Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Preparation and Arrival in Mexico; Getting settled!



 NOTE:  due to poor WiFi, and of course our desire to be no where  else than the beach this blog was put together and then imported here upon our return.

The timing of this trip is rather fortuitous because we’ve been having such a harsh winter.  The snowiest in years, the coldest in years and so on and so on
We’re traveling with Gary and Nancy (with whom we always traveled to Mexico).  Our destination is Playa Del Carmen….. south of Cancun by about an hour.
Packing for the trip was an easy thing… just shorts and bathing suits… the resort we’re staying in, Mahekal Beach Resort (translated: Magical) …. Where we get two meals a day and ocean view cottage.
MaryAlice is not comfortable flying but is game.  Our plan was to stay at the Holiday Inn by Metro on Sunday and so we could avoid any early morning traffic stress and have free parking while we’re gone.  Quite the deal!!  I was a little concerned that the large implant in my leg might be an issue but I waltzed through security with no problem. 
Our flight took only 3 hours, MA and I were blessed with the screaming kid in the row behind us…. Oh well.  The flight was direct to Cancun where a driver from the hotel with a large sign with MaryAlice’s and Gary’s name printed on it) greeted us and drove us down to Playa (with a quick stop for cold cervezas).

The resort is stunning.  It’s family- friendly and the room we’re in has just been updated.

 View from our room


We were on the beach by 2PM local time on Monday.



Gary and Nancy are veterans of Mexican vacations and especially vacations at Mahecal and have their own itinerary:  Get up in the morning, drink coffee, walk to town or away from town and back (typically ~ 4.5 miles round trip), on the homeward lap stop and pick up supplies (beer, wine, rum) at the ‘Mini Mart’, freshen up, then eat a huge breakfast (included at the resort), veg on the beach all day, retire to their room ~ 4  for drinks  and snacks.  Then go to dinner ~7.
We’re doing it all… but the walking seemed hard at first (on the  beach  and then through town) but it’s become habit now.
Since Gary and Nancy have been here for about 9 years in a row they know and have become friends with many of the staff (which will benefit us as I will explain later).  They also have struck up friendships with other people who are frequent visitors to Mahekal … we met one of those couples, Mary Jane and Jerry, who we had a fabulous time getting to know.
The walks are challenging for me…. I still err on the safe side because of my knee surgery… but I am surviving and am finding the walk through the town’s local section educational….  Just one note:  the stereotype about Mexicans being lazy is TOTALLY wrong.  (more on this later). 
OK… I took some beach time off to write this… (BTW wifi is at a premium here and I will post this later)  so I’m back to the beach..
Oh and so far everyday has been sunny, mid to high 80s with a breeze off the water…. Think we’ll survive!

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