It’s time for summer vacation, and we’re having a great time already here in Playa del Carmen (no, Darren, it’s not Carmen del Playa) on the Caribbean side of Mexico. After a long day of traveling from Los Angeles yesterday, we were just happy to get here, even though it was dark and we couldn’t much get our bearings when we arrived.
We’re just a block off 5th Avenue, where all the action seems to be, so we got to partake in a little guacamole and margaritas last night, making it a “que bueno” day in our book! Oh…and a nightcap on the breezy beach before we threw in the towel for the day was pretty sweet, too.
Because they care about me (really, they told me so!), Facebook reminded me yesterday that we traveled on the same exact day last year…to New York City. What a trip that was! This week away will be very different, exploring Mayan ruins and eco-attractions like cenotes (underground rivers) and the turquoise water of the ocean, of course.
As we typically do, we chose a condo for the week. Staying in a condo during vacation is a little like playing house. We stop at the store and buy just the necessities (and some of our favorite things, too…like peanut butter!), so we can stock up the kitchen for the week. Then we put on our “What? We live here, we’re not tourists” attitude and try to fit right in with the locals. (In fact, last night we “fit in” so well at the restaurant, that we got snookered into paying 200 pesos for the mariachis playing at our table, and another 200 pesos for a little bottle of tequila with our family picture applied to the front of the bottle).
Yep, we totally look like locals!
I call this Mexican Summer Part 1, because Darren and I are heading to Cabo San Lucas with friends for a few days next month. We don’t normally plan more than one big trip in a summer, but we just couldn’t say no!
As I sit here on the patio, while the guys are sleeping in a little (still on Cali time), I think about how grateful I am to be here with my family. As the boys were growing up, I always said, “I think this is the best stage.” Now they’re 23 and 19 years old…and it just keeps getting better! I hope we’ll have many more years of family vacations together, with spouses and children added when the time is right.
But for now, I’m going to sit here with my cup of coffee and just focus on today.
FlutteringBy 