Nothing cures the winter blues like a vacation down to the
little latitudes. And lately, even with the warm weather, I was feeling a
little blue. So, while perusing one of my favorite travel sites (Travelzoo.com), I came across
a deal almost too good to be true: 3 nights in Cancun, Mexico with airfare for
$500 a person (after fees, taxes, etc.) So I texted my friend Ardra and asked
if she’d be able to take a Friday and Monday off to go see some sun and surf.
Luckily, she said “sure!”
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| Rainy Friday |
So on Friday, we left RDU airport at 8:00am and headed to
Atlanta to catch our connecting flight. It landed us in Cancun at about 12:30
pm. We cleared customs and immigration easily and headed toward the door to
catch our ride. A friend had warned me that I should keep on walking –that if
we did not, the timeshare brigade would accost us. She was not wrong. We almost
made it out without hassle, until a cute Mexican stopped us to offer a map and
directions to where we were going. He tried to sign us up for a meeting, but I
was able to decline without getting rude.
The travel agent also assured me that the weather should be
perfect this time of year because it is the dry season. Unfortunately, when we
landed, it was raining.
But this was NOT going to stop our fun! No way. We arrived
at the Krystal Hotel and Resort about 1:30 pm and were able to check in right
away. Francisco could not help us with the ocean view room, but I could not complain,
as our room was perfect. We quickly put on bathing suits and headed down to the
lobby. We both needed to eat so we stopped into the restaurant and had lunch. I
can’t say it was anything to write home about—it was average. I had the fish
tacos. They offered mostly Mexican food, but you could order burgers if you
wanted.
By the time we hit the beach, the sun had come out a little,
but it was chilly. We sat for a bit on the chairs out by the ocean, but then
decided it would be warmer up by the pool. We found and nice cabana with a
couch. I had the first beer of the weekend and watched the waves. The sunset
slowly in the west and we then decided to head out to eat.
There were many tables set up in and around the lobby that
looked as though they could be a wealth of information about the area. But I
soon learned that some were set up just to get you to sign up for a timeshare.
I was not wasting time with that. I thought that surely the bellman or porter
could help us out with a restaurant suggestion. I made the mistake of asking
one of the gentlemen outside about a restaurant. Now, don’t get me wrong; Juan
Garcia was very friendly and helpful. But, he did everything he could to get me
to sign up for a meeting. After giving him the wrong name and wrong room
number, I was able to get away….and fall flat on my back.
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| My pain medicine is on his head! |
Since it had been raining, the streets and sidewalks were
wet. I was wearing my Crock sandals and one food slipped and took me down.
Fortunately, all I really did was bruise my toe and my ego. I thought for a few minutes I had
broken my toe. Luckily, the
restaurant served margaritas and the pain was gone by the time I finished
dinner.
The restaurant we visited was called the MeXtreme and had
seating outside by the street. The waiter was pleasant and cheerful and made
some suggestions on the menu. I took his advice and ordered one of their
specialties that included chorizo (YUM), beef, chicken, shrimp, and cactus! I
do not know what type of cactus it was, but it was very tasty. It looked a lot
like an aloe plant—but had a bulb on the end, and was tangy. It was also slimy
when you bit into it, sort of like okra. It was a huge dish but I was
determined to eat all of it. They served it with corn tortillas, which I did
not care for, so I just ate it with a fork.
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| The green stuff is cactus |
After dinner, we took a leisurely stroll back towards the
hotel (checking out the pain in my toe—which was only a little sore) and found
a convenience mart to buy some bottled water. We also adventured into the Cancun
Mart where you can buy any type of souvenir you want—appropriate or not. Obviously, spring break would not be far
behind us.
At the hotel, I downed 2 Tylenol pm pills to dull any sort
of pain in my foot from coming back and crashed. The next thing I knew, it was
10:30am.
The link below gives you a google Earth aireal view of our stay. I have to say, it was quite perfect.
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