Just another Mexico Monday...

This was a Monday, but it was hard to believe when Matt woke up to take care of the set-up of our timeshare benefits. In the meantime, I made myself a bagel and took a stroll down to the beach. While the waves came in, I watched a man fish. There is something exciting about the ocean, a definite mystery that’s very alluring to me.

After breakfast, Matt and I tried to go out snorkeling. Unfortunately, the port was closed because the wind was so strong so Baja’s Sport wouldn’t take us out. Instead, Kevin took us to Billygan’s. This bar/beach spot is on the beach that you can actually swim on. They set you out 25 feet from the ocean, under an umbrella, with a bucket of beer. What a torture! At first I wasn’t too sure about the place as you have a constant parade of peddlers who are trying to push things at you; jewelry, necklaces, toys, dishes, sunglasses, bracelets, bags, hats, wrestling gear, massages, henna, braids…anything remotely touristy, they are right there trying to get your attention. After a while, I realized the awesomeness that had been blended together….beach, drinks, and shopping with the haggling twist! The only damper was the shot girl, who loved to hear her name and abuse people.

We each ended up with an item or two and finished a bucket or two! We even made friends with a couple of people that were either serving us or sitting near us!

We ended the night at a restaurant called Quesadillas with the family. I had a pork quesadilla; Matt had the chicken and we split a shrimp cocktail with this salsa/pico/clamato-like dip. Pretty good, however Matt liked my pork one better than his! We made a stop in a Mexican grocery store before heading back to the resort. We were hoping for the wind to go down the next day.

“Everyone has seen photographs of Mexicans wearing those big sombreros. When you come to Mexico, the astonishing thing is, nobody wears these hats at all.” –Bruce Beresford

Starting to Fall in Love with Mexico.

We started the day off with a little trip to Costco! After having so many meals in restaurants, we were very excited to buy some groceries that we could make on our own. With having a kitchen complete with stove, microwave, and large fridge, dishes, Tupperware, and pots and pans, we had options. Actually after a week of cooking on our own, we decided that’s a great way to travel. We’d eat breakfast and lunch on our own and then have dinner out on the town.

Shopping in a semi-Mexican grocery store became interesting. I wish I would have paid more attention when we reviewed the food portion in Spanish Class. I remember what ham, milk, and orange was before time but while we were there I was trying to figure out other things. It was interesting to say the least. I’ll admit after working with Cloverdale and their meat products, I did look for them in the store. No such luck though, but I did laugh when I saw Tony Romo ribs!
We bought bacon, eggs (lleuvos), croissants, bagels, cheese, crackers, juice, beer (cervezas), yogurt, pineapple, sliced meat, and chips and salsa. We actually did a pretty through job of eating it all. We did have to leave some things behind but it was definitely worth it.

Being Sunday, it was actually pretty relaxing. The wonderful Kevin, being a great host, took a few of us into town to explore and start haggling. We had a tequila shot in the world’s smallest bar, Slim’s. The bar could have fit maybe 7 people, on a good day, with a few standing.
We also had to find Matt a pair of sunglasses (he left his behind a Pepe’s, obviously distracted by the fish and bbq tacos). He got a pair of Oakieys, which are easily mistaken as Oakleys.

Kevin, being one to share wonderful experiences, took Matt and I to the Giggling Marlin. Where we shared a bucket of beer and Matt and I were hung upside down, like a Marlin. Once hung, you consume 3 shots, and then I received the experience of being twirled. Sometimes I can't believe what I get talked into!
That night, we had the best meal of the trip. One of my co-workers suggested this hole-in-the-wall called Maro’s. When we showed up, we did get a little nervous. There were plastic chairs, a fake ceiling, and things were a bit sketchy. The first thing they asked was where we were from. After telling us, he immediately ran us over to the record holding wall where their house drink record holder was from Mandan, ND!

We sat down still skeptical and I ordered house drinks immediately. They are Bulldogs, which are small Coronas poured into a tequila lemonade mixture. They were amazing! We ordered a shrimp cocktail, and a dinner for 2(which had fried shrimp, fish, lobster, and more shrimp, tortilla soup, and ended with chocolate cake). The meal was amazing and the service was awesome. We left there impressed, full, and had plans to return someday. We did have some issues with menu's right away, but I got Matt all straightened out.

The takeaway that made me laugh was that every time Matt saw plastic chairs, he’d elbow me and say, “They’ve got to have amazing food—they have plastic chairs.” I never bought in; I didn’t want to smash his dream.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” –Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, "Pavarotti, My Own Story"

Enter Kevin!

