Mayan Riviera

Ben had a bit of vacation time this month and planned a last-minute trip for us to Mexico. What a great travel agent he turned out to be! We flew out Thursday for a long weekend and luckily everything was perfect... until the trip home. We got stuck in Dallas for a sleepover at the airport due to an ice storm. It was a total fiasco so I'm hoping that by blogging on the trip it'll help me remember the good times instead of the inconvenient travel home.

Ben was so kind to me... instead of planning all kinds of excursions and day-trips, he knew exactly what I wanted to do - relax in the sun. We'd wake up, put our suits on and head straight to the beach to stake out our lounge chairs. The weather was a little breezy but warm. (like summer weather in Southern California) We each had some good books we got into which was great as I'm trying to become a bookworm.

One thing we didn't know was that our resort caters very much to European travelers. We heard people speaking French, German, Spanish, and people with accents from the UK to Scotland and even Belgium. We thought it was really great and diverse until we hit the beach on the first day... we didn't know the dress was 'clothing optional'. The old, the young, the men, the women, the porcelain, the leathery...

By the last few days it didn't phase me that much, like watching national geographic or something. I even began wondering how free it would feel to let loose myself. :) just kidding mom.

We opted to do one really fun activity - parasailing. The boat was right near our resort and in a moment's notice, we were on the boat and being harnessed in. At first I thought it was expensive considering the trip was only 25 minutes, but after being up that high for about 15 minutes, we both became a little bit nauseated. The swaying wouldn't stop, help! It wasn't scary although we were hundreds of feet in the air - I would recommend it to anyone. Here is a view from the top-

Ben also went snorkeling one day - he loves the water so he had fun even though the guide told us we'd probably see nothing.

I was excited to break in my rhinestone visor - as Ben took the picture I was yelling, "stay back!"

A few nights we took the taxi into town and walked along the streets lined with vendors and little souvenier shops. We were handed a wristband to an outdoor club down the street and of course I wanted to take Ben for some dancing. (he missed that whole part of my life before we met)

We showed up a little early I guess because there were few people there on the dance floor. We spied a little cabana with pillows and lounged around waiting for the dance floor to fill up. It was well after midnight and people were barely trickling in. How late do these people stay up anyway? After about a half-hour our waitress asked us to get up as we hadn't ordered any drinks. "Uh, fine, bring us a diet coke." then she said, "two?" and I replied, "no, one." Then she asked us again to get up - I guess that doesn't count. Fine then! So we left. As it turns out, Ben doesn't really like dancing or clubs. Where were Lacey and Tessa when I needed them??? I was sad to leave what could have been a fun night of dancing under the stars. Maybe the most sad part was realizing that maybe I'm just not that fun anymore. Old, married, and boring? :)

our waitress took this picture when we first arrived, before she'd figured us out and gave us the boot

Ben's brother and his wife are headed to Mexico in a few weeks and so we created a little scavenger hunt for them: ( in fairness we only listed the things we saw ourselves)

Find the following:

* a large sign that says "diving is aesy"
* a sign that says "nihgt fishing"
* a man in a swimsuit smaller than a his girlfriend's, double points for man thongs
* five+ topless women per day: double points if they're leisurely walking up the beach
* a bride and groom
* a waitress who doesn't listen and messes up your "sin alcohol" order
* monkeys in the lobby
* a fight between two cabbies
* a next-door neigbor who comes home at 3 a.m. in a drunken rage and tears his whole room apart, cursing in a language you don't understand (terrifying)
* LDS missionaries (!)