Playa del Carmen 2016

I've got some exciting pictures to share with you all today.  Last month, Jordan and I took a vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico!  Gosh, it was amazing and I can honestly say I miss the beach!  Even though our trip came right after the holidays, it was a good time to be in Mexico.  The temperature was in the 60's and 70's every day and we didn't have to fight a bunch of crowds. 

I'll dive right in with pictures for y'all.

Top Left: Plane selfie!  Our flight out was really great because the flight was only half full.  Jordan and I had 3 seats to spread out comfortably.

Bottom Left: Upon check-in at the resort, they hand each guest a flute of champagne.  We stayed at the Royal all inclusive resort.  This was our first "all inclusive" experience and it felt similar to a cruise.

Top Right: The lobby was huge and they had fresh flower arrangements all over the place!

Bottom Right: Day 1 of vacation!

We booked this trip with our friends, Mallory and Nathan a long while ago.  At this point in the trip, they were still traveling, but I was looking forward to seeing our friends.  

At check-in, Jordan and I realized that our room wasn't quite ready.  The representative checking us in tried to up-sell us into a larger room.  I was pretty reluctant to spend more money but after much negotiation, we got the price of the large room down and we splurged.  Maybe it was the champagne that swayed my decision making skills, but the large room came with a dedicated cabana.  As a fair-skinned lady, shade is my friend.  Needless to say, the large room did not disappoint.

Top Left: This was the view of our room from the front door.  We had so much space!  After asking the clerk, I learned that our room was more than 1300 square feet which is nearly the size of our house at home.  I mean...wow.

Top Right: Our bathroom/shower/jet tub.  The shower had a steamer which was pretty cool and the jet tub was a nice treat as well!

Bottom Left: Our room and silly Jordan

Bottom Right: The balcony was just gorgeous!  A lot of people don't care about the balcony when they are on trips but I think it's a fantastic perk.  We spent several mornings out there and it was spacious enough for all four of us to visit.

I've got to remember room number 742.  I might even ask for this room if we ever go back!

After Mallory and Nathan arrived, we all finally started to unwind.  The priority for Mal and I was to hit the beach.  We spent much of the day in our cabana just relaxing and visiting.  I'd downloaded a few books to listen to on the beach but I found the waves just as enjoyable to listen to.

Beach selfies!

These are a few pictures of our resort.  Everything was meticulously maintained.  I'm fairly certain that I saw a staff member inspecting the shrubbery several times during our stay.

Top Left: This was the central building at our resort.  So pretty!

Bottom Left: The cabana that came with our room was delightful.  Each cabana had a plush cushion and curtains.  Since the resort was only at about 70% capacity, we didn't have any cabana neighbors.  

Top Right: Mallory and I finally started to get into relaxation mode and made friends with Luis the bar tender.  After debating what kind of drink would be best, we settled on Luis personal invention.  For lack of a better name, we called it "The Luis" and toasted!  Interesting fact about our wrist bands: We learned that our clear bracelets meant that we were first timers.  Black bracelets indicate that you are a returning visitor (>1 visits) and gold bracelets mean that you are a member of the resort.

Bottom Right: I teased Jordan when he packed a racket ball and tennis ball, but it turned out to be a great idea for the guys.  In this picture, Jordan is hanging out in the shallow end of the pool playing catch with Nathan.  This wasn't a private pool, but it was tucked back in the corner of the resort and right next to our room and felt very secluded.

On our first full day of vacation the most productive thing that we did was book our week's excursions.  Our travel agent recommended  that we only use Lomas Travel.  There are all sorts of people that can/will sell "excursions" but Lomas is one of the few companies that have a positive and professional reputation.  Prior to the trip I felt like we'd dropped the ball by not pre-planning our excursion.  Maybe it was the slow time of year, but we had NO trouble booking activities one day 1.

Day 2 of our trip, we all went to Xplor about 30 minutes from the resort.  Xplor is kind of like a vacation theme park.  You can do whatever activity you want, as much as you want, with a flat entry fee.  We showed up around 10am and left at 5pm so we had plenty of time to do all kinds of fun stuff!

These are a few pictures of us on the ATVs ("amphibious vehicles").  They were fun, but the four of us decided not to invest too much time there.  We thought it would be more like mudding in the jungle, but after you've been on a jitney ride at the lake, it's no comparison.

We spent much of the day zip-lining, swimming in a cave, and racing paddle boats.  The zip-lining was my favorite but it all of the activities were a blast.  

Top Left: Jordan on the zip-line.  I have to say, it's an awesome feeling zip-lining through a waterfall!

Top Right: The four of us in the cave!  Mallory and I felt hesitant getting in the water, but it actually seemed okay with the underwater lights.  We did, however, spot a few nests of bats overhead which made us nervous.

Bottom Left: Waterfall picture!

Bottom Right: Paddle boats!  And they mean "paddle" not ores. We got a good arm work out but it was still fun.

