Happy Monday!

The sun's yellow, and I know a lot of people who love sun!  Let's kick off the week with yellow.

My favorite door!

 

One set of bunny ears and a guy texting!  I take this photo every trip and it's always different!

The most colorful home on Juarez.

 

 



 

Kitty on a yellow stoop.

 

 

 

The signing wall at Pita Amore.  By the way, they have good flan if you're looking for dessert in the evening.

 

 

Yellow toys on Playa Norte!

 

 

Losing Ground

Technically, that would be sand.  We were shocked at the change in the northwest corner of Playa Norte when we arrived several weeks ago, and each Norte seems to pull more sand away.  Here are some recent photos.

Shades of the old Isla.  Playa del Sol is still abandoned.



See the whales out in the water where the tip of sand used to be?

 

 

 

 

Water is lapping at Chi Chi's palapa.

 

 

 

 

This new beach club palapa is also being inundated.

 

 

 

 

 

People walking up the beach from Ixchel toward Chi Chi's yesterday afternoon.

 

In this sunset pic from Ixchel, you can clearly see the whales out in the water where the sand used to be.  Hope the trend doesn't continue on down Playa Norte!

 

 

P.S.  The whales I'm referring to aren't the mammal kind! 

 

Food Cravings, Sharing, and Stuart Smalley

Those of you who've met me won't believe this one.  I actually totally lost my appetite for over a month after my surgery.  Unfortunately, when the first six weeks were up, all hell broke loose.

I'd like to say I seized the opportunity to drop 20 pounds, but it didn't work out that way.  The downward fall started with a trip to Costco to buy a pumpkin pie to take to a friend's house for Thanksgiving.  I bought a couple of chocolate items to give as hostess gifts during the holidays and an extra pumpkin pie with the intention of inviting the neighbors over for a late birthday party.

Despite my generous intentions, the huge bag of Ghiradelli chocolates and the extra pumpkin pie just disappeared.  Oops.

I try not to be a complete glutton when we're on the island, so it somehow makes me feel better to split food items when we can.  It saves on calories and the budget.  (I realize from the looks of the photos below, I'm in total denial about saving calories!)

Rolandi's on Hidalgo is open late if you happen to arrive on a ferry after 10:00 p.m.  This pizza with proscuitto, mushrooms, olives, and asparagus has always been a favorite and big enough to split.

We usually head to Barlito our first morning for a breakfast and Brad/Tiffany fest.  We often share a Cool Breeze or panini at Barlito, but it looks like we didn't this particular morning.  But they're big enough! 

Notice the sandia above in that photo with the Blume panini?  I discovered that the juice shop on Juarez (the San Jorge) sells sandia in bottles in the same case as the OJ.  On our last trip, we stopped everyday on the way to the beach to buy the large bottle.  I drank as our son used to say -- the whole of it -- and didn't split it!

We usually hit Oscar's early in the trip to split the lasagna and garlic knots.  That's my half share above.

We also enjoy splitting a Soggy Peso burger and sweet potato fries for lunch once a week.

If you hang around Barlito until lunch, the nachos are loaded and HUGE!

If you happen to encounter the pan man who walks around with this metal container on his head, it's also big enough to split.  Just kidding, but look at all those goodies!  This trip I vow to buy something from him.  He was down by the old Juarez ferry dock when I saw him in May (just north of where the Gran Puerto ferry docks).

We also love sharing the sliders and Cobb salad at Qubano.   

Here's Ruben of Ruben's with his humongous burrito!  It's a keeper.  Order an extra plate and cut it down the middle.  It's definitely enough food for two!

I simply have to quit with the food before I strip the pantry tonight.  I'm craving all of the above and more!

Back in the day when we traveled to Isla Mujeres several times a year, I got a little jaded and ho hum. The past few years with our catastrophes and cancelled trips, I can truthfully tell you that I am excited  to the max about my next trip!  I'm channeling Stuart Smalley!  I can affirm that I'm Good Enough, Smart Enough, and Doggoneit, I Deserve This Trip!  (I made up that last part.)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot . . . .

