Long overdue report of our 2 wks in paradise!!!

[Playaluvers]

A long overdue report of our January 16-30 trip to Playa. Life has been crazy since our 2 weeks in paradise. Not to mention the post Playa depression that sets in on the return. Which is why it has taken so long to post any kind of report. I am more of a lurker (that sounds creepy,haha I like to read the forum), but don't post much. Forgive me if I ramble or just write poorly. LOL This is a first time trip report for me.My plan to journal our trip quickly faded as soon as we got there and proceeded to get into "vacation mode". So this will be thrown together with just my memories of a great trip, so the order of things could vary.
I am so grateful for all the information I was able to get from the forum to make our 2nd trip to PDC the best vacation we have ever had. We booked our 2 weeks at The Playa Maya, it truly is "Home away from Home". Our deluxe terrace room was fabulous! The daily towel art was incredible! What talent they have to create such art. Seeing the incredibly gorgeous waters just out our terrace was that best way to start everyday. Then following the wake up enjoying an incredible breakfast on the beach, watching the waves lapping on the shoreline. This IS paradise!! You can't go wrong with any of the menu items at PM, everything we had was GREAT!!! The entire staff of the Playa Maya are so kind and extremely helpful, we miss them all.
So my Hubby and I traveled with my parents, and they had the other deluxe terrace room. For the most part this trip was for relaxation.
Our first full morning there we were eating breakfast and there is a super cute dog wandering around. And I of course get her attention to come over so I can pet her. I already miss our fur babies. After a few minutes a woman is asking us if we knew who the dog belonged too. "No we don't", she then says we have to get her off the beach quickly before she gets picked up and taken to the very bad doggie jail. She then says she works for a local shelter in town. I then ask if it happens to be The Peanut Pet Shelter? And she says yes, and introduces herself as Maureen. WHAT A SWEETIE!!!!! I looked at my mom and smiled, this must be fate. We had planned to visit the shelter on wash day. We both brought many collars, treats, toys, leashes and some $. So any way Maureen calls Andy and tells him of the situation, and he says he will come and pick her up. So as mom, Maureen & I sit and wait for Andy, Maureen says we should give here a name, we chose Maya. When Andy shows up to pick up Maya, he hears we would like to come to wash day and he so kindly draws out a map and directions with phones #'s for us too. During all this several other people staying at PM heard and saw what happened and then heard we were going to the shelter on Saturday. A couple of people asked us to bring donations from them to the shelter too. OF COURSE!!!! That was so nice of them. The next couple of days were raining off and on, no big deal though. Because naturally we all got burned the 1st couple days there. LOL

Wash day Saturday: Mom & I take an adventurous taxi ride over to Andy & Jen's. I say that because the driver was unfamiliar with the address. So we drove around for while looking, unsuccessfully. He then started stopping in front of peoples houses and honking the horn till someone came over so he could ask directions from the map we had. Naturally all Mom & I can do is laugh, because we are of no help at all. Neither of us speak Spanish, so communicating was interesting. But we finally made it! Thank you driver! He was so patient in getting us there. Oh we are so excited to be here! Upon arriving there is another woman just getting there, I believe her posting name is "Page"(I'm sorry I forgot her name). There are several people there already, and dogs everywhere. I LOVE IT!!! I didn't have enough hands to pet and cuddle them all. We saw that Maya was still there and she was very attached to Jen.(thankfully her owner found her a couple days later and took her home. Thanks to the diligence of Maureen, posting signs around town with her picture ). Shortly after we got there they decided since it had rained the 2 previous days that washing the pups would be silly since the ground was still pretty wet. Thats ok, the best part is we got to be there and give the things we brought and most importantly got to give some love to the dogs. We had so much fun being there, those dogs are sooooo lucky! Andy & Jen are the best parents!!!! I know most of you already know this but there is no question their hearts are in this to the furthest degree. It was funny to watch the dogs follow there daddy around as Andy would walk around. Or if either of them would sit there would be at least 1 dog in the lap and usually more trying to get the prime sitting spot. You could feel the love! I wish we had stayed longer, but "Page" offered us a ride when she was leaving. Given the taxi ride there, we chose her offer. Thank you, "Page"! But before we left, I asked if they had any calenders we could buy. Andy gets them for us and says "Now don't linger on April too much". Too funny!! What a great calender! THANK YOU ANDY & JEN FOR ALL YOU DO!!!! Also thank you for allowing us to come over and visit the shelter. I hope we can visit again the next time we get to Playa.

My hubby & I celebrated our 13th anniversary by laying around on the beach and then the 4 of us going for a terrific dinner at La Parilla!

