Radical Move

Up at the crack of dawn again, well not really, we didn't actually get out the door till 8am, heading immediately down to the beach for a walk on the way to coffee. The shore was a hub of activity with boat after boat loading up for snorkling, scuba and fishing trips. None of the hordes of gnats that swarmed the beach last night remained. Nice refreshing stroll, which led us directly to one of Trip Advisor's highest rated restauraunts for the area. It was the Choco Cafe, or something like it, and served high end coffee, croissants and chocolate chip muffins. The place didn't blow us away but it was a nice change from Starbucks.

Walking back to the hotel , we were acosted by the various vendors who recieved my usual response " no gracias", but there was one who said " amigo, amigo, come here, remember me from yesterday". I told him " I sure do, you tried to send me to a time share presentation when I asked for a good breakfast spot, so you're off my list." I doubt he will bother us again.

Back at the hotel getting ready for a day at the beach, all of a sudden a radical thought came over me, and I couldn't resist. Told Mary Lou I'd be right back, popped across the street to get the necessary tools. More on that later, but let's just say, the wife was shocked.

The same spot on the beach was waiting for us, with good food and cheap liquor why not. Today we were in the mood for walking, so headed south to see what lay beyond the ferry terminal. Wow. Great beach, almost rivals Varadero. There were a couple of guys with a GPS survey unit taking cross sections all along the shore. We found out later that that a year ago you couldn't even walk along this section as it was wiped out from the last few hurricanes. The Mexican government did a big sudy of the beaches between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, which resulted in the new beach being constructed. Guess the surveyors were getting data for the computer modeling.

The water was so inviting a swim was in order. Now Mary Lou is by nature a cautious person, but that doesn't apply to swimming in the ocean. No sooner were we in the water than bang, she scoots 200 feet offshore, in a body of water with very strong and fast moving currents. Now both of us are very strong swimmers, but I had to be the voice of reason or we would have been half way to Cozumel. It was a tough (not dangerous) swim back, but little miss timid simply says " good workout".

We are still having difficulty getting motivated to do another excursion, it is so enjoyable sitting at the beach reading and relaxing. Week one was go go go, so we want slow, slow, slow for the last few days. Louie has finished her book "Eat Pray Love" (not far off my vacation mantra Eat, Drink, Think"). Finally started reading the book I brought along "Songwriting". Great book. Lots of information on how to use technology to write and record a song right at home. Having been inspired by my buddies Steve and Blake, think I'll give it a shot.

For dinner we headed out to an Italian restaurant that was the number 2 rated one for the area. Unfortunately, it is closed on Tuesdays. So we wandered down the street again. Decided to try the Manhatten Grill, great ambience and the menu looked good. We started off with an Argentinian merlot that started weak but finished well, salad and calamarie for appetiser, then crepes and caronie salad for main course. The meal was OK but was not worth the $100. No more fancy places in Mexico.

On the walk back there was some sort of street festival going on (code name for more ways to get money out of your pocket). There were artists, artisans, dancers, and so on. I made the mistake of taking a picture of the break dancers and they came running over with the tip jar. Should have known better.

Back to the hotel to watch Lost, then off to bed. Oh, and the radical thought, the pictures below tell the story.