These are more goofy pictures.

Thanks to science class, we remembered the difference between stalagmites and stalactites.  Tip: These kinds of resorts ask that you bring bio-friendly sunscreen.  It's much cheaper to buy it at home than in a gift shop!  I'd also recommend that you bring your own water shoes!

Xplor really had a good system for pictures.  Since each guest moves around the park at a different rate, they assign you a helmet number to keep track of people/groups.  Throughout the park they've set up cameras that can sense when the helmet is in proximity.  Each helmet has a unique chip and triggers the cameras to snap a picture.  At the end of the day, the system automatically will group all your photos into one easy place.  Very cool.

Anyway...that's a long story to say that Mallory and I enjoyed a short photo shoot while waiting for the guys.

Later in the week Jordan and Nathan decided to go scuba diving.  Us girls weren't really interested in diving so we took the opportunity to get more beach time!  Doesn't get much better than blue sky, blue water, white sand, and a dear friend!

I just loved the pretty beaches.

This is sort of a random collection of pictures in the middle of our trip but I wanted to share.

Top Left: We got to know our beach waiter, Manuel, who brought us drinks.  Mallory and I tried all kinds of beverages but we both favored the watermelon cooler.  

Top Right: This a picture of the 4 of us on the bus heading to swim with the dolphins.  It took us several tries to finally get this picture in focus because our driver was a little wild.

Bottom Left: On one of our beach days, Mallory and I went to one of the resort restaurants and asked our server, Paco, if they had tiramisu.  The restaurant didn't have any, but Paco told us to wait, "Paco's got it handled".  Evidently, he went to great lengths to get us tiramisu from a neighboring resort restaurant.  We were both so impressed!  And boy, the tiramisu was delicious!  

Middle Bottom: We love playing games with Mallory and Nathan so we played several rounds of Uno during the trip.  Not to rub it in, but the girls dominated.

Bottom Right: This sweet kitty just showed up while we were all hanging out by the pool.  He/She must be the resort kitty because we saw him lounging on a balcony chair in the sun several times.  For whatever reason, this kitty LOVED Mallory!

Our last excursion of the trip was to swim with the Dolphins on Maroma island!  Our dolphin companions were named Estel and Scarlet!  Jordan and I did the dolphin experience on our honeymoon and loved it!  This dolphin swim was equally as fun as the last time.  I recommend "Dolphin Discoveries" if you're looking for a trustworthy company.  

Top Left: The four of us visiting as we waited for our shuttle to Maroma beach.
Bottom Left and Right: These are a few white sand pictures as we waited on our dolphin instructor.  Despite the dark pictures, it turned out to be a beautiful day.

We had such a fun time playing with the dolphins so we decided to purchase one of their photo packages.  Below are several great shots of our morning with Estel and Scarlet.

Scarlet was much older than Estel by about 10 years so you could tell that the dolphins had their own unique personality.  Cracked me up!

They are such beautiful creatures!

I think one of my most favorite part about playing with the dolphins was the splash fight. 

After our dolphin morning, we'd planned to go parasailing.  I think it would be such a cool experience but the day turned out to be too windy.  It wasn't meant to be but now I have something to look forward to on our next vacation. 

Top Left: Jordan and I took a selfie at Chef's Plate, one of the restaurants that came with our suite.  We ate at all the restaurants in our resort and I think Asiana was one of the best places.  We all enjoyed a few Asiana meals except I learned that I do not like sake...  Chef's Plate had great food but you have to be prepared for a traditional meal that takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.  

Top Right: We ventured outside the resort to visit some of the shops and vendors on the street.  Much of the stores sell the same kind of stuff but I enjoyed the walk.  We bought a few pieces of Mexican dishware and some fresh pure vanilla!  If you've never tried Mexican vanilla, it's amazing!  The Mexico experience outside the resort on the street is totally different so I had to brace myself or the hustlers trying to make a sale. 

Bottom Left: The is actually a picture of Jordan and I at the neighboring resort.  We did some exploring to see how our resort compared and it was definitely educational.  The neighboring resort looked pretty clean but there was limited staff and the beach was terrible! At this point, I was extremely glad that our travel agent helped us book our trip.  I highly recommend Ski Haus Travel.  

The below picture was one of the last foursome selfies of our trip.  Mallory and I genuinely felt sad to go home.

It's a long day of travel no matter where you go but Jordan was impressed with our return flight.  It had an interactive geo-maps system that was pretty dang cool.  I was more impressed with the view of the sun set and then Dallas city lights from my window seat.  Even though it was a magical trip, I was glad to be back on American soil.  

Mom and Dad were very kind to babysit Abby while we were gone.  The arrangement works out great for us and Abby seems to enjoy it tremendously.  "Sophie" is a wild dog but she and Abby love each other.  With our nugget and luggage in tow, we finally headed home. 

Is it too soon to start thinking about our next trip?...