The next few days are spent relaxing and enjoying the beach. The guys had arranged a rental jeep for a couple of days so that we could do some exploring of our own. The idea of renting a car at first was a little intimidating. But I am so glad we did, it was so much fun. Our first day out in the jeep was our day in Coba....Getting there was tooo fun. Let me start by saying driving on the highway is an adventure as most of you know. But first thing for us was learning to fully understand the signs. Just in case some of you didn't know(which is probably just us), the signs that say bumps are ahead actually tell you how many there are, generally in 2's but sometimes 3's as we learned. Well we figured that out after my hubby proceeded to get up to about 45 MPH before realizing another bump was ahead. As he hits the brakes and says "hang on" and a few choice words, our Dukes of Hazzard moment has arrived!!!! Yes we launched over the bump, luckily we all had seat belts on but all still touched the top with our heads.
IT WAS SOOOO FUNNY!!!!! We were all laughing hysterically! This is just the beginning of our adventure. We continue toward Coba and then get to the round-about which is under construction, so they took all the signs down.....Hmmmm........ which way do we go, which way do we go? Chose the wrong direction first, but then after about 30 min of nothing we thought we should turn around. Good thing we did....Now we make it into Coba and the first thing we see is a couple of alligators, we stop to look and next thing you know there is a boy now PLAYING with the alligators! Obviously he does it all the time, but I still couldn't help but be nervous for him as I am taking pictures. We gave him a couple $, then we drove through the village, and saw some of the sweetest faces come out to just say hi.
We make it to Coba and what an amazing place. We hired a guide for the first part we walk to and then decided to take the "Mayan Limo" further into the jungle to see the rest of the ruins. What a great day! And can't wait for them to uncover more of the ruins.
On the way back we stopped at a roadside taco stand I believe in Tulum....That was FABULOUS!!! Some of the yummiest fish tacos!! Sorry I don't remember the name and we didn't get a picture either.
It was time to stock up on some provisions, we stopped at the Chedauri (sp?) fruit, water, beer, liquor and snacks. I don't know why going through grocery stores in other countries is so much more fun than shopping at home.
The next day we went to Akumal....what a beautiful place....we snorkeled and saw many fish and turtles, also just hung out on the beach, it was a great day!

A couple days later we had our tour to Chichen Itza/Valladolid, that we booked through Playa.info. Normally group tours aren't the thing that we care for, but this was a great decision. Small group, great guide!...We happen to have Diego as our guide that day. What an incredible experience! Chichen Itza is such a fascinating place I can't wait to visit again. They said another large section of the ruins was due to open in the next month or so, so maybe by now it is open. Our next stop was to the magical Cenote X'keken, swimming in that water was so cleansing and rejuvenating. Would also like to spend more time in Valladolid to explore more. But the authentic Yucatan lunch we had there was absolutely incredible...All the flavors and spices...YUMM!!! There was one flavor that really intrigued me...I asked Diego what it was and he wrote it down for me.....Achiote.... I WILL be buying some of this before going home!!!

So 1 morning after breakfast and while we are lounging on the beach my hubby finally takes me up on the para sailing idea...WHOOOOHOOOO!!! Neither of us has ever done this and both of us are a bit afraid of heights but it looks like so much fun. We also convinced Mom & Dad to go with us, a 1st for them too. What a great view and so peaceful, we could have stayed up there for hours.

One evening we decided to go to the Xcaret night show. What an exciting and very interesting show!! Glad we went to see that.

We certainly miss our daily and nightly walks up and down 5th. For people watching and stopping places for a cervasa or a drink. We also never had a bad meal out and about. We printed out the various places to eat list from here. And ate at several of those that I had already read about from everyone here. And even tried a few others. Here's a list of many of the places we ate at

Playa Maya--- for most breakfasts and many lunches.Excellent!!
HC Butcher shop @ 30th & Constituyentes ---Wish we had eaten there more than once!!
Pizza Pazza
Dr. Taco--- YUMMY
Babes--- just for the blueberry margarita.
Tango Taco
Yaxche
La Parilla
Ah Cacaos
Carboncitas
Karen's
The place above Mambo on 5th can't remember the name---it was fabulous!!!
We didn't even get to many of the places we wanted to try, but had some great food and drinks at all the places we did go to.

Our last night in paradise....shopping after dinner then hubby had a tattoo appointment with Pony at 8 pm....What a great job Pony did on his new ink.
My honey surprised me by having my name and a heart done on his left shoulder. Too sweet!!!

Having our last breakfast on the beach, and packing all of our things was so depressing! As much as we missed our fur babies at home we were not looking forward to going home to snow and very cold weather.

Until next time.....Our 2 weeks in paradise will keep us going until we get there again, hopefully soon!

Here is a link to our pictures:

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Hope it works!

[Heather]

Wow, you packed a lot into your vacation! Great trip report, thanks for taking the time to write it!

[hildyp]

Great trip report!!!

