Mexico - April 2024

We traded in our time share to go to Playa del Carmen in Mexico with John and JoAnna.  We had a certificate to stay an extra week for free so we made a two week trip of it.  We drove into NC from New York (taking 12 hours much to our dismay) and arrived at John's house around 7pm on Friday.  We had pizza together at his place and then did laundry and packed as the next morning, we all flew out together from RDU to Cancun at 6am!

Hotel

We stayed at the all inclusive El Cid resort with our first week at the Hotel Marina El Cid Spa and Beach Resort where we had a two bedroom unit that faced the main pool of this phase of the resort.  The decor was older than the rest of the resort but the rooms were large and clean.  

View from room at Ventus

The second week we stayed at Ventus at El Cid Marina where we had another two bedroom - this time on the top floor overlooking the main pool of this phase of the resort as well as overlooking the ocean.  The rooms were more modern with one bedroom (where John and JoAnna stayed) and common room being very large.  The second bedroom (where we stayed) had two double beds and was small.  But overall still a very nice place.

We were able to use all of the pools across the resorts as well as dine in any of the restaurants. Overall, the food and the service were pretty good.  The only downside to this resort was the beach - the view was not the best and there was quite a bit of seaweed washing up ashore.  

One of the many pools - this one was the adults only pool

Restaurants

We tried every restaurant across the three phases of the resort.  Our favorite restaurants were:

• Mercado for lunch as you can try different cuisines buffet style.  There was also a small cafe attached to this that had lots of desserts at lunch time but also a few grab and go items for breakfast.
• Italian for dinner - went here twice.  We really liked one of the fish dishes.  The second time was not as good as the first but still pretty good.
• French for dinner (surprisingly as we usually don't care for French restaurants) - had a yummy pork dish here.  We went back two more times - the second time we got the pork again and the third time we had a fish dish which we did not like as much.
• Aakat for dinner which is an Iberio American - mainly lots of grilled dishes.  We really liked this one the most.  They have really good bread and the entrees were very tasty.  Our first time there we split the hangar steak, duck enchiladas and a pasta dish.  The second time there we had the steak again but then tried two new dishes - shrimp curry and a fish dish - all very tasty.

The buffet restaurant was pretty decent - what you would expect.  We also had dinner at Kobo which is a hibachi place - food was tasty.  Our least favorite restaurants were the Mediterranean (did not really offer much Mediterranean) and the Seafood places (located next to the marina - was not the nicest of the restaurants and food was just OK). 

Dinner at Aakat

Activities

Each day, for the most part, consisted of working out for two hours followed by a relaxing afternoon at the pool.  Our favorite pools were the pools at the Ventus Ha resort across the street as well as the main pool and the adult only pool at the Ventus Marina.  While the main pool at the Marina El Cid had the only swim up bar, we did not like this pool as it was filled with kids!  

Enjoying the resort life!

While there, we celebrated John's 55th birthday! They brought out a cake at dinner and we all sang while he had to wear this goofy napkin hat.  And then our butler decorated the room as a surprise when we returned from dinner.

Birthday decorations in the room

We also enjoyed some of the resort activities such as the bike tour into town (Porto Morales) which is a small, but cute (up and coming) town.  We biked around the town stopping twice to walk around a bit.  We went to a few of the evening activities including the magic show, the broadway show and the retro show, the latter two being pretty good.  We also watched one duet band at the Waves bar.  And when we had some downtime, we played cards either in the room or at one of the bars.

Bike ride into town

We did manage to go a few excursions off property:

Tulum Tour - This tour included going to Tulum, swimming with turtles and swimming in a cenote.  The tour company was great - picked us up on time, great communications beforehand and the guide was fun and super nice.  Tulum was interesting with a beautiful setting on the ocean and swimming with the turtles was fun but the best part (albeit short) was swimming in the underground cenote.  The water was cold but you got used to it - it was very cool to see the stalactites and stalagmites!  We also got tacos for lunch which were pretty tasty.  The only downside is that both Tulum and swimming with turtles were quite crowded - way too many people!!

