Diana to get to the punch line that the discounts came at a price of sitting through a four hour sales pitch. Eventually we pulled our way out of her charms, Javier parked and we took the shuttle electric vehicle to our rooms in 1028 in building 3.

After unpacking we walked back to the car to do some shopping. The walk to the car meant enduring this winding paved path through the nature conservancy and listen to the birds beckon to us until we got the video recorder out. That turned them silent. 

We drove to Chedraui market in Playa del Carmen. It was a very modern market with everything from lemons to lingerie, tuna to televisions. Patti and David were grabbing practical staples while Javier and I were practically grabbing two of everything I didn’t recognize.  We got cactus fruit to put in vodka (more about that later,) and something that a woman in the market recommended would taste good with lime and salt.

After a light dinner of leftovers from lunch, Patti and Javier went for a swim – just because they could, but David and I called it a night.