May 2008

Finally, a trip where we could both go to Isla!  I think the waiters and coconut telegraph were extremely confused by 2008.  They'd seen me solo on the island off and on for four years and wondered what had happened to the husband!   

Unfortunately, the reason we could travel to Isla as a duet in 2008 was because Craig finally got fed up with working for the crazy mom and pop company and told mom she could take the job and . . . . well, you get the jest of it.  For those of you who've followed my daily diary (not so daily anymore) for awhile, those were the people who took us on the luxury trip to Cabo.  Nuff said. 

So we were hanging out at home in 2008 while Craig searched for a job.  Sometime in mid-March, I was dreaming and plugged some May dates into an airfare seach.  I couldn't believe it.  Up popped a roundtrip flight to Cancun in mid-May for $224.  That's including tax!  I quickly consulted Craig and he said why not?  It must have been the K-Mart Blue Light Special!  So I quickly booked two roundtrips to Cancun for a total of less than $450. Those were the days! (Actually, a gallon of gas then had skyrocketed to $4.50, so airfares were not reflecting the actual fuel prices as reported in the media. There was a lack of demand for those seats because the U.S. was in the middle of a full-blown recession.)

Feeling guilty about rushing off to Mexico in the midst of his job hunt, we decided to give ourselves a limited budget on this trip and book cheaper lodging. 

For the first week of our trip, we stayed in an upper level room at the new Mar Y Sol.  It was nice enough, meticulously clean, and the view was outstanding!

The beach out front was raked clean every morning.  We were a short walk south of Playa Lancheros, and the new Captain Dulce property was starting to develop right next door to the south.  A brand new dock had just been completed, and workers were building a palapa type pavilion at the top of the property.  We thought maybe a wealthy person with a penchant for collecting nautical antiques (which were scattered about the property) was developing a large estate.  A local friend told us he'd heard it was going to be a museum venue for daytrippers, but I thought that was far-fetched.  Sounded like a strange island rumor to me!  (Evidently, I suffer from a lack of imagination.)

We took advantage of our mid-island location and our morning walks included loops past Garrafon Park and Punta Sur.

El Pueblito was running their guacamole and 4 beers for $10 US at the time.  I'm trying to remember if they were still running the same deal when we stayed at La Joya in January 2011?

 

The Shellhouse was on our morning route.

 Along with this exotic Punta Sur property.  It almost looked mid-Eastern.

Guadalupana was continuing to grow.  We were on the island in April 2006 when the encampment started.

One morning, this conch and shell washed up on the beach out front.  I think the fishermen who left from the beach early in the morning would clean the conchs and throw the empty shells into the water.  I collected two small conch shells during our week at Mar y Sol.

Most days, we'd wade the beach up past the new Isla Palace and back, sometimes stopping for lunch at Playa Lancheros.

 

This photo taken from the lounge chair at Mar y Sol looks like it could be a Corona ad if only there was a bottle on the stump and a hot girl in a bikini taking a shower next to the palm!

Some evenings, we'd have our own sunset party on the beach out front.  The dogs from Playa Indios would often join us.

At the end of the week, we packed our bags for the move to the other side of the island.

(To be continued.)