This post is a bit behind the times as we actually left Mexico on April 30 at the end of our six months in Playa del Carmen, but I wanted to make sure to include these photos. These stones are at the exit to the Xacarat park, where we rode our beach cruiser bikes so many times, and we'd thought they'd make fitting goodbye photos from when we first landed in town. We truly enjoyed our extended winter season in Mexico, even more than we anticipated. We're visiting with relatives in the US now so will be taking a blogging vacation for a bit.
Hope everyone has a fantastic summer, wherever you are!
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On Friday we took a day trip to Puerto Morelos, a fishing village just 30 minutes north of Playa del Carmen. I didn't know until putting together this post that there is an important marine terminal at Puerto Morelos; it's actually the largest sea port in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo (source: Wikipedia). We walked over to the ADO bus station here in Playa and bought our tickets, which cost us just $24 MXN (less than $1.75 USD) each, an incredible deal for such a comfortable "first class" bus. Immediately after boarding, it began raining, then pouring. Since it looked a little threatening out before we left our rental, I'd checked two weather sites before we made the decision to go; one of which said 40% chance of rain (MSNBC weather app) the other 0% (weather.com). Zero percent?!? I think the Weather Channel is too busy focusing on winter storms in the US to get it even close to right here in Mexico! Fortunately, we soon drove out of the rain as we headed north, and when we arrived at our stop, it was a bit cloudy but not raining. The Puerto Morelos bus stop is at the highway. There are actually three parts to the town, but we were headed towards the beach or "Antiguo (old) Puerto Morelos", the charming part of town, in other words, and the part that attracts tourists. To get to the coast from the highway, we had a choice of taking a taxi or walking approximately 1.8 miles one way. If you know us, you know we walked! One side of the long, straight road is a nice sidewalk/bike path, but with no shade. The side we walked on was unpaved but shadier. As we walked the sky got brighter and brighter, and by the time we got to the beach, it was completely sunny, as it remained for the rest of the day. There was an attractive mangrove lagoon beside the road, and a couple of signs warned of the possibility of crocodiles. This surely reminded us of Ambergris Caye in Belize. Fortunately, we didn't see any. I took my chances on this small fishing dock. Briefly. Before too long, we arrived at the beach side of town, where there is a central city park. Of course I had to pose in front of the sign. Not sure who this guy was, but I'm sure he's important. I didn't see a plaque! A short walk across the park, and we were looking at the absolutely stunning Caribbean Sea. And the beautiful Mesoamerican barrier reef (the same one we used to see from our condo on Ambergris Caye, Belize every day) is very close to land here, just 100 meters off-shore. The reef is part of a National Marine Park, and as such, you must have a guide to visit it for its protection. I love the brightly colored fishing boats. There are also boats taking folks out to snorkel at the reef. I was struck by this sign explaining that they do not rake the beach of sea grass along the shore here since it helps prevent erosion and helps feed the birds. The seaweed may not look pristine, but it is good for the health of the coastline, and that's far more important than appearances. Here's one place that Mexico is getting it right! We stepped out on this section of beach and checked out an impressive sand sculpture and two lighthouses to the north. This leaning lighthouse is well-known for its uniqueness, and I found it incredibly charming. It even provided some shade for visitors enjoying the beach! This sign explained that the lighthouse was tipped in 1967 by Hurricane Beulah (which I'd never heard of) and has withstood other hurricanes since without falling. Pretty amazing! I'm guessing this is the newer lighthouse standing straight and tall, and farther from the ocean's shore. Looking north, the beach is absolutely gorgeous and seems made for walking. Here's another fantastic sand sculpture right in front of the park. They'd put a tent over it to keep rain off. We knew we'd come back to the beach in a bit, so we decided to walk around town a little. First we headed south of the square and came across this colorful mural. And this adorable hut caught my eye. I had read about this Mayan flea market, but we didn't go in. I'm sure there are some interesting items, but with our backpacks and pack-lightly philosophy, we just don't have much carrying capacity. Loved the brightly colored blankets hanging outside, though. I was starting to get hungry after all this walking, so we cut back out to the beach and started walking north, looking for a place to stop to eat. This restaurant associated with a hotel right on the beach looked like it would fill the bill just fine. A million dollar view for sure! I ordered the "Mixto Coctele" (mixed seafood cocktail), which was packed with shrimp, octopus, fish, and avocado too. The sauce was not spicy at all, so I asked the waiter for some hot sauce, and he brought a nice little bowl of habanero sauce to the table. NOW we're talking! Barry got grilled fish a la diabla that came with some yummy sides. After enjoying lunch and a couple of tall cold ones, we walked back out to the street, then up the road north. Here we found the fancier area of town with numerous beautiful homes and stylish condo buildings, but nothing too huge or garish. The vast majority of buildings are no more than 2-3 stories high. There were plenty of trees and almost no passing cars. The peace and quiet was so very welcome after the often noisy streets of Playa. Several short east-west streets led back out to the gorgeous beach, so we took one last, fond look. And yes, people were swimming! Walking back to the town park, I noticed this small sign. Looks like it's mostly a bike rental place, but they have some great bike art and other things cycling related on their Facebook page. Got a "like" from me, of course! Our final stops were at one of several similar gift shops for a Puerto Morelos refrigerator magnet (maybe one day we'll have a fridge to put it on again!) and to this well-stocked and organized Alma Libre bookstore with mostly English-language books. They have a huge used book selection as well as some new books and a few other items. I bought a couple of inexpensive used paperbacks. Bookstores always make me a very happy camper! By this point our feet were getting tired, so it was time to make the hike back to the bus stop. At this point I was thankful for the chilly air conditioning in the ADO bus!
