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Sharon & I planned this rather odd, extended trip to Mexico. It started with a purchase of a 1991 VW Vanagon a few months back. It’s cherry.
We took off for the border the afternoon of June 14th and arrived in Matamoros, MX that evening. The border is still a dead zone once the sun goes down, thanks to cartels and a generous amount of bad, mostly hyped press. We found our predictable first meal of tampequeno then settled in for the night at a “No-tell” hotel.
15/6 – We prepped some tacos with the leftovers from last night, wrapped ’em in foil and popped them atop the VW motor. 110 kilometer at 90 kph and “ta da”, you got a tasty mid-morning snack which makes you forget that you’re in the middle of a dry, arid, just north of the Tropic o’ Cancer sweat box. We made it to Tampico by early afternoon, headed to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the surf. The water inTampico, away from their main port, is super clear and pretty fun with a little tequila. No, really, just a bit. With the hot Tampico sun setting quickly, we headed to “No-tell” #2.
16/6 – Normally we get pretty confused getting out of the south side of Tampico but today we exited like pros. I guess after 15 + years of this we’re starting to get this down. In no time Sharon was commandeering the VW down the Emerald Coast with Veracruz in her sights. 30 – 40 kilometers of beach side speed bumps. Somewhere along this part we passed near the town of Chachalaca, (Cha – cha – la’ – kah). Have an adult beverage or two and it’s quite fun to say over and over. So fun that we named our VW Vanagon “Chachalaca”, “Cha – cha” for short. Chacha got us handily into old Veracruz. We left her somewhere on the streets and we proceeded to check out the old port, which is pretty hopping at sunset. We had a decent dinner “al fresco” in the old square, walked out to the pier again then checked in to “No-tell” #3.
17/6 – Amazing! Again we exited the city in flawless fashion.
We didn’t want to jinx ourselves but we felt down-right blessed with the
good fortune of natural GPS. South of Veracruz is fertile, yummy green
hills that the jungle has claimed. The further south you go, the moist
jungle also claims more and more of the road. We made it to the southern
most part of the Gulf of Mexico and pulled into Tuxla to restock on much needed
Pesos. After a bit of shenanigans on the streets of Tuxla, we headed down
the road to Catemaco. We gave the “No-tells” a break and stayed at a
B&B I found a couple of years ago when I visited “solo” for Dia de los
Muertos. After settling in we grabbed a couple of towels and went to find
Playa Escondido (Hidden Beach). Man, Escondido is an understatement. More like
Playa with a Harry Potter cloak of dissapear-o. Chacha handled the rutted
“trail” like an old burro; slow and undoubting. Eventually the playa
presented itself and the journey was well worth the search. Sharon &
I and a sliver of volcanic sand beach nestled in between mountains. No
one else. Yeah, buddy! (The following has been edited by
sensors). We swam.
Chacha got us back to Catemaco by sundown. We found a street side
kitchen, ordered a couple of plates of Al Pastor Alambre and ended up “High
5-ing” the chef. We were mutually impressed. Sleep was a short walk away.
At least we thought. A long, sweaty, itchy, un-air conditioned night was
what we were presented with.
18/6 – It was quite easy to get up early. Forget the second B in B&B. Chacha took us on our journey that started heading Northward up the other side of the gulf. The land is swampy on both sides of the road. Not icky swampy but “Gee, that’s pretty out there, please keep your eyes on the road” swampy. Today the road ended in Ciudad del Carmen. As best we could tell, except for fishing, this was a business community. It was a busy island town but… not exactly our cup o’ tea. We settled on eating at a Chili’s. Yeah, a “I want my baby-back, baby-back, baby-back” Chili’s. Bad idea. The corporate branding of Chili’s didn’t apply south of the border. They couldn’t even get chips and queso right. Really??? Out the door and on to “No-tell” #4.
19/6 – Daybreak. Headed north. We stopped in Campeche. Pretty cool, uber-historic town. My buddy Ted Barsalou, (Alamo Music, downtown – see him for all your musical needs – shameless promotion) turned me on to a buddy of his that lived in Campeche. We tried to meet, drink a beer or two and tell lies but… it just didn’t work out. Maybe next time? Still, we walked around old Campeche and decided we needed to come back. Not today, but soon. We scooted out of town and made it to Merida. We love this city. Merida has a scrumptious restaurant that we have eaten at numerous times on numerous trips. We parked near it and went searching for it based upon vague, tequila fueled memories. Nothing… We hailed a cab and described the place. He pulled over a few times and relayed our description to vendors on the street. “It’s… right over… maybe…” You get the idea. Finally one lady knew exactly where this wonderful, now closed, restaurant used to be. We had indeed walked right past it in the first place. A sad dark cloud appeared over Sharon & Donnie as they slumped and dragged their dusty feet back towards Chacha.
