On the 2nd Day of the Mexico Vacation for My True Love and Me

The second day of our vacation (Friday November 6th), we woke up to see the sun! We were both so excited! We went downstairs for breakfast, and then immediately changed into our swimsuits and went straight to the beach. 

I can't even begin to express how glorious it was to just sit on the beach enjoying the sun, and the peaceful surroundings. By the way, I took a lot of pictures of our feet while on vacation--I couldn't help it: it was part of my view!!

Josh usually read his book whenever we sat on the lounge chairs, but I just mostly sat and took in the views. I liked watching people on the beach and around the pool--trying to figure out what countries people were from based on their language and clothes (it was a true international destination--there were hardly any Americans, lots of people were there from European countries, South American countries, and Canada). I loved looking out into the ocean because there was always something going on (and none of it happens in Salmon): cruise ships crossing, freight ships, jet skiing, parasailing, paddle-boarding, kite-surfing. I also liked to look for shells. I found that the shells would collect on the beach right by the north dock, so I searched that spot every morning looking through all the small/broken shells to find ones I wanted to take home.

Kite Surfing

I spy a battleship in the distance--well, it looks like one from the board game!

My favorite spot to look for seashells

I bought a ridiculous hat in a weak moment the previous day while looking through the hotel's gift shop. I thought it would be nice to have a shield from the sun, but every time there was a slight breeze, it would blow off. It sort of became a hindrance, and I didn't even think about having to carry it all the way home on the flights because it didn't fit into my bag, which was annoying. It was a dumb purchase. I talked myself into getting it because I had purchased a similar brown one last year when I was in Seattle and it has lost its shape, so I thought it would be nice to have a newer one to replace it. I just didn't think of all the reasons why it wouldn't be a good buy. Anyways, I was trying to see how it looked on me, so I took a few selfies with my first purchase in Mexico.  

After a couple hours at the beach, we decided to go sit by the pool under an umbrella so we could have some shade on our faces. Also, it was closer to the bar (remember, free drinks?!!) so that was a bonus! Those virgin mango daiquiries were SOOO good--and so refreshing with all the crushed ice in them. It was a whole new scene for me to people-watch, and I just loved it all.

This photo, for me, captures the essence of our trip:
Hot Sun, Cool Drinks, Sexy Man, Relaxed Mind, Happy Heart

Our hotel room was the one on the 2nd floor in the center of the photo.
There's a visible light from the open door--the cleaning lady was in the
room, and we weren't allowed to go in during that time and it was a
mandatory daily cleaning that we couldn't refuse, either.  

This is a view of the main section of the hotel. The ramp leads up to the
buffet restaurant, indoor bar, check-in desk, souvenir shop, and tour guide info.

This is a view of the pool area from the ramp in the above photo. Beyond the
pool and huts (the outside bar and snack restaurant), there's a view of the ocean.
It was nice to have the ocean so close, and to have a secluded, private pool.

These bushes lined the pool decks and were so beautiful!
One of the employees was pruning them while we were there.

I was in love with the bright hibiscus flowers!

After a few hours of lounging on the beach and pool, we got dressed to go eat lunch (you're not allowed to eat in the buffet restaurant in just swimsuits). Then we decided to walk down the Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue)--the main stretch for street-shopping in Playa Del Carmen. It was only a few blocks from our hotel, and once we started walking down the street, we kept going until we got to the end right by the ferry that goes to Cozumel. The street was a mile and a half long, and we stopped at a lot shops along the way to do some shopping. But we discovered that every two blocks, the type of stores would repeat. There were a ton of silver shops, cigar shops, massage shops, hammocks, hand-made painted ceramics, masks (we were there a week after Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead)), hats, and clothes. And because we were wearing our wrist band saying our hotel name (for security purposes, so the security guards on the beach and at the hotel front would know we were allowed to come in), the salesmen spotted them and acted like they knew us from the hotel and were our friends and wanted us to buy something from them. No joke--we got stopped SIX times from people saying they knew us from the hotel, and since I'm good with names and faces, I didn't believe them, but we did get fooled the first time it happened. The salesmen were in strong force, and would give you a guilt trip if you didn't stop or wouldn't buy. I've never experienced such severe treatment from street vendors before! It took us about 3 hours to walk from one end of the street to the other.

A view of Quinta Avenida from where we started walking at the north end.
No cars were allowed on this street; it was for pedestrians only.

A beautiful tree along the street right in front of a restaurant. 

When we got to the end of the street, we decided to take the ferry across the ocean to Cozumel. The ride lasted about 45 minutes. Everyone told us not to go in the evening (various salesmen along the way), but we figured we had free time then, so we might as well. We thought we'd go across, have dinner, and then come back on another ferry. We got on the ferry at 6:00.

See that orange bag under his arm? We got it for free because of all the stuff we
bought at one store. It was nice to have a large bag to put all our purchases in!

A view from the ferry of the public beach right by the ferry dock.

A view of the beach by the large hotel resorts on the other side of the ferry dock. 

The ferry ride was not very good for Josh--he gets sea-sick, and the ferry rocked a lot. We decided it wouldn't be smart to get food once we arrived on the island, for fear that he would just throw it up on the return ride. By the time we arrived at Cozumel, it was getting dark. A lot of the street vendors close at 7:00, so we didn't have very much time to shop. We got drinks at Fat Tuesday, and then walked down the street and I got lucky at one little shop and found a new white dress (that I'd been shopping for ALL day, and hadn't found one and I was getting sad that I wouldn't find one in time for our couple's photo session that I'd booked for Sunday). It made the whole ferry ride worth it for me that I found one!!! We walked around for a bit, and it started to rain. Josh wanted to find a Mountain Dew drink, but all he could find at every food vendor was Coke. We headed back to the ferry station, where I had an awkward toilet moment (um, no seat on the toilet at a public location?! EW!! i was so NOT prepared for that!). We took the ferry back at 7:30, and this time, the ride was even worse than before. We both got sick on the return ride, and people were throwing up. It was a miserable ride, and we couldn't wait to get our feet back on solid ground again! We took a taxi back to the hotel, and were happy to have a familiar view again from our hotel room's deck that night. After seeing those other hotels along the beach, we appreciated our own little resort so much more! We just loved this place!!!