Puerto Morelos was a pleasant change from the hustle and bustle of Playa del Carmen, even though we love Playa as well -- the two are just very different environments. Since it's so easy to get to from PDC, we'll definitely head back to Puerto Morelos again before our time here in Quintana Roo is up. Sometimes being worlds away from the busy pace of a city is just what the doctor ordered. I finished up Part 1 of this post as we were approaching Jax Bar & Grill on Isla Mujeres. I had sent Cara a text from the ferry terminal telling her that we would indeed be on the 11:00 ferry as I'd estimated, so sure enough, she and Mary were sitting at Jax waiting for us when we walked up! Even though this was the first time I'd met Cara in person, I felt like I knew her already from all the emails and photos we'd exchanged. It was great to finally meet! She lives in Rhode Island so was missing the huge blizzard from winter storm Juno by being in Mexico. GOOD TIMING! After a drink and some good conversation at Jax, the four of us took off on foot to see Playa Norte, the popular north beach. Now THIS is a beach! Wide, white sugar sand, palm trees, aquamarine water...ahhhhhhh! There are several beach clubs on Playa Norte, and they were packing in the people on this perfect Wednesday as we continued walking. We had to weave our way among all the sun worshippers. Leaving Playa Norte, we saw the Corona sign. If a Corona commercial hasn't already been filmed here, one certainly could (and should) be! I mean, just look at this BEACH! After leaving the beautiful beach behind, we paid a quick visit to the Isla cemetery. As we've seen before in Latin America, many of the graves are decorated elaborately and colorfully. Next we walked around downtown, looking for a lunch spot as we chatted. The place Cara and Mary wanted to go was closed for lunch, but there were plenty of other choices. We ended up at Mamacita. We had a good waiter and had the place to ourselves. Most everyone else on the island was at the beach! We had an adorable visitor when we first arrived. The island dogs here are quite a bit smaller than the strays in Playa del Carmen. You can see how tiny she was next to my size 7.5 shoe! We tried to get all four of us in one photo with Cara's "selfie stick". The table was pretty wide, so the attempt was not the most successful, but I guess we're all there, barely! The food was yummy. I had shrimp tacos; Barry and Mary both had a chicken burrito that was loaded! Cara had some good looking shrimp ceviche. After a good lunch and a lot more chatting, the four of us continued down colorful Hildago Street, looking at a few souvenirs. Barry and I had thought we might buy a refrigerator magnet but couldn't agree on one so ended up not buying anything. When we reached the end of the street, we were back at the ferry terminal area. After bidding our new friends goodbye, Barry and I were able to hop onto the 3:30 pm Ultramar ferry just moments before it departed Isla. I forgot to mention in Part 1 that our round-trip tickets on the Ultramar cost $146 MXN each, or around $10 USD. Here are a few parting shots of the island. The low, puffy clouds were gorgeous! It really was a perfect day. A cool front ("Norte") kept the temperatures and humidity moderate -- oh so pleasant. The on-board musician played some fine tunes on our return trip. Very enjoyable! Isla Mujeres faded away behind us as we approached Cancún.... After the ferry ride, we ended up walking a good part of the way back to the ADO bus terminal as we couldn't find a local bus stop heading back that way. We finally did catch a bus, only to get off it a couple of blocks too early for the ADO bus. I was really glad I'd worn my clunky but sensible trail shoes instead of sandals with all the walking we ended up doing. The return trip on the ADO bus took us to the 5th Avenue station in Playa, not the 20th Street terminal we'd left from. That meant a longer walk back to our place and back to Paisley. It was pitch dark when we arrived home a bit after 6 pm, and I am sure Paisley was wondering where the heck we were! Too bad the Quintana Roo time change came just a few days later; it still would have been light if our excursion had occurred after the change. After finally getting to go out to do her doggie business and receiving a new chew bone Cara had brought down (thanks Cara!), Paisley seemed to forgive us for being gone all day. Here she is a few days later enjoying one of the new bones for her seventh birthday (February 2 -- Groundhog's Day!) We had such a great time visiting Isla Mujeres, and it was delightful meeting Cara and Mary. Maybe we'll have the chance to meet up with them again here in Mexico one day!
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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