We made it to the East side of Merida with the intention of
making it to Puerto Morelos the next day, a full two days early. After a
bit of “creative” driving, we stopped in to a street side, open air
restaurant. The owner, also a VW bus owner, ogled Chacha with great
desire. We figured there was a mutual, unmentioned bond and proceeded to
get the attention reserved for patrons that are usually the only ones in the
establishment. Overlooking the fact that we WERE the only customers they
had, it still seemed sort of special. I think I saw a tear in the owners
eye as we drove off. He gently patted his own VW as he looked down and
shook his head. His bus had seen better days.
Enter “No-tell” #5.
20/6 – I powered up my cell phone this morning. International
data and roaming charges are a killer but today I needed to get word to Paul
and Joan, owners of Villa Encantamar, the house we will be renting for 5
weeks. I sent them an email to ask if they minded if we showed up at
there home in Puerto Morelos two days early, then just as quickly power the
phone back down. I would have done this from one of the other places we
had stayed but the “Free WiFi” signs must of had some other meaning that I lost
in translation.
We headed to the quaint city of Villadolid by way of Chicken Pizza, er…Chichen
Itza. Chichen Itza is of unquestionable archeological importance.
Now that I’ve stated that, I never have to go back again. Always
wanted to go but if you’re going to rope off all the cool stuff and not allow you
to “walk where the Mayans did” then I could have just bought the book and
looked at the pictures. I knew this before we went but it somehow still
pissed me off. We left before the parade of tourist busses showed
up. On to Villadolid. Yummy Mayan restaurant and slow Mexico
charm. I powered up the iPhone and got clearance from Paul and Joan to
get to the house early. Cool! And no extra charge! However,
this joy came with an unforeseen price. Just wait, it’s coming.
We took the “free” road to Puerto Morelos. A free road turns any one hour
drive into a four hour side-show. 10 speed bumps for every village; and
there were plenty of villages.
We arrived here at the house at about 4pm.
Villa Encantamar’s back yard is literally the Caribbean. The waves are a
constant soundtrack. There’s a fresh-ish water pool in the front
surrounded by a cement privacy wall. It’s a 2 story house, also cement,
with room-top access. We were here two years ago but soon we found a few
discrepancies that were not a part of our previous visit. Little things…
like no phone, which meant no internet, a broken AC unit in the upstairs
bedroom, a forest green pool, a refrigerator of “stuff” that used to be
food and Bruno the attentive care taker was nowhere to be found.
Nope, not gonna freak out.
21/6 – I iPhone texted Paul about the phone and internet last night and was greeted this morning by the local phone/internet guys. The situation was corrected in an hour. Meanwhile, we carried out the contents of the fridge. The AC repair guy showed later and within an hour… it broke again. All the while; no sign of Bruno. We hid the rest of the day in our bedroom, the one with the working AC. It’s pretty hot down here this time of year so we entered an extended siesta till night fall.
22/6 – We got ready to go to the airport to pick up our first guests, my daughter Lauren and her hubby Josh. Upon leaving all the power went out; Not just here but evidently the whole town. Lovely. At the Cancun airport we waited with anticipation to greet Lauren and Josh. And we waited. And waited. Turned on the iPhone and texted as to their whereabouts. I picked the wrong one of three terminals to wait at. Gee, sorry about that, kids. All that aside, we took them for the experience of Mexico grocery shopping. Once home, our power was back on. Just for kicks I tried to revive the AC unit upstairs and for some reason it worked! I guess it needed the jolt of power loss to coerce it into functioning. I set the temperature and hid the remote so as to not tempt fate. Oceanside cocktails were in order.
23/6 – We packed up and headed to Yal Ku for a day of sun and snorkeling. Yal Ku is a gorgeous, hidden bay in Akumal where the fresh water springs mix with the ocean salt water. Clear, clean water with plenty of fish and underwater life. We rented a private palapa, swam and enjoyed a number of refreshments throughout the afternoon. The heat seems to have given us a break and continued to stay tolerable for several days.
24/6 – Hmmm. We did something. I just don’t remember what. Whatever it was it was all at the house. Chill day.
25/6 – We got out early today and headed for Cozumel. That involves Chacha taking us to Playa del Carmen. Parking and walking the length of 5th avenue to the Ferry for a 45 minute ride to Cozumel, grab a cab and zip down the coastline to a little hang out of ours called Playa Corona. Josh and Sharon snorkeled while Lauren and I got to catch up with each other. Several rounds of cervesas, nachos and other snackies and it was a nice chill out day. We headed back to catch the ferry and eat dinner in Playa del Carmen. Dining al fresco from a second story restaurant made for some great people watching; plus dinner was fabuloso. As we continued to saunter 5th avenue Lauren couldn’t help taking advantage of a “fish” pedicure. Sit down, stick your bare feet in a tank of minnows and, well, let ’em feed off what your feet don’t need any longer. Sometimes it’s good to be a guy.
26/6 – Bummer. Lauren and Josh’s short stay came to an end today. It was great to spend time with them both. We left them curbside at the correct terminal and headed back to the casa to recharge. We have 4 more guests coming in soon so we decided on another “do nothing” day.
