In Response to Your Inquiries…

…I found a few moments to spare you all from my biking, swimming, cenote snorkelling, AND TACO EATING!  (And yes, Marcia, the food is DELICIOUS!)

We are having a great time!  So far we have seen the beaches of Soliman Point and Soliman Bay; browsed through the pueblo of Tulum; seen the incredible Mayan ruins at Coba (which was a great day, and quite a change as Coba was a quiet little ranch town, and very traditionally Mayan); and then today we swimmed and snorkelled in the Gran Cenote (Freshwater sinkholes…like caves below the ground that are also waterways).

Some highlights would be Coba where we saw Mayan pyramids, and many current area houses constructed of stick walls and palm leave roofs…called palapas.  This seems to be the style of construction here in southern Mexico…very interesting.  Also many ladies are seen in the white cotton and bright flowery dresses…just going about their daily duties –again seems to be part of the culture down here.  (It is quite different here in the Yucatan than in other areas of Mexico.)  We ate lunch at a loncheria (“lunch”-eria!!) and had Mayan chicken tacos.  They were shredded chicken seasoned with red tomato and spices then covered in cheese.  The salsa served was fresh chopped red tomatoes and onion, lime juice, and diced habanero peppers.  Dustin and I both liked the salsa very much!

Then today, we swam for the first time ever in a Cenote.  It was beautiful.  I was a bit leery of snorkeling far back into the cave openings, but once I got my goggles on and saw in the crystal clear water, there were no worries!  God’s Creation is breath-taking above and below ground; in the outside air, and below the water’s surface!  After biking back into town, we ate some lunch at Subway –yes, there is Subway in the Yucatan Peninsula, though no other American fast food here in Tulum pueblo!  And this evening we plan to head out for some great tacos…might venture out for some seafood tacos!

All in all, we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves, and look forward to sharing more as the next few days pass by!  Oh, and I am soooo sorry not to be there for the huge snow blizzard…I guess you cannot have your (canned) cake and eat it too!  Please do a lot of sledding for me, Marcia!

Dustin and I at the Blue Sky Restaurant...even in Mexico, Dustin found a place that serves Brick Oven Pizza!

A Vacation Worth Waiting For

This is where Andrea and I will be in just…45 days now.  You say, how can a newly married couple in this recession economy end up on a tropical vacation?  Good question!  This was supposed to be our honeymoon spot.  Almost a year ago, I booked flights and paid for bed and breakfast accommodations: I think it was supposed to be from May 25-June 2.  Three weeks before our wedding, though, a little predicament came in our way called Swine Flu.  I know, I know, it ended up being a big scare over nothing; but it was a big deal back then, if you can remember.  We took some counsel over the whole thing, and instead of taking chances during our honeymoon, we decided to stay in Chicago for the week or so after our wedding.  It ended up being perfect, and better than we could have ever expected…especially after what we get now!  Two airline tickets and accommodations that I already paid for a year ago!

Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico is where our vacation will take us.  This old pueblo in the Yucatan Peninsula has about 10,000 people in it, the majority of which still have indigenous Mayan roots.  I originally picked Tulum because of its tropical climate, beautiful scenery, very reasonable prices, and overall quiet feel (from what I have read on the internet).  Our “casita” is about six miles north of Tulum itself on the coastal road, just 150 feet from the Caribbean Sea!  It looks incredible!  We are also staying 4 nights in a little “posada” (inn) in the pueblo of Tulum itself–the real Mexico, as Andrea would say.  We plan on eating a lot of Mexican food (I trust my wife to find the places that are sanitary/healthy!), seeing a lot of neat things,  and enjoying the Mayan Riviera winter (85 degrees, and no rain).

Some attractions we want to see are the Mayan ruins of Tulum (in the picture above), Chichen-itza (one of the seven wonders of the world), cenotes (giant sinkholes of freshwater that are popular to swim in), and the jungle itself–which is practically everywhere that the ocean isn’t.  We are so spoiled to be able to go on this trip!  We certainly don’t deserve it!

Pastor Chris will be picking us up to take us to the Baltimore/Washington Airport at 3:15am–a little payback, I say, for us having to do the same thing for him and his wife a couple of months ago!  Our flight leaves at 5:45am,  and after a short layover in Houston, we fly to Cancun, arrive at 11:15am, and drive 2 hours south to Tulum.  And I had better stop now–I don’t want to tell the story before we get there!  Our hotels have internet, so I bet we will post at least once from Mexico.

Our casita on the Caribbean