Filed under: Mexico
We’re both lying here swinging in the hammock for likely our last time before we leave tomorrow…and I gotta say I’m a little sad to be leaving this place. In just a few days I have fallen in love with Playa (and even more so with Scott, lol)…and cannot wait to come back. Scott has even started researching for our next trip, hopefully within the year. This place is about as close to perfect as I’ve ever found.
Today we just stuck around town, having breakfast at the zocalo (town square). We found the food cart with the longest line and stood there waiting to order fresh shrimp tacos and coke (at 10 a.m., lol). The wait was worth it and we were stuffed for just a few pesos. I know, street meat scares a lot of people, but if the locals eat there it can’t be too bad because they can’t afford to get sick, right? After stuffing our face standing in the street we headed down to the very end of Quinta and down to the ferry pier to Cozumel. We contemplated for the last time if we’d go over or not and decided we just don’t really have the time left to enjoy it properly but have definitely added it to our ‘must visit’ places for the next trip. We watched the ferry leave and started back up Quinta.
Back at the hotel we grabbed some towels and decided we were going to head to Mamita’s Beach Club for a few hours with our free passes. Just as we were getting back through the hotel gate the skies opened and the rain started pouring down, the first time since we’ve been here. It was actually quite refreshing and since the maid was in our room when we c;imbed up there we sat under a palapa on the hammock on the rooftop deck waiting unti she was done with the room. We changed and headed out to Mamita’s finally when the rain subsided and the sun came back our in full force in about 15 minutes. At Mamita’s the place was only moderately packed so we easily found some chairs and a palapa. I got some tanning in while Scott got some shade, lol…but by the time the midday sun was at its highest I was ducking under the palapa for a little respite from the rays too. We ordered a few drinks (including a $7 daiquiri) and headed to Carboncitos for lunch.
Carboncitos is back towards the other end of Quinta (where we were earlier) and is highly recommended. We grabbed a table on the street and ordered some cervezas while we waited for our food. They bring complimentary tortilla chips with a very spicy (picante) sauce and also some other sauce that sort of reminded me of hummus. We decided to share a dish called parradilla which is supposed to serve two people anyways. It’s a sampling of beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, peppers, onions, mushrooms, cactus, and some other stuff I can’t even remember with tortillas…what a feed! We were totally stuffed. After we ate we stopped across the street to buy some souvenirs, including these awesome ‘jelly fish’ lamps I’ve heard so much about. While I did bargain the price down a little Scott figured I should’ve held out for more…and he’s probably right, but at the time I was hot and stuffed and just wanted my lamp, lol.
We started back up Quinta towards the hotel (we spend a lot of time on this street, lol) and ended up taking a LONG siesta (accidentally, lol). At around 6 we finally got ourselves together and decided we HAD to go to John Gray’s Place before we missed the chance. The place is a beautiful little spot located just off Quinta on Calle Corazon and we took a small outside table under a tree. I started with a thin crust goat cheese pizza with spinach and mushrooms. Scott started with steak tartar. They also brought some garlic pesto loaf. I also had the drink special which was a mango mojito and Scott went with a Chilean red wine.For our main course I had pan seared duck breast which seemed to be served on some mashed sweet potato with oven baked baby veg. Scott had fresh local fish with olive butter. The meal was delicious and highly recommended, though it does come on the pricey side. We decided not to order dessert but rather wait until we got up the street to Ah Cacao.
Ah Cacao is a chocolate lovers dream! They have REAL chocolate and REAL coffee – all local and fresh and tasty. I had a iced mocachino (about a million times better than Tim Horton’s, Starbucks and Second Cup combined) and Scott had a real chocolate milk. I also had a brownie and icecream and Scott tried a real spicy chocolate icecream which is the traditional way chocolate is served around here – with spices! Yumm-o! We bought some cocoa, coffee and vanilla to bring home too.
Continuing up Quinta we kept getting asked to come visit everyones little store (as per usual)…they always say ‘honeymooners, come into my store, I give you best deal, 99 percent off’, lol…it’s getting much easier to say ‘no gracias’ and continue on…though tomorrow I do have to do some last minute shopping, lol. Back at the hotel we cooled off in the a/c and contemplated if we’d go out for drinks or not. I got a little caught up in reading all the news on swine flu…and suddenly inventing symptoms, lol…but Scott assured me neither of us has any symptoms and are fine, lol. I’m actually more worried about what’s going to happen at the airport and if we’ll be screened or quarantined…this is apparently a very serious thing, though we haven’t heard a thing about it in this part of Mexico since there have been no reported cases in Quintana Roo state, though there have been some from the Yucatan. I think we’ll go for precautionary blood tests when we’re back. I did have my flu shot a month ago, but Scott didn’t…but they say that would only help with some of the human flu symptoms…oh well, I think it’s being played as more serious than it really is.
Anyways, off to bed I guess…Scott is already asleep next to me in the hammock, lol. We should pick one up to take home…though I’m not sure where we could put it, lol. Up early tomorrow to pack, eat our last breakfast and lunch, shop and take the bus into Cancun around 2 o’clock or so to give us at least three hours before our flight (just in case we need to pick up some medical masks, lol). Scheduled to arrive in Edmonton around 11 p.m. and spend the night at TravelLodge before the long road ‘home’ to Hay River. We’ll try to post more photos in the next few days.
Leanne
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