After sleeping about 12 hours, we finally woke up well-rested, at about 5:30 a.m. At around 7:30 we went to breakfast. I had the poblano omelet which came with some fried potatoes and Mr. Sassy had the huevos montelanos (sin carne) and the usual sides like fresh fruit. I also got Mexican hot chocolate (my favorite!) and we had fresh-squeezed juice. Rogelio was our waiter and he was looking for us when we came in.Unfortunately, when we woke up this morning it was really overcast and the morning was rainy off an on.
After breakfast we stopped at the front desk to get beach towels and to ask them if they knew what time the Mega supermarket opened. The desk clerk told us it was already open, so we went back to our room and got our stuff together to head to the Mega supermarket. We took an empty rolling suitcase with us, since we planned to buy heavy things like bottled water and other beverages, and since the Mega was a long walk from our hotel. We also bought some snacks. My favorite is a Mexican creme wafer cookie called "Cremax" (which Mr. Sassy calls "Cream-Ex").We took the long rainy walk home, unpacked our groceries and then headed to the pool by the restaurant and beach. The pool was really comfortable and the rain had died down so we had a nice time in the pool. We were there until about 2:00 p.m. and then went inside the restaurant to have lunch.
Today I had the Mexican platter with fish (no meat)...it had a big grilled fish filet in the middle of the platter and on the side, cheese quesadillas, refried beans and guacamole. Mr. Sassy had chicken enchiladas with a mole sauce, which he said was very good. While we were there, Gato Boy visited us. Although I was pretty hungry, I couldn't resist. I ended up giving Gato Boy about half of my fish filet, and he gobbled it up like he was going to the electric chair. When the fish was gone, he still looked hungry, so I gave him a tortilla with refried beans and he actually ate it. This cat is a real Mexican.
We also had some coctktails. Mr. Sass had a couple of Coronas and I had the cocktail of the day which was a Fresa Colada (strawberry colada).
Then we went back to the room and decided to go for a beach walk. We walked all the way down the beach toward the "action" part of the beach. Along the way, we came across this pelican, sitting on a boat. Mr. Sassy tried to see how close he could get to the pelican.
On the way back we decided to walk down 5th Avenue so Mr. Sassy could find a cigar shop and I stopped at a Ben & Jerry's (just as good as home, but WAY overpriced).
By the time we got back, it was about 5:00 p.m. - happy hour at the hotel (2 for the price of 1 drinks). We went to the bar, got a couple mojitos and headed to the beach. We spent an hour or so at the beach. It was still cloudy and a little rainy, but we sat under a big palapa umbrella, so no worries. We also saw that Mahekal had added a new addition to their beach....a swinging bed. OMG - HOW comfy this was!!!! We chilled on the bed for about a half hour and then we decided to go back to the room to wash up for dinner.
I should say that I am a BIG researcher and before any trip, I spend HOURS researching the area to find out the best places to go. So we went to a restaurant right across from our hotel called Origenes (Spanish for "origins"). Origenes is a really romantic, softly lit, open air restaurant and the highlight (aside from the fantastic food) is that they have wonderful, soft live musicians every night...with a big emphasis on acoustic guitar. On this night, they had a trio with a fabulous-sounding female singer. I did find one thing funny about this trio, though. Watch the video below to see...
For my appetizer, I had a shrimp and fish ceviche appetizer, which was delicious - very fresh, tangy and light. It came with chips for dipping. Mr. Sassy ordered a Mexican salad with grilled paddle cactus (something neither of us had tried before). It had a subtle garlic, pepper cream sauce and fresh cilantro. It was unusual, but subtle and delicious. For entrees, I had the most fan-freaking-tastic dish - grilled shrimp with mango sauce. It was one of the best shrimp dishes I ever ate. The shrimp were really moist and perfectly grilled. The mango sauce was so fresh, creamy and not overly sweet. So great. Mr. Sassy had a red snapper dish which had a green chili sauce and also a light mole sauce. The dish had a hint of garlic and was outrageously delicious. Phil's dish was a special so it came with a free glass of wine. After dinner, I ordered dessert - a tequila-flavored brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. This was divine. I have mentioned before that desserts (especially cakes and pastries, which tend to be dry or mealy) are not a strong suit in Mexico, but happily, this was an exception. It was very dense and moist. I didn't really taste the tequila, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Mr. Sassy didn't want dessert, but got an espresso. Service was great - friendly and attentive without being cloying.
The only negative thing about this dinner was that the check was a bit (intentionally?) misleading. After the total, there was another charge for "service" with an amount listed next to it. (Sometimes they automatically add the gratuity in Mexico because a lot of Europeans - who do not have the tradition of tipping in their countries - do not tip, and Playa del Carmen gets a TON of European visitors). BUT, at the bottom of the check it said, "Tip not included". So that seemed to contradict the fact that there was service fee added. So when I questioned the waiter, he said that yes, the tip was already included. To me, it seemed they were trying to double dip on the tip by misleading unsuspecting gringos. Obviously, they don't know who they are dealing with ;)
So overall, this was a fantastic dinner - one of the best meals we've had on any of our visits to Mexico.
After dinner, our original plan was to head out to hear some live music, but the weather was still kind of sucky, so we decided to save our music and dancing for another night when the weather was nicer.
Overall, a great day! __________________________________
What We Spent Today (in USD)
Tip Breakfast: $3
Tip Maid: $3
Mega Supermarket - Snacks and Drinks: $29
Mahekal - Bar: $24
Ben & Jerry's: $8
Dinner @ Origenes: $74
Tip for Origenes Musicians: $8
TOTAL: $149
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