Cabo - March 2013

Hacienda Encatada - Our New 'Home'

Teresa and Brandon have a time share in Cabo and the resort was running a special that you could stay for $400 for the week as long as you listened to a 90 minute sales pitch. So, we signed up along with John and JoAnna to go for a week in March with Teresa and Brandon. Little did we know that 'no' means 'yes'.

The Famous Arch

Accommodation
Hacienda Encantada - A beautiful resort on the water. There is not really a beach but the rooms are nice and there are two very nice pools.  It is located about 10 minutes outside of Cabo.

Phase 2 Pool at the Resort

Activities
John, JoAnna, Teresa and Brandon flew in from Raleigh together and arrived about an hour before us. We flew in from Denver on a direct flight and decided to upgrade to first class as it was very little extra per person. The guy at the airline counter ended up getting us two upgrades for the price of one. So, we started off the trip in comfy seats, sipping wine and having lunch. When we arrived at the airport in Cabo, we breezed through the passport control but the line to get through customs was crazy long, snaking it's way around to the point where you didn't really know where it began and ended. We finally got out after standing in line for about an hour. We found our Transcabo shuttle and grabbed two $11 margaritas at the airport bar for the 30 minute ride to the resort. After we checked in, we met up with the rest of the gang at one of the pool bars for a few drinks and then went to one of the resort restaurants for dinner.

First Round of Drinks!

Sunday was the sales pitch day. We had every intention of listening and saying no, but the deal was too good to pass up. The sales person gave us the pitch and Shawna was enticed; however we all said no. Then he gave us a better deal where we got a lower price because someone had defaulted. This time the numbers were too good to be true so we went in on one contract with John and JoAnna. We get two weeks for 30 years that can be used at any of the resorts in the Interval International network and you can buy 'get-a-ways' through the network at a discount. By this point, we had been in the sales process for 3 hours and Teresa and Brandon were beginning to worry. So, when they came to check on us, we were drinking champagne as we had just agreed to buy in. The sales guy threw in some "free" drinks and a few other gifts and while we went through the paperwork. We were finally done at 4pm so we went to the pool for an hour and then caught a shuttle downtown to have dinner and celebrate being owners!

Teresa, JoAnna and Shawna

Brandon, Keith and John

On Monday, we went on a whale watching tour with Cabo Expeditions, recommended by Keith's colleague Debi. After breakfast, they picked us up at the resort and brought us downtown. The tour was in zodiacs and we only had 8 people in the boat. They first took us to see the arch where we also saw sea lions and then we took off to find whales. We ended up seeing several humpback whales and a grey whale. We stopped for quite a while at one spot to watch a mom and her baby (the baby was still pretty darn big). The baby was playing around, flipping over in the water and slapping its tail on the water. At one point, we were so close to one of the whales that we could have touched it.

Humpback Whales

Grey Whale

After the tour, we went to The Office to have lunch and drinks on the beach. It was a mad house in that area as there are several bars in a row (including the famous Mango Deck immediately next door that seemed to be re-creating scenes from every Girls Gone Wild episode created - we gave a miss) and there were tons of college kids on spring break. So, we enjoyed some people watching while we had a few beers. The 'doctor' from the restaurant came by and 'made' us drink each a shot of tequila - we got some fun pics of this! We returned to the hotel and went to the pool bar where we proceeded to drink some more and watch the sunset. Needless to say, only half of the group made it to dinner that night.

Tequila 'Shots' from the Doctor at the Office

Resort Cabanas

Tuesday was more relaxing. After a work out, we walked to a nearby market right across the road from the resort and picked up some food to have breakfast and lunch in our rooms. We then went to the pool and chilled until dinner. We saw lots of whale activity in the ocean from our pool chairs. The resort had an owners reception and since we are now owners, we went to it. We got a few free drinks and they served chips, salsa and guacamole as a snack. The host called up a few men for a contest and we volunteered John who had to do a dance, a shot of tequila and a Mexican call. The competition was not fierce and since we were the loudest to cheer him on, he won a bottle of tequila and a gift certificate to a jewelry store. There was one annoying woman who was after JoAnna to give her the certificate - she repeatedly kept asking for it! After the reception, we took the shuttle into town for dinner.

John and His Competition!

Wednesday was officially 'do nothing' day for Shawna. We spent the day on the cabanas by the ocean, reading and napping and then took advantage of the two pool happy hours. We then retreated to our room for another happy hour. We had planned to eat dinner at the hotel but Teresa and Brandon decided to eat in their room and John and JoAnna were tired so they decided to do the same. It's amazing how lazy we can get when we don't do much! Keith and Shawna went to dinner by ourselves and shared a shrimp dish.

Whale Tail

On Thursday, Shawna had to do two work conference calls so we worked out and then did some work email until her calls. After then, we grabbed a quick lunch at one of the pool bars and then met the gang to head downtown for a sunset cruise. We had a few drinks at a couple of bars along the waterfront and then boarded the boat for the two hour sail. We had a nice time on the boat, passing by the famous arch to take photos and then up the Pacific coastline where we saw two whales. After the cruise, we had dinner in town and then returned to the hotel to crash.

Sunset Cruise

Our final day looked a lot like Wednesday except that we did make it to the gym. After working out, we retreated to the pool, this time spending most of the day at the Phase Two pool. We relaxed, read and took advantage of the happy hours and then cleaned up for dinner. We were too lazy to leave the resort so we had dinner at one of the pools where we split the flank steak. We came back to our room for one more beer and then called it a night.

The Album Cover!

Restaurants
Las Marias - Located at the resort. We had breakfast here a few times and dinner as well. The restaurant overlooks the water.

Mi Casa - A Mexican restaurant in town (A few blocks away from the harbor). The decor inside is interesting - filled with 'night of the dead' stuff. The food was tasty - we split a pork tostada for an appetizer and a yummy pork dish for our entree.

The Office - Located on the beach downtown. We had lunch and several drinks here. Food was good. We split the fish tacos.

Happy Endings - A bar in town, rated best in Cabo (maybe by the owners?). We stopped here for a drink before dinner.

Patagonia - An Argentinian style restaurant in town. We split one of the meat grills - very tasty.

La Trajinera - At the resort. This is their nicer restaurant. We shared a shrimp skewer for appetizer and shrimp curry for an entree. Food was OK.

Los Barrios - In town. We had the mixed grill of lobster, fish and steak and shared the bananas foster for dessert. Very good.

Romantic Sunset

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