Back from Mexico

DH and I flew out Friday morning and got back home around 9 or so last night.

The trip was an award he won from his company for being national consultant of the quarter. All the winners for the year got this trip, so I got to meet some of DH's coworkers. Most were from Minnesota, which is where the company is based.

Everything was absolutely free. The airfare, the hotel, any meals eaten at the hotel, unlimited bar at the hotel, etc, etc. Basically, the only thing we paid for was souvenirs, and the trip we took to see Chichen Itza. And since the company gave each couple $200 spending money, our trip to Chichen Itza was really paid for by them as well.

This is the hotel where we stayed: The Royal Playa Del Carmen. As I mentioned, we had the all inclusive package, which meant pretty much everything except the spa services was free. DH even got a free massage, that the hotel gave him because they had to downgrade our room from what we were supposed to have.

We got to Playa del Carmen about 3 Friday afternoon, just at check in time. Got settled into the hotel, and wandered around checking it out. At 7, we had a dinner (only required activity all weekend) with the other members of our group. That ended up going on until 11 or so, and then we crashed.

Saturday we mostly vegged out. Did a little window shopping on the main tourist shopping street, 5th Avenue, which was one block from the hotel. Then DH had his massage, while I read in the hotel bar and waited on him.

After that, DH wanted to do the beach. I'm not a big beach person, but I went out there with him for awhile. I didn't go in the water, I sat on the beach and read my book for maybe 45 minutes or an hour. I then went in because I'd forgotten to pack sunscreen and I didn't want to burn. DH stayed on the beach with his book.

I headed back to our room and filled up the jacuzzi (yep, had our own private one in our room). I found Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the tv, so I jacuzzied, read, and occasionally paid attention to Harry Potter until DH came in a couple hours later. Then he had a turn in the jacuzzi, and we went to dinner. After dinner, we headed back to 5th Avenue, which was much, much better at night. I bought a small Mexican Amber pin carved in the shape of a butterfly.

Sunday was our trip to Chichen Itza. It was a bloody long bus ride, about three hours each way. We left at 8 am and didn't get back until 8 pm. The tour also took us to a cenote (water filled sinkhole) where you could swim if you wanted. We didn't. Then lunch at a buffet, and finally to Chichen Itza. We spent three hours there, the first two with our tour guide, and then one to look around on our own. I think we saw everything except the sacred cenote there. I really enjoyed the site, but I could have done without the long bus ride! I think my favorite of the buildings was the observatory, which was also the only one you could climb. DH liked seeing the sacred ball court.

When we finally made it back to our hotel, it was past time for dinner. We met a couple of people from our group in the restaurant, and sat with them. After dinner, we headed back to 5th Avenue to get tshirts and a piece of amber for DH. We managed to get the tshirts, but the amber place was closed.

Sunday morning was time to leave. Our shuttle to the airport left at 10:50, which was late enough that we had time to run back and get Rob the amber he wanted, as the place opened at 10. We got his amber, and sat for a few minutes in the hotel VIP Lounge before we had to be in the lobby to catch our shuttle.

We were a bit worried, as check in at the airport took so long, but our flight was delayed 20 minutes, so I even had time to buy DD a doll and DS a ceramic cowboy with a cowboy scene in his tummy before we had to board.
Unfortunately, our connecting flight in Miami was NOT delayed, and retrieving our luggage took so long that we nearly missed the flight. One more minute, and we would have. But we made it, and even touched down in Atlanta early. And today, my dad, who was keeping the kids, brings them home.

Now, I am off to find breakfast, as due to our flight schedule, I haven't had anything other than snacks since breafast yesterday!