Ahhhh....

Chris and I have only had a handful of what anyone would consider a "real" vacation over our 3+ decades of marriage.  So when my sister and brother in law invited us to join them in Mexico this year I sort of dragged my feet. Vacation is just not what we "do." WORK we are familiar with, time off? Not so much.

Then my sister got Chris on the phone and told him about where they were going. I watched his face as she talked, and it just lit up.  "Just tell her YES," I said. And we made it happen.  Mostly we were able to make it happen because my sister and brother in law made it possible through a screaming deal, so here is a big ol' THANK YOU! to them.

Things started off a bit roughly.  On the day we were to leave Boston for paradise a blizzard rolled in. We had arranged for a different flight than my family.  Delta hustled them off at dawn, well before a flake of snow fell.  Sadly, we were booked on United Airlines, and they cancelled every flight a day in advance.  We spent the day of the blizzard at my sisters house (see previous blog) and the next day sightseeing around Essex and Gloucester.  It was not where we hoped to be, but there wasn't a thing we could do so we made the best of it.  Early Thursday morning my sweet niece Elyse shuttled us into Logan.  Our early morning flight was delayed. This meant we would miss our connecting flights and not arrive in Mexico until late in the day on Friday.  Let me recap; our vacation was supposed to begin Tuesday. A very kind United Airlines person took pity on us and found a flight that would get us to our destination in the wee hours of Friday morning, so at least we could have the full day at our destination.  She even upgraded us to first class for the second leg of the trip.  We flew out of Logan and got to Newark around 10 in the morning. We did not have adjoining seats, which seriously cut into our hand  holding time. I had a center seat, between two rather large men. One or both of them had some serious digestive upset, and I spent a lot of time fantasizing that my oxygen mask would drop so I could get some relief.

 Our flight to Mexico was not until something like 6:45 that evening, so we had some time to kill.  We read, we walked the terminal, we poked in the high priced shops. We read some more. We did have a VERY enjoyable lunch.  There was a very upscale burger place called Wanderlust Burger Bar. $20 hamburgers.  But oh were they good. Hands down the best hamburger I have ever had in my life.  We indulged in adult beverages, too.  It helped quell the frustration.  Here is an article about the food scene in Terminal C at Newark. It's pretty interesting. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/12/does_newark_liberty_international_have_the_best_ai.html

We arrived in Mexico around 1 AM Friday.  Bonus: getting through customs was a breeze, as our flight was the only one in the airport at the time.  A shuttle from the hotel picked us up, and hour later we were at the gate to the Hardrock resort. Where they had no record of our arrival.  A lot of conversation in Spanish and some raised voices and then we were on our way. To the wrong part of the resort. Finally we were delivered where we should be. My sweet sister and brother in law met us, bright eyed despite the hour, and escorted us to our beautiful room. Since this trip was in part to celebrate our upcoming 33 anniversary, there was a lovely banner on our door, "We've Only Just Begun. Happy Anniversary." Sweet!

Inside we were greeted by swans and icy cold champagne.

And though we were very, very tired, the four of us shared a glass of bubbly to celebrate that we had finally made it to our delightful destination. From then on everything went swimmingly.

 From our room balcony we had a lovely view of a little slice of jungle. Lots and lots of birds were there, singing and calling and filling the air with color. To the left was ocean. One evening we walked down to the entrance of the resort, where some troops of spider monkeys live. We were treated to some excellent views of them as they traveled about, searching for their favorite leaves and fruit to eat. We saw a mother with a baby, and got a very close look at this handsome lad.

We saw other wildlife, as well.

An agouti trotted merrily past us.

As did a coati.


During the day we swam and snorkeled and saw lots of beautiful fish.

We got sand between our toes and soaked up the warm sun.
We ate and ate and read and relaxed and napped. I enjoyed a lot of mimosas. Hey, a girl needs her vitamin C (champagne!)
I took hundreds of pictures of wildlife.

We talked and laughed and were quiet and rested. We had massages and facials and people waited on us. There were no animals to feed, no snow to shovel, no ice to traverse.  And it was good.  So good we are planning on going again next year. We'll try Delta this time. Please hold the blizzard.