Thanks for sharing

[Chilepepper]

OMG .. . a tattoo of your name . .. how romantic is that???

[maureena5]

Hey Tina & Linda!!!!

Wow... great to see your post! I had the most wonderful time meeting you girls...and your guys too! ......and I can never thank you enough for helping recue Maya. She still is our one & only lost dog that was reunited with her owner. Her owner had tears in his eyes when he saw Maya again. You girls were so fabulous that day!! You were instrumental is a very happy reunion!!

I have the fondest memories of your wonderful, identical "mother & daughter" laugh....so contagious!...you are all so much fun! It was great spending the day at the Shelter & meeting up again at Playa Maya later in the week.

Will you be back next Winter? I hope so!! I think I have a great photo of you guys on the beach. I'll post it as soon as I find it.

Again.....great to hear from you & excellent trip report!

Maureen

[maureena5]

Hi Tina,

I was so excited to respond to your trip report that I didn't view you photos until just now (and I'm working on catching some kitties by my house). I love the towel art photos!!! It was always evident that you four were having a great time. You're all such positive, fun people.....you could have fun in a shoe box!!! It was truly a pleasure meeting you!

Thank you again for all the (mucho) supplies you brought to the Shelter!....and for all the donations you "wrestled" up at the Playa Maya!!! All your little envelopes were quite wonderful! You guys are the best! Joe & I, Andy & Jen would love to see you all again!

It turns out the photos I have of you all are on my lap top which is in Chicago! Darn! I love the photo of you & Rick after parasailing....really cute! How romantic about his "Tina" tatoo!!!

Take care, Maureen

[syl]

fantastic pics!!!!thanks for sharing...i love the towel art..there should be a thread just for those pics from everyones trips!!!

[Dijo]

we were staying at Playa Maya at the same time and were on the beach the day you found the dog and Maureen got someone to come.

Jealous that you guys had another week, but hopefully that will be us next year.

[HAWKEYE]

Great report. Will check out pic's.
Stayed at PM 5/5-5/14.
Long hair and short blonde.
Craig @ Kristi.

[himynameisjan]

Wonderful trip report!!!!! I get so anxious to be back in Playa whenever I read other people's reports

[MartyC]

Thanks for sharing your trip and pics. Looks and sounds like you two had a great time.

[Playaluvers]

Thanks for taking the time to read it We had a a fun filled trip that now seems like a lifetime ago...We NEED another playa fix!!!

[Playaluvers]

Chilepepper-- I know I can't believe he decided to do that...He is the best!!!

Maureen- What a pleasure meeting you!!! Your passion for helping the dogs and the shelter is so very apparent...Mom & I were more than happy to help with Maya... But we didn't do much, you did all the work! YOU ARE SO AWESOME!!!
Because of you Maya is back home with her loving owners. Thank you!

We loved visiting with you and Joe. I sure hope we meet up with you guys again sometime. Unfortunately it doesn't look like we are going to make to Playa next winter which makes me very sad. So hopefully we will make it in 2010...OH that hurts to say it outloud!
It was our pleasure to bring the supplies we could for the shelter, wish we could have brought more..But I am a notorious overpacker!!!LOL
As for collecting from some of the other people at the hotel, all we did was talk about what we were going to do for the shelter. And those that were listening had big hearts too and gave a donation...It was so sweet!

I saw pictures of the kitties you were wrangling in your yard...too cute! I hope all goes well there.

I remember you hitting the beach 1 day looking for us and you said you could hear Mom & I laughing but couldn't see us. Then you looked out in the water and there we are, laughing it up!
Thank for all the nice things you said about our tr and us of course!

As for the towel art--- we all so loved it!! There were a couple of days we just couldn't take it apart so asked for more towels, so we didn't have to.
But then the next morning she would have taken it apart and done some other beautiful creation.

himynameisjan--- I have been catching up on the shelter thread and getting through your adventure with your sweet Tasha. I am pretty sure we saw her at the shelter when we were there. She looks so happy and very lucky to have you guys as her new parents.

I still think about all the dogs, but there were 3 that I think about ALOT!!!
Sophie, Millie & Sky!!!
Love them all!!!
So glad to see that Millie & Sky have new homes!

[Playaluvers]

Originally Posted by syl

fantastic pics!!!!thanks for sharing...i love the towel art..there should be a thread just for those pics from everyones trips!!!

Thank you!! I like your idea of the towel art thread.

[Playaluvers]

Originally Posted by Dijo

we were staying at Playa Maya at the same time and were on the beach the day you found the dog and Maureen got someone to come.

Jealous that you guys had another week, but hopefully that will be us next year.

Yes 2 wks was really great!! I hope you do get to do 2 wks next year...we don't think we will make it next year very sad about that. But hubby says maybe 3 wks in 2010 Would love that!! We will see!