If I know Kevin, he’s been reading anticipating Day 3, “Get to the good part!”

We woke up to the waves crashing on the beach and the sun coming through the blinds. I could do that every morning.

After breakfast we prepared ourselves for a tough afternoon of sitting by the pool! We read, swam, sunned, and drank. We hit the morning happy hour and afternoon happy hour! Matt even got a drink called a CocoLoco. It’s straight out of a coconut!

We were anxiously waiting Kevin and Kim with family. They came in the afternoon. We switched rooms and found ourselves with a southern exposure only 2 floors underneath their amazing room. We couldn’t believe how beautiful our new room was. Two bathrooms, two patios, kitchen complete with countertop, dining area, and a king bed. Both of us agreed that it would be amazing if Matt’s apartment back home was as wonderful (complete with maid service).

Kevin and Kim didn’t waste anytime treating us amazing…they took us out to Pepe’s that night for tacos. We tried chicken, beef, fish, and pork. Surprisingly, beef was our least favorite. It became a trend that the pork continued to be amazing in Mexico. This was one of our favorite meals of the trip.

It was also nice to have a relaxing night with his family, which consisted of Kim and Kevin, Kim’s son, Matt, and daughter, Sara, who brought her husband, Nate, and sweetfaced baby, Amelia. Kim’s uncle and aunt (Chris and Elizabeth) also came with us. We felt a “tundra-like” bond with them as they are Canadians. We could talk cold and snow and Elsinore’s. Just kidding, we didn’t talk any Elsinore just Corona.

What a great day of doing nothing! The only thing that was semi-terrible was the tropical shirt that Matt wore!

“Life is short, wear tropical shirts.” –Marc Lampe

Crossing the Line

Day 2 started like Day 1, early and in an airport but ended in Mexico!

We had no problems getting there and getting there early after eating any amazing breakfast at the hotel. We flow on Frontier’s Earl the Walrus!

We landed in the rain and Matt was surprised by the humidity. We made it through customs with little issues and exchanged our money. We were immediately attacked by a room of people who wanted to take us somewhere, show us something, or talk to us. Matt told them “No” and we heard someone say, “Canadians out of town.” What….we weren’t even out of the airport!

Getting a cab was the next issue. Suddenly someone that said he was a “Real Cab” came up and offered us a ride. We said okay and halfway home realized that we’d been probably had. Oh well, some times you learn the hard way, but we won’t forget.

When we got there, the resort was beautiful! The ocean was next door and we had nothing but time to play and get used to Mexico. The room was complete with a whirlpool tub, kitchenette, king size bed (which was too short for Matt), and patio.

We went down to the ocean, played in the waves, and even saw a couple sea lions that came up to bark at us. We did take a swim in the pool. This was interrupted by rain, which we found out only happens 4 times a year. Who’d have figured.

We finished the night with Asian Night at the Resort. We filled up on fresh stir-fry and sushi before trying a few desserts. Some were amazing and some were interesting and unidentifiable!

We left the patio door open and fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves.

"Can ye fathom the ocean, dark and deep, where the mighty waves and the grandeur sweep?" - Fanny Crosby

A Trip to Remember.

All the planning, waiting, and counting down are over, and so is the trip. What an amazing 12 days with Matt and Mexico. The trip was what we needed and I will live off of these memories for quite some time, especially since we came back to cold and snow and while I was there I managed to get the best tan of my life!

In true 236adventures blog fashion, I will break down the days into it’s own post.

Let’s start with a Very-Denver Thanksgiving.

We managed to get to the airport around 5 in time to make it on the first flight out of Dickinson. After arriving in Denver, we took a shuttle out to Quality Inn on Tower Road. They were awesome and let us check in early, giving us a chance to have a morning nap before swimming in their pool.

We had our Thanksgiving feast at the Village Inn, which was only a fabulous walk away. The weather was beautiful in Denver. At Village Inn, I had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, bread, and a fabulous piece of pumpkin pie. Matt had a Cuban sandwich with Tri-berry pie. You can lead a horse to water!

With our options limited at the hotel and being sick of TV, we took the shuttle back out to the airport to wander around and look at airplanes for a bit. Obviously, we were not sick of airports, yet (note this foreshadowing for a future blog post).

We ended the day with vending machine food and Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving special. Although it wasn’t your standard holiday and we were missing family, we tried to make it as traditional as possible!

“If you think Independence Day is America's defining holiday, think again. Thanksgiving deserves that title, hands-down.” –Tony Snow