sooooooo…… we pull back out onto southbound 307 with my tequila and decide that since we were already 2 ½ hours behind schedule, we’d blow off stopping at Sorianna for groceries and just plan on hitting the San Francisco down in Tulum the next morning…… soon, we passed under the new pedestrian highway overpass in Akumal, slowed down for the topes and all of the locals crossing the highway totally oblivious to the fact that there is a new pedestrian highway overpass, hit the retorno and approached the arch at the old Akumal Caribe…….but first, we had to stop at the Super chomak to pick up a couple of $8 six packs of Modelo for Lil G and a bottle of pineapple juice for me
….. The only changes we noticed initially in Akumal were the addition of maybe 5 more condos in the central beach area of Half Moon Bay, and a gift shop across from La Buena vida….. Super Chomak, Akumal Caribe, the Loncheria, Lol-ha, Cueva de Pescador, Turtle Bay, Akumal Dive Shop, money exchange, CEA offices, La Buena Vida…. All were right where we left them in 2002 ……… pulled up to Lol Ka-naab, ran upstairs and knocked on the door of Penthouse #2, and Elio answered…… Elio shook my hand, looked at me, and said …. “ you’ve cut your hair ”……. Yep, that would be me, I am the dude that cut his hair
……. Elio took us down to condo # 6 on the second floor and showed us how to work the A/C and new satellite TV system, then he wandered back to his penthouse to continue with his busy day
…….. I dragged the suitcase and snorkel bag upstairs, tossed my pineapple juice and Lil G’s Modelo in the fridge, carefully placed my Maestro Tequilero in the freezer, and then stepped out onto the balcony to begin some chillin of my own
it took about 4.7 seconds for the stress to start evaporating away and I soon slipped into “The Akumal Trance”
……… damn I love this place !!!
….. beautiful views, awesome snorkeling, no large tourist hordes lining the beaches, no traffic jams on the roads, no mordida lovin police
, an adequate number of bars/restaurants….. and best of all…… NO FREAKIN’ MARIACHES
!!!!!……. me and Lil G chilled for about 45 minutes or so, watchin the waves roll in and the occasional tourist walk by and then we headed down to Lol-ha for happy hour
and dinner……. Sat down at the bar and ordered up a Modelo and Don Julio for Lil G as well as a Don Julio and sangrita for me…….. gotta admit, after watchin the bartender scramble for about 10 minutes to find all the ingredients for my sangrita, I was kinda worried it would be a disaster, but actually, it turned out to be the tastiest sangrita I’ve ever had
…….. the view from Lol-ha sucked even more stress from my body
..... but when I looked over at Lil G, it was quite obvious that she wasn’t enjoying this as much as I was
after a few minutes, a familiar face wandered up and shook my hand........ it was Arturo from the Akumal Dive Shop, and of course, the first thing outta his mouth was "you've cut your hair" ..... yes amigo, it's me, the dude that cut his hair
.... we talked for a few minutes and then I asked him about a special girlfriend of our that we met on our stay during 9/11, a sweet chica named Laura from just outside New York City..... my computer had crashed a couple of years ago and i lost all of my e-mail contacts so we were desperate to gain some info on her whereabouts....... Arturo exclaims
"SHE"S HERE !!!.... I just talked to her a few minutes ago at the dive shop.... she has on a funky cowboy hat "
.... well, that's all I needed to hear.....I apologized to Arturo for being rude, took off my sandals and sprinted southward along the beach as fast as my 43 year old legs would carry me...... but, unfortunately, I had no luck
, so I slowly walked back to Lol-ha, suckin wind with every step, and reported the bad news to Lil G.... oh well, hopefully she doesn't leave in the morning and we can hook up for some more good times...... and at least we had the chance to see Arturo, what a great guy!!!..... top notch peep if you ever get a chance to meet him!!!
……while ordering up our second round of drinks, I noticed a gathering at the LocoGringo webcam and remembered that I was supposed to join them for happy hour , but at the same time, one of PlayaInfo’s old school members showed up and we sat down to continue happy hour celebration with the one and only BeachWolverine and his wife Lee!!!…… what an awesome couple they are !!!!…….. and Lee is a good friend of Don Julio too!!!…… kept looking behind us to check on the LG meet and they were up to about 36 people and having a good time, but I was enjoying our conversation with BW and Lee too much to change tables……. We hung out till about 7:30 and then realized that the Spurs/Hornets Game 2 was about to start
so we said our goodbyes to BW and Lee, agreed to meet them again Wednesday nite, same place, same time …. and then ordered up one of those awesome Lol-ha pizzas to go and headed back to Lol Ka-naab for the game…….. chowed down on a few pieces of the hamburger/garlic/onion pizza, pulled the Maestro Tequilero outta the freezer, cracked it open and poured a couple of tip-off shots and …… WOW !!!……… this stuff is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!
……… like sippin a fine cognac it was!!!!
…….. one of those rare tequilas that you just take a very very small sip of and enjoy the multitude of taste sensations for the next 3 minutes !!! primo, primo, primo !!!……
seek it out, you won’t be disappointed!!!
…….. well, the perfect 1st day woulda been complete with a 32 point win by the Spurs, but the Hornets are a top notch team and they took it to the Spurs in the second half
……… Lil G passed out on the couch sometime during the 3rd quarter and I hit the sheets 1.2 seconds after the game clock ran out …….. and so ends Day 1 of the Just A Chillin Trip…..but, overall………. LIFE IS GOOOOOOOOOOD IN AKUMAL !!!!