Isla Mujeres 2011 – Day 1

Thu Jul 21, 2011
We went back to Isla Mujeres, an island north-west of the Cancun resort area. We stayed for nine beer/wine/food/adventure-filled days. This is Day 1 of our trip report.

“Ramsey” picked us up at 7. Nice ride in. Traffic a bit busy. Different this time in that our flight is at 11:45, and not “crack of dawn” like I usually do to us. JetBlue out of Boston. Direct. Three and a half hours and we be there baby! I said “Hasta luego” to the damn deer flies and we got in the car and went.

Ramsey is a born-again Christian. He got saved last year apparently. Glad we skirted that subject. He was very eager to tell us. I wonder if this means we won’t get our champagne on the way back.

We checked in fine. Both of us got frisked at the scanner. I can see where you might be into this if you were gay.

Flight down was fine. No kids behind us. Landing a bit bouncy though. Always seems to be cross-winds coming into Cancun. Then they ran out of customs forms on the plane. So kind of messy at the area just before customs as we all crammed in to fill out our forms there. Then we claimed our luggage, which was already being picked up by security of course. Got that and then went in line. Had three older women in front of us confused as hell. They had luggage that kept falling over. Each time they hesitated, people tried to go around them. We were pretty much last in line.

They actually do a full luggage scan as you LEAVE. So we took longer to check OUT than we did to check IN at Logan.

Finally got out, and our driver was there with our sign. Only there was another name below ours…WTF. So, there was another couple to pick up, but they weren’t there yet. Huh? Supposed to be a dedicated ride. So we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally we just left. Had a driver and his co-worker. We drop the co-worker off on the way out, and then we leave the airport.

And then we return to the airport. Turns out the other couple got their luggage lost, so that’s where they were. WTF. Did I say that already? So we pick up the co-worker again, and he explains he tried to help them out. Guess the couple says they have to wait, can’t go to their hotel (even though the airline would certainly run their luggage over to them). So we left without them. Again. Which is good because if some dumb-ass, spoiled, American bitch got in the van with us and started whining about her luggage, the flight, the food, etc, I’d have to toss her out.

You have to appreciate an airport that features this as their most prominent “welcome” sign.

We get to the ferry, and the mini-bar is gone!!! This is bad!! The next ferry was in 15 minutes, so we just hung out. Now, they have a “locals” line, and a “tourists” line. We got in the tourists line, and were pretty much the only ones there. Except for a small group in front of us who it turns out were probably locals too. Needless to say we were last on the boat! But no biggie.

Had a singer on the way over which is always cool.

Got there and found our driver “Lalo”, who agreed to take us to the grocery store (used my Spanish…getting better!)

At Ixchel, all I can say is WOW. Place is beautiful. This is going to work out good, me thinks. Initial front view.

This is the other side, Ixchel “east” I believe.

This was on top of what we would eventually refer to as the “vampire house” nest door. We could see it as we walked down the stairs from our unit.

Once we got settled, we went to eat at Sunset Grill, which, prior to last night, was a favorite place. This time not so good. Wrong wine, Melissa got the wrong food, and service was terrible. Even at the end the dude wanted me to “tell” him what to put in for tip. Hello? Shut the front door! Probably won’t eat there again at this rate, but we’ll see. Could have just been a fluke.

Of course the cats are still around.

Now, bring on the sunset view!

Tough dinner seats for this couple, eh?

Let the goofy self-pics begin.

Night view of the pool. Nice design actually. You can hang in the shallows on the left, or swim in the deeper stuff. Too bad there’s no shade like at Nautibeach.

After a nighttime swim, we sipped wine on our massive wrap-around patio, and then crashed.