Cozumel, Mexico: Day 2: Tues. 2/2/10

Our plan for today was very simple - plant ourselves on a beautiful beach for the day.

We both woke up with aching backs and we were both short on sleep from not sleeping well on the rock hard bed. Even the raft didn't help. But we figured - no problem - we'll sleep on the beach.

We headed downstairs to the breakfast room for breakfast. Our first breakfast at Mi Casa consisted of 2 puffy fried tortillas (the smaller ones) topped with a light tomato sauce and a sprinkle of what appeared to be feta cheese (or some cheese similar to feta cheese) and of course coffee and orange juice. For me, the highlight of breakfast was Mr. Sassy's face after he ate his breakfast and I informed him that this WAS his breakfast and there was no more. PRICELESS.

We went back to the room and ate some snacks and got our stuff together for the beach. We walked down to the waterfront to catch a taxi and were distressed to learn that price to get taken to the beach we were interested in (Alberto's El Cedral Beach Club) was $16.00! We had selected this beach club because it was highly recommended by Map Chick on her map and neither of us had been there before.

So despite our dismay over the taxi fare, we got in and headed to the beach club. It was a pretty long drive to Alberto's. It is located a bit south of San Francisco and Mr. Sancho's. When we got to the beach it was about 10:00 a.m. and we were the only guests there. It was a cute little beach club - more small and intimate than others we had been to before and it was a stunningly beautiful day. Ah, all was right with the world!

We planted ourselves on a couple of lounge chairs (me in the shade). One of the workers came up to us to let us know they don't technically open until 11:00 a.m. and we told him we were okay, that we didn't need anything right now anyway, and they let us sit there.

We enjoyed the beautiful view and relaxed for about an hour. Promptly at 11:00 a.m., the worker came back and asked us if we wanted to order anything. We weren't ready to order anything at that point so we told him "not yet - but we will order later". Within the next hour or so, he came back a couple more times and we were starting to feel pressured to order something NOW.

We understand that the deal at the beach clubs is that you get to use their chairs and they expect you to order something. No problem. Our intention was to spend the day there and order drinks and food throughout the day, but at that very moment we were not ready yet. After all, we had just had breakfast shortly before.

The third time he came back and we declined to order at that moment, he made it clear he would not accept any more postponements. He told us they normally charge people to use the chairs, so we have to order something if we want to sit there. At this point we were getting a little annoyed by the nudginess and lack of patience.

At this very moment, a stereo came on at a BLASTING volume playing very loud American alternative rock music followed by pulsating club music - the very last thing we felt like listening to while chilling on the beach. Since we were the only guests there, we asked the worker if it would be possible to change the station to a different type of music - maybe Mexican, Latin or reggae, and his response was something along the lines of "no, it's XM". Not sure what he was talking about because XM radio has something like 2,000 stations, right? Anyway, Mr. Sassy and I looked at each other with a "no way, Jose" understanding, so we told the worker we were sorry, but we were going to leave.

We packed up our stuff and walked north on the beach to find another beach club. At the next couple clubs we visited (I believe Occidental resorts) they turned us away because they were all-inclusive resorts and non guests were not welcome. (Guess they didn't want our money).

Here's a video taken during our beach walk:



We continued to walk and aside from my worries about being burned to a crisp (even with sunscreen I burn very easily), we were enjoying the beautiful beach walk, although after awhile we were definitely ready for some drinks and were getting hungry too. The pack mule was also getting tired from carrying our 50 pound bag.


Eventually, we came to Mr. Sancho's Beach Club and I said "halleluia!" because I have been there in the past and I know it's a nice beach club that will take our business and not harrass the crap out of us.

We spent the rest of the day there, enjoying the beautiful beach. By the time we arrived we were very hungry and ordered "Caribbean Fries" which are similar to KFC's potato wedges (if you've ever had them), an order of guacamole and chips (excellent food) and some cocktails. I got a pina colada and Mr. Sassy ordered a drink called "Ticket to Fly". Can't remember what was in it, but Mr. Sassy seemed very happy with it. Later I ordered a drink called a "Dirty Monkey" which was similar to a pina colada, but had some Kaluha in it, which gave it a slightly coffee flavor.






