the hurricane that wasn't (& other memories)

We returned home late Monday night from a week in Mexico (in Playa del Carmen, to be exact) with the kids and my parents and brother and sister-in-law and their kids.

Vacation highlights (or in some cases lowlights)...

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The big story of the week was almost having front row seats to Hurricane Rina.

Quick multiple choice question: it's never a good sign when you see the resort staff

a) removing the glass pieces from all of the chandeliers
b) covering all the windows
c) filling and stacking sand bags around the pool area
d) tying up the branches on all the palm trees
e) all of the above

I had myself convinced at first that this was old hat for them - kind of like how Michiganders are used to snow storms but out of towners freak out at a few snowflakes - until Matt asked a resort worker if this sort of thing happened often and she said, "oh no, this never happens."

At first, the hurricane was on direct course to hit the area we were in on Thursday around lunch time - we woke up that day thinking we would be stuck in a hurricane shelter for 12 hours that day. As the day went on, they kept bumping the time forward until finally the only slight inconvenience was being stuck in our rooms from about 9pm until morning.

The weather eventually settled on a tropical storm that came in the night on Thursday. We braced ourselves for a couple of days of heavy winds and rain...that never came. Instead, we had three more days of beautiful weather before heading home.

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Mayan coffee = amazing. Who knew??

If you're ever in Mexico, ask for it. We're not sure if this is really what the Mayans drink or just something they made up for the tourists, but it sure is delicious.

* * * * *

Our resort was located just a block away from 5th Avenue - a really cool shopping and dining strip. Our other experience with an all-inclusive was in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and when you are there you are miles and miles from anything, besides other all-inclusives. 

It was nice to be able to see a little bit of the city and experience some culture (tourist-afied, of course) and despite some of the stories coming out of Mexico right now, we felt perfectly safe.

* * * * *

And finally, flying there and back with a tiny baby terrorist who looks a little bit like this:

My apologies to the other members of Delta flights #2211, #0531, #0536 and #2262.

We especially apologize to the woman sitting behind us on the first flight who told her husband, "That was the worst flight I have ever been on," and to the couple sitting in front of us on the way home who got up and changed seats halfway through the flight.

Her new nickname? The Singing Senorita.