Since we crashed so early last night, I was up super early – like 4:00 a.m. I read for awhile while Mr. Sassy slept.Around 6:30 we headed to the Aventura Restaurant so Mr. Sass could get his coffee. Guess who we ran into on the way? Gato Girl! She came galloping after us and followed us to the restaurant. She is so freaking cute. We are already in love with her.
We had breakfast on the outdoor patio overlooking the sea again.
For breakfast this morning, I ordered Huevos Rancheros (I asked for the eggs to be scrambled instead of fried) and Mr. Sassy got a dish called Molletes, which is a baguette topped with all kinds of sautéed vegetables and cheese. Oh, and they had fresh squeezed cantaloupe juice this morning…beyond yummy!!!
We’ve also become attached to one of the waiters. His name is Rogelio and he is a young man, probably in his early 20s, and both Mr. Sassy and I agreed that he is a dead ringer for my youngest brother. Well, not a DEAD ringer, because he is shorter with darker coloring, and his nose is different (he looks very Mayan), but his eyes and mouth and mannerisms are just like my brother! It amazed us all week. Anyway, Rogelio was probably the sweetest person at the hotel, and the sweetest person we met all week. He always had a big smile and quickly got to know our names. He always remembered that I liked hot chocolate and brought me some. And he almost always shook our hands and calls us “amigos”. We love him.
We enjoyed our breakfast and spent the day alternating between the beach and the pools. I’ve been anxious to get into the beautiful swimming pools, but man are they chilly! I tried to get myself in twice, but it was so cold. The small pool by the Aventura Restaurant has a smaller section that is a hot tub, so we did sit in there for awhile.
The beach was gorgeous today! Again, about 80 degrees, blazing sunshine and the water was calm and warm. We spent a lot of time splish splashing around. I took a video of the resort from the beach.
I also took my camera into the water with me (holding it high so as not to get it wet) and took some pictures and videos in the water.
Here’s Mr. Sass scouting for fish.
Mr. Sassy had an awesome “Yes” moment on the beach today, which made him think of our friend George who shares his love of the band. He was standing in the ocean listening to Roundabout by Yes on his IPod and at the very moment when the lyric is “the eagle’s dancing wings create as weather spins out of hand”, he looked up and saw three giant sea birds fighting for a fish in mid-air.
I went onto the internet and checked to see if TD Bank had resolved the ATM issue. Thankfully, the bank advised me that the issue was resolved and I should be able to use the card.
At this point we have decided that Mahekal Beach Resort is our new favorite place to vacation. We love almost every single thing about this place. It’s rustic, it’s elegant, it’s very clean and well maintained, the staff are very friendly, efficient and helpful (except when they forgot about our refrigerator), the beach is drop-dead gorgeous and not crowded or noisy (no blaring music on this beach), it's close enough to the action without being right on top of all the chaos, the landscaping is gorgeous…like a tropical wonderland, the resort is quiet, the food is very good and we love that 2 meals are included so we can save some $$ and still get to go out on the town once/day for dinner. Oh, and we love the fact that there's air conditioning and 2 swimming pools!
The only things we don’t like (and these are not that big a deal) – are the shower, which is practically useless. It’s one of these rain shower type contraptions and the water pressure is so damned light, we felt like we couldn’t get the shampoo and soap rinsed off thoroughly. Also, the water temperature for the shower is difficult to regulate and every day it took several minutes of fiddling to get the temperature comfortable for showering. Other minor complaints: we wish the fridge was included in the room and that we didn’t have to pay extra for it. And we wish they provided unlimited drinking water instead of only 1 liter/day/room. We had to run to the convenience store to get more water.
Back to our day…
We had lunch at Mahekal again today on the patio overlooking the ocean. Today I had the fish sandwich which came with a side of corkscrew French fries which were very tasty. The sandwich had 3 layers and the fish was very moist and flavorful. Mr. Sassy got a tuna fish sandwich, which was also made like a club sandwich and his sandwich also came with fries. Very yummy.
We talked with Rogelio today and he said he was impressed with my Spanish, which made me laugh because I feel quite inept when I try to converse in Spanish, although I do amaze myself sometimes with how I can access it when I need to.We went back to the room to shower and were greeted by this cute towel art sculpture today.
We went to happy hour at the hotel today from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. – buy one get one free drinks. I had the “special” which was called “Beach Kiss” and it was made out of coconut rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice and some kind of orange liquor. It was very good. I gave one of my drinks to Mr. Sass (I am not much of a drinker) and he bolstered his with a little extra rum (he says the bartender makes the drinks too weak). 
We took our drinks to the beach and enjoyed them while lounging on lounge chairs. It was particularly beautiful because the sky was darkening with clouds and the contrast between the sky and the light turquoise ocean created such a striking contrast. We even saw a brief rainbow and (as luck would have it), I didn’t have my camera with me at that moment as it was back in our room charging.
After cocktail hour we were ready to head into town for dinner. Our goal was to first stop at the Mega so I could try the ATM (fingers crossed!) and then head to dinner at El Fogon, which a highly-recommended restaurant among Playa regulars. At the Mega, I couldn’t get any money from the ATM because the machine was out of cash. So we continued on our way, and quickly came upon a HSBC bank with an ATM machine and voila! I was able to get money out! Talk about a relief.
Dinner at El Fogon was muy delicioso. We entered with some reluctance because I had heard that they do not have many (if any) vegetarian options. But as soon as we sat down and asked (in Spanish, I am proud to say) whether they had any vegetarian choices, the waiter quickly pointed out at least 5. They were all in Spanish and he couldn’t translate very well, so we randomly pointed to a couple and said, “We’ll have those”. Mr. Sassy also ordered a couple Coronas I ordered a non-alcoholic melon drink which was fab! 
El Fogon is an authentic, bustling, open-air, Mexican hole-in-the-wall with plastic chairs, fluorescent lighting, the smoke of grilled meat wafting throughout the restaurant and waiters who are running in 10 different directions. It smells like a big barbecue. Here is a video showing us enjoying our food. Aside from the food which was outrageously good, the best part? The whole dinner including tip, came to about $20-$25!
After dinner, we walked to the beach to check out a beach bar called Fusion. When we got there, it was about 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. and it was a quiet scene. There wasn’t really anything going on - just some soft downtempo music playing and people enjoying drinks. So we sat there for a little while (my sprained foot was hurting a bit). Mr. Sassy went off to see if he could buy a cigar, but returned unhappy because the shop keeper of the store he went into tried to swindle him into buying a cigar he had not yet decided he wanted.
After Fusion, we walked around Fifth Avenue a little more. I love the fact that you can always hear Mariachi musicians playing on the street. Here's a brief clip of one.
I was in the mood for chocolate, so we stopped at a little café called Ah, Cacao – which is a chocolate and coffee café. I was interested in getting their brownie which I had read good things about and Mr. Sassy also got a brownie and some espresso. I have to say, the brownies were a disappointment. They had a rich chocolate flavor, but were quite flat, dry and stale tasting - not anywhere near as good as the ones I bake at home. But it was nice to have a chocolate fix.
After that, I was feeling tired and my foot was bothering me. The walk back to the hotel was extra long because we were unknowingly heading in the opposite direction of the hotel for several blocks before we realized it. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted and my sprained foot was THROBBING. I had to put ice on it and elevate it before bed. I knew it was probably not the best idea to be doing so much walking on a sprained foot, but I couldn’t even consider the alternative of not walking during vacation, so I dealt with it.
Like two old folks, we were in bed by about 10 p.m.
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