Friday, August 06, 2010

Almost Paradise

Wes and I were able to get away recently to one of my favorite places...the beach!! I'm a huge beach fan, and the beaches in the Cancun/Cozumel area are among some of the most beautiful in the world.

We ended up at a place just outside Playa del Carmen and I knew from the moment we arrived that I could definitely live there. The only drawback would be Wes and his propensity for skin cancer! And also the fact that I would have to find employment rather than just lie around by the ocean while some of the friendliest people I've ever met brought me fruity drinks. But, still. I'd go. In a heartbeat!!

This is the "adult only pool." I spent the majority of my time here. At first, I thought adult only meant that no kids were allowed to hang out there. So, of course, being away from my own children, I found this to be the perfect spot. I found out about day three that "adult only" could also mean that swimwear was not required!

Sadly, I must admit that the main emotion I felt when I made this discovery was pure, unadulterated ENVY! I wanted to ask her how many children she'd birthed, but I was afraid she would answer "seven!" and really make me look bad. So, my stretch marks and I just kindly looked away!
Here's Wes demonstrating how we spent the majority of our time!
This was a man-made lagoon area. Kids were allowed there so we stayed away!!
Wes and I walked along the shore line for awhile and discovered our own little private beach! Wes snorkeled while I kept my eye out for dorsal fins. (My kids have discovered a fascination for watching "Shark Week" and my enjoyment of the ocean has declined immensely!)

If you look closely, you can see a faint rainbow.

Here we are all showered up for dinner!
We got to try most of the restaurants and found them all to be FABULOUS. I've now met my quota for shellfish consumption! Who knew you could work shrimp into every type of cuisine? It demands to be restated...FAB.U.LOUS!!!

This was our favorite place for breakfast and lunch. We had the same waiter most of the time and each morning, he greeted us with "tequila for breakfast?" Never got old!


I'm not sure if the Mexican people really eat guacamole or just make it available for their gluttonous American tourist friends, but I ate my body weight in the stuff. Shrimp plus guacamole at every meal equals heaven! Throw in the ocean and you can fuhgetaboutit!

We did venture out into the open sea and snorkeled with some of the most beautiful fish I've ever seen. I think the coolest find was an enormous star fish. It was about the diameter of basketball. Maybe that's not enormous in the starfish world, but I have never before seen such a thing!




Our resort was on a nature preserve. They had these McCaws perched throughout the grounds. There were also flamingos, TONS of iguanas, some type of lemur looking animal, and supposedly monkeys! I spent a great deal of time hunting a monkey, but had no luck actually spotting one. It was the only disappointment from the whole trip!

And, because we were on the east side of the Mexican shore, this is the only sunset we saw! We were in the plane headed home!
There are few vacations that in the end I find myself wanting to stay just a couple of more days, but this one would certainly be on that list. It was spectacular!

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go have some tequila for breakfast and research employment opportunities south of the border!

1 comment:

  1. Inspite of having to fly miles over shark infested waters...I want to go!!! So glad you two had a good time 'cause I can't think of anyone more deserving! A little sorry that Abbee's a Powell again though!

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