We hung out at Mr. Sancho's until about 4:00 p.m. and had a taxi drop us off at the Mega supermarket in town ($14) to get some spring water. (We learned that the hotel only provides a small container of drinking water in the room every day).

We walked back to the hotel and got showered up and relaxed for awhile before dinner. Our goal was to go to La Choza for dinner but they had moved and our map was not updated with their new location so we were not sure where the restaurant was located. During our walk trying to find La Choza, we came across El Foco, which was on my list of restaurants to try this week, so we decided to eat there.

El Foco has a really cute exterior (the sign is particularly cute). The interior is not so cute - very bare bones and the decor consists of patron-contributed grafitti on the walls (Mr. Sassy contributed this drawing of an iguana). The food was PHENOMENAL. We ordered tacos that contained mushrooms, onions and some kind of cactus (if you can believe this). The waiter (who was a real sweetie) suggested it and said it was delicious so we thought it would be fun to try something we never had before. DELISH!!!! We also ordered Mayan Shrimp, which was described as breaded, but it wasn't breaded. It was unbreaded shrimp in a deep, brilliant red Mayan sauce that was indescribably delicious. We detected an undertone of cinnamon in the sauce and possibly curry. It was tricky to eat because the shrimp was half peeled and the rest of the peel was difficult to get off, especially with the slippery red sauce, but who cares - it was worth the effort. It came with guacamole and refried beans. Including drinks and tip, our bill came to $25 USD. Not bad for for this great.



















I was craving ice cream and Map Chick's map indicated that there was a gelato place on the waterfront, so we headed there. (I LOVE gelato). I ordered 2 flavors - dark chocolate, and a cream caramel flavor. Unfortunately, this was not like the authentic gelato I have had in the past - you know, that ultra-creamy texture that is unlike anything else. It was more like ice cream with a slightly creamier texture, but was displayed and priced like real gelato (i.e. expensive). I was really disappointed because if it had been good gelato, I would have visited every evening no matter what the price (that's how much I love it). Mr. Sassy got an espresso and our bill came to $6.50 USD. (We always paid in pesos, but I am stating prices in USD for the convenience of our readers).

After that, we walked through the shopping area, but we were not up for being hassled. This is one of the big downsides of a visit to Cozumel. If you like to shop (which I do), you better be prepared to be hounded relentlessly the entire time you are shopping. There is no such thing as casual browsing. Each store has 1 or more employees whose sole job is to stand outside the store and rope in customers. If you so much glance in the direction of a store, you will be hounded by salespeople. Even if you don't glance their way, your very presence in or near a shop will elicit aggressive and relentless salespitches - "Amigos! Come into my store!" "Honeymooners!!! This way!" "Senior - want a cigar?". One salesman went as far as to comment on the fact that Mr. Sassy was wearing a necklace and I was not. "What's going on? No necklace for your wife?" It's bad.

God forbid you actually step INTO a store. Then you are really in for it. For me, this is a major turn off and it makes me very uncomfortable (Mr. Sassy too). In fact, I so dislike it that even at home in the US, I cannot stand to shop in stores where the salespeople are "on" me even a little. Just leave me alone and I'll let you know if I need help.

I understand that the Mexicans have to work really hard for the money they earn and I do feel a depth of sympathy for them. It is exactly this sympathy that makes me so uncomfortable because the entire time I am browsing I feel guilty for not buying from every person I see.

So needless to say, we didn't last long in the shopping area. We went back to the hotel and went to bed.















P.S. In case you are wondering how we are remembering all these details - I usually bring a notebook on vacations and keep a journal, however, I recently bought a digital recorder (which is similar to a tape recorder, only digital and very small and portable) so instead of writing everything down, I recorded journal entries every day. So as I am typing this, I am listening to my recorded journal. Here's Mr. Sassy recording some thoughts.

P.S.S. Some comments on the recorder from Mr. Sassy concerning a warning to cigar lovers about the difficulty in finding authentic Dominican and Cuban cigars. Many shops try to pass off fake ones as real ones.