June 2008 TR

[Dan-0]

June 2008 Trip Report

Predeparture and Arrival
6/3/08

After a short, but tiring, drive to Atlanta we arrived at the Courtyard hotel at around 5:00 pm. They had gone up on their Park-n-Fly rates by about $50 since last year, so we stalled and even went and checked out the Fairfield next door before going ahead and coughing up $149 for the night, including parking. It’s still a good deal because they’re the only hotel that doesn’t charge a per day parking fee.

We hoisted our luggage inside the hotel and headed out to get some supplies for the night. The Atlanta airport is in a “not-so-nice” part of Atlanta so, over the years, we’ve found that we don’t really like going out, especially at night, other than to get some supplies. We headed to a nearby Kroger and bought some snacks, Maruchan soups, and, of course, some beer. We zipped back to the hotel, drank a few beers, relaxed, and then headed to the hotel pool with the kids. After an hour or so of swimming and relaxing in the Jacuzzi with the kids I headed back to the room ready to crash. My wife got on the laptop and chatted in MSN with her Dad in Cancun. He was ready to pick us up at the airport the next morning and they were making final arrangements for our pickup.

Playing in the pool at The Courtyard hotel in Atlanta-the water felt so good after the 4-hour drive to Atlanta


Day 2-Tuesday, June 2: Atlanta Airport-Cancun
Tuesday morning, we woke up around 5:00 am to get ready to go to the airport. We caught the airport shuttle at around 6:00 am and we were there in just a few minutes. Although our flight wasn’t until 9:40, past experiences have taught us it’s always better to get there early and not be rushed. Check-in at the Delta gate was a breeze since it was so early- there was hardly any line at all. We had some soggy sandwiches that we had bought at Kroger the night before for breakfast so, after checking in, we sat down at a Food Court and tried to eat them. The lettuce had gotten so soggy overnight they were idedible. So much for breakfast!. Oh well, Aeroméxico serves a little snack, I thought. So, no problem.

When we got to the gate- big disappointment: although we had bought our tickets from Aeromexico they had switched our flight to Delta. So that meant no snack and no free drinks. That sucks! We ended up being a couple hours too early for our flight so we found a little corner area behind the gate and I crashed on the carpet while the kids watched “Transformers” on the laptop. It was a long, long, 2 ½ hour wait for boarding.

Carlos, 15 and Celeste, 8-Cancun here we come!

Although I was a little disappointed to be flying on a Delta plane, instead of Aeroméxico, the flight was smooth with very little turbulence. I had been reading about tropical storms in the area so I was a little nervous about having a rough flight. I bought a 6-dollar Belgian beer from the flight attendant and, when we finally began to descend, tried to peek out the window from my aisle seat. I got a great view of the turquoise water and the shoreline before it dissipated into the clouds.

Finally, we landed, on time, in Cancun at around 11:00 am local time. We breezed through immigration in about 10 minutes. Baggage claims and customs were another story. About ½ hour for each one; so, we ended up almost an hour behind schedule for meeting my father-in-law, Jose, for our pickup time. Fortunately, he was right there when we walked out of the terminal with our luggage in tow. Jose is a retired professor and just recently bought a full-size Chevy van for his new “colectivo” service he’s starting so we had first-class transportation waiting for us.

All aboard- arriving at the Cancun airport



Our driver, my father-in-law, Jose-Vamonos!


Carlos

We went to meet up with a few more of my wife’s relatives and headed to a little place called Marimar for a much-needed lunch. They had 100 pesos buckets of beer that included appetizers. We ordered a couple of buckets and starting munching down on some caldo de pescado, empanadas de cazón, and ceviche. Everything was excellent and I started to relax a little bit from the early morning departure and the stress of the flight.

Lunch at Marimar, my wife's cousin Alex playing around with the gator

Lunch at Marimar in Cancun: Buckets of Sol and botanas

Ceviche de caracol- conch ceviche

Empanadas de cazon- baby shark empanadas

Gorditas de frijol

More botanas

After lunch, we headed by to the Cancun hotel zone to hit the beach for a while. The water was beautiful and turquoise-blue, but it was a little rough and the temperature was a little cold, at first anyway. We played in the waves for an hour or so and soaked up some good rays. Then, we headed back to Jose’s house for a little nap.

Fun on the beach in Cancun, my daughter with her aunt


We called it early night because we were all tired from the sun and the early morning travelling we had done. Today we're planning a trip to Crococun, maybe Isla Mujeres.

Ready for bed, it's the end of a long Day 1

[SUNBABY]

Great start..keep it coming. Where do you live?

[PlayaWithMe2]

Wow! You are on the ball, Dan-O! You are making me hungry, btw. Sorry 'bout the $6 beer. That hurts.