Like Christmas!  I'm baaaack.  

I have new hardware and a card for the TSA when I fly.  Yesterday marked two months since my TKR -- total knee replacement. Woo hoo!  The process wasn't easy.  It was described to me as hell by a physical therapist before my surgery and fortunately I didn't listen.  (But she didn't lie.)

It's water under the bridge now.  I still need ice and Aleve, but I can walk short distances, swim, and crack jokes.   

And -- ta daaaaa -- I can return to Isla (next year).  I'll be the seaglass spotter and Craig can be the picker.

Cheers and Feliz Navidad!

A Riot of Mexican Caribe Colors

Open Doorways

Sorting through photos from our May/June trip to Isla Mujeres, I noticed a lot of open doorways.  I usually snap photos of closed doors!

A peek into the laundry on Juarez -- Tim Pho.  The name sounded Chinese to me until a cabdriver told me Tim Pho's Mayan for laundry.  Was he pulling my leg?

A small tienda on Juarez sells the daily newspapers.

There's a cute little restaurant across from the square now -- Q Bravo.  Their baguette sandwiches are very good!

A glimpse into the mini-super on Juarez across from the Navy base.

This doorway's partially open!

I've never passed the doorway into Hemingway's Cantina (sorry I can never remember the new name).  Maybe I'm leery of that cuidado con el perro sign.

Not a doorway into Cafe Cito, but you could step right through that window!

The view through the open doorway at Poc Na is one of my favorites!

Step right into the corner tienda on Hidalgo to pick up cool drinks for the beach!

Finally after all these years, I caught this door open!  It appears to be a dressmarker's/sewing shop.

Happy Saturday!  Try not to labor too much on Labor Day weekend!

Hot Mess

I'm happy to report I passed a pulmonary function test yesterday and I'm normal. I also don't have pertussis, or at least it didn't show up in the blood test taken at the 11 week mark in my summer marathon.  The official diagnosis is -- drum roll -- I'm a hot mess!

You'd think I'd be out singing and dancing to celebrate my normal lungs, but I've lost my Get Out of Jail Free card.  I cannot pass Go (make any travel plans for the future) because I cannot sing (talk) and I cannot dance (walk).  I'm off to the ENT next week for an assessment of the damage to my vocal cords, and hopefully on my way to that office, I can stop off at the hospital for the MRI that was ordered for my knee.

Then on the way home, I'll stop off for some cheese to go with my whine.  (Craig can run in while I sit in the car.)  Enough already!

My husband often tells me that I edit Isla Mujeres down to a gorgeous white sand beach and quaint brightly painted Caribbean structures and fail to show its -- how shall I say it -- funkier messy parts. So these photos are about keepin' it real.

Hey -- I think an orange moto against a distressed blue background is pretty!

Necessity is the mother of invention.  A plastic bucket will do just fine for a flowering shrub, and a propane tank makes a great plant stand.

In all fairness, I think this cart's parked in front of an upholsterer's shop, so it's probably waiting for a reno job. We see this style of golfcart around our neighborhood.  A 2-seater style like this at a home expo in April listed in the $25,000 range.  Seriously!  I'd rather buy a small SUV!

Watch out for prehistoric looking things that crawl.  I almost stepped on this iguana getting off my barstool at the Soggy Peso.

Here's an affordable new casa on the airport strip. It's actually not very gritty.  I like the color scheme!

Island style bike rack.

Painted buckets, conch shells, and painted rebar make colorful front porch decor affordable.

Shops sometimes have scary official signs when they get suspended from doing business for one reason or another (but the guy was still out front trying to lure tourists into the shop)!

This sign looks a little threatening since I only recognize the word policia.

I love a blue door with its own parking space in front.

A kitty squatter on a bed of concrete bags and trash.

Looks like they started to paint?

Meanwhile, back at the carniceria.

Abandoned licoreria (liquor store).


As Porky Pig used to say -- That's all folks!  Hasta manana!
(You do know manana doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow!)