We will meet for Hora Feliz/Social Hour 6pm at the Deli Mart (between the Fiesta Americana Coral Beach and Dreams)!! Then we will head to Fat Tuesday’s for dinner!!

Attendees thus far: Susan in Cancun, Janie and Norb, Klaw and Dani, Donna in WY, Danette and Jenni, Greg from NSB and yours Truly!!

My 3rd trip to Cancun January 2003 Part Two

Our next trip was to Xcaret and we spent the entire day there. We swam and snorkeled in the lagoon, and checked out the dolphin pens. We also floated down the underground river. The highlight of the day was the night show at Xcaret that depicted the history of Mexico from the early Mayan days, right up to modern times, through music and dance. It was awesome, don’t miss it.

We shopped at a Mexican flea market, which was a major lesson in high-pressure sales techniques. Did we get tired of hearing “almost free”, “come see my shop and “Cuban cigars senor”? Not really…………they just made us laugh and smile. We also did some serious power shopping at Kukulcan Plaza and Plaza LaIsla. Karen bought a tanzanite ring at the Columbia Emerald Company store and Harmony bought an aquamarine pendant, w/ matching earrings. I bought a sterling silver bracelet for myself at a small shop in the Flamingo Plaza. Later on we all went back LaIsla for dinner at La Casa de las Margaritas restaurant. We had a table on the upstairs balcony, directly overlooking the center area downstairs where bands and singers performed continuously, all evening. When one group finished their set, the next performer(s) came on. Good food and great entertainment. The waiters would balance drinks and trays loaded with food, on their heads.

We rode the infamous Cancun buses everywhere, (Which is an adventure all onto itself!). On one ride we shared the bus with a singing guitar player who entertained the whole busload of rush hour commuters for the entire ride.

My daughter Harmony and I went on the Capt’s. Hook Pirate Cruise. This was something my daughter wanted to do. She had heard about it from her employer back home. So off we went on a father and daughter adventure. This turned out to be one of the most fun things we ever did in Cancun. It was non stop entertainment and the food was pretty good too. I’ve gone on it since, and wouldn’t consider a trip to Cancun complete with out it. Don’t miss this if you haven’t tried it yet.

Diane, Paul & Karen went on the jungle cruise, riding jetski’s through the mangrove jungles and then out to the reef where they snorkeled for about an hour. They saw a wide variety of colorful fish and the beautiful coral reef.

We also made sure we got in some beach time, enjoying the warm Caribbean Sea, splashing around in the waves. Paul found a ball and we spent quite some time in the water playing catch. Such a simple thing but we had a lot of fun doing it.

Harmony & Karen finished up their last night in Cancun with a Moon & Stars massage at the Spa at the Royal Sands. They both enjoyed getting their massage outside on a lower rooftop deck, in the dark with the moon & stars shining overhead, and the sound of the waves crashing in…….as they later said it was “pure heaven”. Afterwards I met Karen and Harmony and the three of us had a great dinner poolside at the LaVeranda Restaurant at the Sands. There is something to be said about having dinner at 8pm outside in your shirtsleeves in the middle of January when your from Chicago.

Unfortunately, the time to go back home was at hand. The Cancun virgins all agreed that they had a truly memorial vacation. I bought all of us a Cancun tee shirt to wear back.

Once again my longing to be in Cancun, enjoying all it has to offer, was in my thoughts for many months after this trip was over…………….would there be a next time??? Stay tuned and find out.

My 3rd trip to Cancun January 2003

I had to skip my annual trip to Cancun in 2002 because I continued to have sudden unplanned lengthy interruptions in my employment due to 911 and the expanding Globalization of my profession. I also was faced with my mother’s failing health and subsequent death. I also moved from my friend Donna’s townhouse, to a very small apartment closer to where I needed to be to find work again. When I became employed and back on my financial feet, I decided to buy a home again and did so in Dec. 2002. So to celebrate my return to the workforce, I started planning to visit paradise again scheduling and finding travel mates for January 2003.

This time I would be accompanied by my daughter Harmony, my friend Karen, and Karen’s best girlfriend Diane, and her fiancé Paul. So now I was going to have the thrill of showing 4 Cancun virgins around! We arrived on January 4th, 2003, made it through the verrrry long lines in immigration and onto the van to the Royal Mayan where we had secured a beachfront penthouse. This was the best location I had rented so far at the Royals. It was an awesome view looking straight out at the water and far above the beach.

We needed to kill some time because our Villa wasn’t ready so we started our visit with lunch at the La Palapa poolside restaurant at the Royal Mayan. After a great lunch we unpacked and settled in. I took everyone on a tour of the tri-royals and the dual Sands royals so they would start to get the feel of these resorts. Later that first night we all had a wonderful dinner at Capt’s. Cove which is owned by the Royals. We all had too much to eat and drink and retired to our first night in paradise, listening to the waves below lull us to sleep.

The next day we started our activities and trips. The “virgins” all wanted to swim with the dolphins so we went over to Parc Nizu Wet N’ Wild where Karen, Harmony, Paul, and Diane fulfilled their dream . I had already done a dolphin swim two years before, so I became the group photographer and photographed their swim with all our different camera’s. We spent the rest of the day at the water park, enjoying the different water slides and the wave pool.

Our next trip was a Tulum/Xel Ha combined one day tour. Our tour guide was Jaime Garcia, who is a former history professor. He was as interesting as the ruins. Here was a man that spoke English with a very proper British accent and was a Mexican Jew. He was a font of knowledge regarding the Mayan culture and how those people lived centuries ago, but his manner of conducting a tour was like attending a history class back in school. Some liked that approach and some didn’t. He was also a real Cancun character. His story about the time he took the Actor Steven Segal to Chichen Itza was an insight to the lives of the rich and famous. The location of the Tulum ruins was beautiful, right on a bluff overlooking the sea. After seeing the ruins we had lunch at the restaurant there and then went off to Xel Ha. This was my first visit to this park, and although it was fun, I found the water difficult to get into because of the large boulders you had to climb over. Also the “lawn chairs” etc., were very old and broken down. Once you made it into the lagoon the snorkeling was great, especially when they fed the schools of fish. This was Karen’s first time snorkeling and she was catching on fast.

Part Two Manana

I went to Cancun on Feb 24 for 8 days. I want to publicly send my thanks to Tim and Susan. Sorry I am so late with this message.

You both were a big help with getting me the coupon for Fat Tuesday’s (on Fat Tuesday!!). I got a 25% discount with my Cancun Blog membership….you guys rock! Took advantage of the membership at Corona Bar, too, where I got 15% off and a free margarita. Sweet! Also, went to Philly Cheesesteak where I think I could have got a free beer for being a member. But, I am not a beer drinker. Doesn’t matter….these are the best sandwiches ever!

All I can say to anyone who is not a member of the Cancun Blog, sign up now! Susan and Tim are doing a great job and deserve our support. It is expanding to more and more businesses and I look forward to using the discounts during my two other trips there this year. It takes a lot of work to keep these things going and I for one appreciate all the effort. The stories are great to read, too. We all can’t get enough of Cancun and this is really helping my CWS!

Mucho gracias again to Susan and Tim!!!!!!! Rick S.