We just returned to the frigid tundra that is Iowa after a week in Riviera Maya, Mexico with my family and some family friends. I was thrilled to see my puppy but, other than that, I would be content heading right back to Mexico… which is exactly what we’re doing next month. In January, Joel and I are taking a trip with 8 of our friends to Cabo San Lucas for a week. We probably should have left a little more time in between trips to catch up on things before we turn around and leave again but where’s the fun in that?
Anyway, I thought I’d give a little run-down of our adventures in Riviera Maya. On our first night in Mexico, we were all pretty tired from traveling. Trust me, getting through customs with 11 adults and a baby is pretty tiring. So we stayed in for the night and ordered pizza and played Bananagrams. If you’ve never played Bananagrams, you’re really missing out.
My mom, Lori and Sherri went to the grocery store on Sunday to pick up some necessities. Like 14 cases of Mexican beer and several bottles of liquor. The jacuzzi tub became a makeshift cooler for the week.
We spent the day on the beach. I love the picture below because the ocean looks so inviting. It wasn’t. There were huge rocks all over so you couldn’t really go in without sandals. But it looked nice. And it was 85 degrees every day so I really can’t complain.
On our second night, we took a taxi van into Playa del Carmen. We ate at a restaurant called La Parilla. A picture of the seafood for two was included in this post. It may have been the best meal of the trip. And then we hit up the bars.
On day three, Austen won a dance contest at the pool. His moves invloved humping the ground and the table and shaking his booty. It would have been no contest if he would have thrown in the Jump Rope or the T-Rex.
We went to Playa del Carmen again on the third night because we had so much fun the night before. A few times during the trip people came around with sombreros for us to wear so that they could snap a picture and make us pay for it. Instead we just gave them our cameras and a tip. And this might be the only picture I have of the whole group.
We spent half of day four at the pool and the afternoon on a snorkeling trip. The snorkeling was pretty awesome, but, man, does it wear you out. I swallowed at least a gallon of saltwater. I don’t have any pictures because we brought along an underwater camera and, of course, I haven’t gotten around to developing them yet. After snorkeling, we played an intense game of soccer on a nearby beach. The whole trip was very cool. And it was great to come back to a feast of tacos and spaghetti cooked by those who stayed behind. It might be the only time I eat that combination of foods but it really hit the spot.
On day five we hung out by the pool. Surprise! By this time we had it down to a science. We couldn’t have coolers by the pool, so we stowed our cooler on the beach right behind our lounging area at the pool. It worked out swimmingly.
That night we went in to Cancun for a little change of pace. We ate at a restaurant called Las Palapas and did a little shopping at the flea market which was definitely an experience. Here’s our family picture on the dock at Las Palapas.
On the sixth day, can you guess what we did? We hung out by the pool. And we played water volleyball so much that my wrists started aching. I have weak wrists anyway due to my, ahem, accident.
And at night, we went to Playa del Carmen. I had the best mojito of my entire life. It was heavenly… and enormous.
We also watched the fire show at the Blue Parrot. A few of us caught a glimpse of it on our first night in Playa del Carmen, but this time we got to see the full effect from a table right by the stage. It was simply amazing.
On the last full day, we mainly spent our time on the beach and in the pool. And taking it all in before we had to head home.
We went back in to Playa del Carmen for our last night in Mexico. The place we had dinner was called Casa Adela, and we went back to the Blue Parrot afterwards to see the fire show again. The whole trip was such a fun time. And the warm weather has me excited to get back to Mexico again next month. Because walking out into the cold Des Moines air in flip flops and a light cardigan was not the most appealing homecoming.
And I want to thank my mom and dad for taking us with them on their trip this year. They go to Mexico twice a year with their friends and this time they brought us along. We had a blast! And we’d love to do it again next year (hint, hint).