[Dan-0]

Sunbaby- I'm from the U.S. and my wife's from "the Roo". We live near Huntsville, Alabama.

Erica- yeah, I hate paying $6 for a beer, what a ripoff. But, I gotta have my brew when I fly, even at 9:30 in the morning. That's what I was looking forward to flying Aeromexico this year. But, Aeromexico and Delta "code switch" and when you book with one you can always end up on the other.

[Jillian]

This should be intersting!....Looking forward to more

[Nick and Nora Charles]

Originally Posted by Dan-0

I hate paying $6 for a beer, what a ripoff. But, I gotta have my brew when I fly, even at 9:30 in the morning.

For Both Nick and I, if we're flying in the morning then it is Bloody Caesars for us both and if it is an afternoon flight then it is beer for him and white wine for me.
In January they charged $5CDN per drink on Westjet but I imagine soon the price will go higher.

We call them our "Let the vacation begin" drinks.

Great report--keep it coming.

Nora

[PlayaWithMe]

Originally Posted by Nick and Nora Charles

For Both Nick and I, if we're flying in the morning then it is Bloody Caesars for us both and if it is an afternoon flight then it is beer for him and white wine for me.
In January they charged $5CDN per drink on Westjet but I imagine soon the price will go higher.

We call them our "Let the vacation begin" drinks.

Great report--keep it coming.

Nora

What's a Bloody Caesar?

[raquelle261]

Originally Posted by PlayaWithMe

What's a Bloody Caesar?

'Tis a vodka-based cocktail. A recipe I found online is thus:

1 oz vodka
salt
celery salt
pepper
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 dash Tabasco® sauce
clamato juice



Rim tall glass with celery salt, fill with ice and ingredients. Garnish with a celery stick, straw, and lime.

[raquelle261]

Great report Dan.... looking forward to more!

[maliasma]

I live for TRs....can't wait to read and see more!!!

[MsRubio]

Great start Dan...looking forward to reading more!!!

[Nick and Nora Charles]

Originally Posted by PlayaWithMe

What's a Bloody Caesar?

The very best recipe for Bloody Caesars

http://intheroo.com/playa-del-carmen...ogy-101-a.html

Nick

[Beth&Scott]

Food looks yummy...
Love the photos!
Can't wait for more!

[eddie tabor]

Dan-0

Great start brother more please!!!!!!!!!!

crazy eddie

[PlayaLove]

Can;t wait to hear and see more keep it comeing....

[shoediva]

Waiting

[lovbuds]

Great start to your TR ... love the pictures ... cannot wait for more!

[Dan-0]

Thanks to everyone for all the positive comments. I'm new at this, so be patient with me. I decided to really try to put some effort into documenting our trip because I hate when I get home and look at photos and I can't even remember where I took them.

I'm going to post our photos from Isla Mujeres yesterday. Sometimes, I may not write too much when I post because my computer access is limited right now. These photos were taken yesterday.

[Dan-0]

Isla Mujeres-Part 1
6/6/08


On Wednesday, we just kind of took it easy and rested and acclimated to this QR heat. We had talked about going to CrocoCun, but after talking with some locals, I became convinced it’s just a tourist trap. So we decided to rest up and go to Isla Mujeres on Thursday.



We got up early Thursday and headed out to the Punta Sam ferry at about 8:00 am. On the way over, we stopped at a roadside stand to pick up some tortas de carne asada for breakfast. I went behind the stand to take a photo of the meat being roasted for the tortas.



We got to Punta Sam at around 9:00 am and there was already a long line of cars waiting to board the vehicle ferry. The ferry runs every couple of hours and it’s “first come, first serve”. It looked like our van wasn’t going to be allowed aboard since we were at the back of the line; that meant waiting a couple of hours for the next ferry. But, fortunately, ours was one of the last vehicles to be allowed on board.

In line for the ferry at Punta Sam



View of the water at Punta Sam



The ferry arriving



Loading the van onto the ferry



The upper deck of the ferry (cars are on the lower deck)



View of the water from aboard the ferry



Arriving at Isla Mujeres



The passenger ferry from Cancun



House on south end of Isla Mujeres



Traffic lines up on Isla Mujeres- golf carts everywhere


Beautiful house on south end


continued...

[Dan-0]

Isla Mujeres- Part 2

We hit the Hotel Garrafon for some snorkeling and beach time




View of Hotel Garrafon


After snorkeling, we stopped at the Sea Turtle Sanctuary


Baby sea turtles in their tank


Sea turtle nests, marked by date and time the eggs were laid


Baby sea turtles


Lunch at El Comejen


Preparing Tik-n-Xik at El Comejen


Our lunch


Headed back on the ferry, view of Playa Norte, Isla Mujeres


The lighthouse on Playa Norte


We were all tired and sunburned at the end of the day. But we had a ball in Isla Mujeres.