Warm and wonderful was the water in Cancun this past weekend. My dear friend Jessica and I set off on a much-needed 'girl's weekend'. It was the first time to Mexico for both of us and though we were there only an over-night, we made the most of every minute!
Upon arriving, we changed out of our travel clothes and rushed right out into the sea. We reveled in the warmth and clarity of the water, how crystal blue it was and how soft and clean the sand was as we walked on and off the beach.
We then made appointments for spa services; a pool-side massage for me, hair braiding for Jessica.! We had time for a quick lunch and took our things up to our room- which had been upgraded, before heading down to be pampered. Ah relaxing!
We were finished around siesta time when everything closes down, so we headed back to our room and made plans to go outside the hotel for dinner and do a bit of exploring. The concierge was wonderful and suggested a place where the 'locals' eat after I suggested the prices at some of the other places were too high. We took the bus down the main road and got off a little further down from the restaurant and walked back through the shopping district. (Ok, so pretty much everything that wasn't a hotel was a shopping district.) In fact, the entire strip of land known as the 'Hotel Zone' was VERY Americanized. We felt at ease, with plenty of police presence, but we still kept our wits about us as it was night time.
We found a few souvenirs and also an import shop where they made DELICIOUS smelling
sandwiches. We decided to order some to take back to our room to have either later that night or for a snack tomorrow and a small bottle of wine to go with it. Following the directions given to us, we then made our way (through an alley) passing the walk-up stand with the name of the restaurant we were given, went behind it and down a set of stairs into an area on the edge of the lagoon with lights strung through the trees, dotted with tables, and an open-air bar. It was such a fantastic setting and we enjoyed our meal there and the...uh...enthusiastic service!
We made our way back to the hotel after our meal, successfully avoiding the stinky street water, and turned in for the night.
Sunday dawned hazy but bright and I went out for a morning stroll with my camera. I found no less than 8 sea beans along the way, a coconut kept company by many tiny, clinging shellfish, and delighted in watching the seagulls catching breakfast and riding the waves.
I joined Jessica back at the room and we had a 'speedy' breakfast at the hotel's restaurant out on the patio. We were served an enormous plate of fruit and we each ordered a yogurt as well; it was the perfect start to our day. We had both decided that we wanted to spend a good chunk of time on the beach and did just that. We even ventured into the water and had fun fighting the waves. We'd brought an underwater camera with us and made attempts to capture photos, though I fear there may have been too much sand in the water. Standing a little ways out we could see schools of tiny fish and the next time you see either of us in person, be sure to ask our 'fish story' because we got a good one that will make me smile whenever I recall it!
Did you know that Cancun observes daylight saving time? We discovered it as our trip just happened to coincide with this event. We really did pack as much in as we could and made the executive decision that we would have to save a visit to the ruins for next time and instead went to the pool to try to get some clearer underwater shots to finish off the roll on our camera.
It was sad to leave such a beautiful place, but we were happy for the experience and both talked about hoping to travel there again, this time with more family and friends in-tow. I am still being fed by the tranquil feeling of being in that Caribbean setting and am so thankful for my good friend Jessica who helped facilitate this wonderful experience!