Tulum

Swimming in the cenote - album cover

Snorkeling with sea turtles

Boat Tour to Isla Mujeres - We were picked up at hour hotel at 7am and rode to Cancun (stopping at one other resort to pick up more people).  We then boarded a catamaran and sailed to Isla Mujeres stopping twice to snorkel and swim.  We did not snorkel at the first stop as the water was pretty choppy but we did swim and the second spot which was just off one of the beaches at Isla Mujeres.  They served us lunch on the boat very early (it was around 9am) and lunch consisted of several cold items on a bento box - nothing spectacular.  We also had drinks included while on the boat but since it was early we only had a couple of drinks before we docked and one on the way back to Cancun.  The boat docked at Isla Mujeres and we got off the boat, having three hours to do what we wanted on the island.  We chose to walk to the beach and hang out in the water as the water was beautiful.  We had a few beers from the nearby beach club - Mayan Beach Club.  We then walked back to the meeting point and had some fish tacos before boarding the boat to sail back to Cancun.  We arrived back at our hotel around 4pm.  Overall, it was fun but would have preferred a trip where we spent more time on the boat.

Isla Mujeres

Xcaret - Really cool park with lots of activities. Everyone told us there is so much to do that it would take a whole day but we did everything we wanted in a little over four hours.  We did not buy the transportation option as we wanted freedom to arrive and leave when we wanted which worked out in our favor as the taxi cost was the same and it allowed us to leave when we were done.  When we first arrived, we put our stuff in lockers and then swam one of the underground rivers - the green one as we were told it was the prettiest.  We had read to do the rivers early as they get crowded later in the day - great advice as when we went later on to do the second river, it was super crowded!! We walked most of the park, stopping to see the aquarium, sharks, manatees, sea turtles (which were really cute), butterfly garden and the aviary (which was the best part of all -- so many birds).  There was an area to see pumas and jaguars but we never spotted any.  While walking around, we did see a spider monkey, a tapir, and a coati.  Towards the end, we also walked around the 'Discover Mexico' which has small replicas of many of the famous sites across Mexico.  

Xcaret

We all flew back together on Southwest and stayed at John and JoAnna's for another week to continue our road trip.

Cabo - March 2022

Cabo - Whale Watching Tour

Making up for lost time, we went back to Cabo with John and JoAnna (we were there in the Fall of last year after a two year hiatus) to use our time share but this time we traded in and stayed closer to downtown.  As as result, we did venture out more to try out restaurants in town and do a few tours.  The weather was great, albeit a bit chilly at times and as usual, it was a relaxing and fun trip!

Accommodation:

Villa del Palmar - This resort is only a mile from downtown and is on the beach.  There were two pools - one that was adults only - and about four restaurants and a market.  We got a one bedroom suite so that Keith could work somedays and John and JoAnna got a studio which had nice views.  Our room was OK - was on the ground floor so no views but did make it easy to get to and from the pool.  Overall the resort was nicer than we expected as we had read some mixed reviews before arriving. 

Beach outside our hotel

Activity:

On the way to the resort, we stopped at a grocery store to stock up on beer and wine and breakfast / lunch items.  Most days we hung out at the resort, relaxing by the pool, reading, drinking and napping.  There was some interesting people watching since it was Spring Break so lots of younger adults mixed in with the oldies! We did go for a few walks the first half of the week but then got lazy which showed up on the scale when we returned home - booh!! 

We ventured out a few times to do a couple of activities:

Whale Watching Tour - we had done this a few years back and since it was prime whale season, decided to do it again.  This time, our boat was a bit bigger with some cover.  After going out to see the arch and Lover's Beach, we headed out to find whales and within a few minutes came across a mom and her baby.  We followed these two for quite some time, watching them play and watching the mom teach the baby how to tap the tail against the water and to breach out of the water.  Very cool!!

Whale breaching

Taco Tasting Tour - we also had done this tour a few years back in Cabo but this time we did it in San Jose del Cabo. The town is very cool with lots of galleries and restaurants.  The food on the tour was quite good but the guide was just OK - nice but not very informative.  On the tour, we stopped at Mi Casa, Xeshu, Chocola T (a chocolate factory), West Coast Tequila Company, Mariscos El Chino (great fish tacos) and Los Mangos Food Park Pizza (where we had tacos).  

San José del Cabo

Yummy tacos!

Tequila tasting!

Restaurants:

Sports Bar - located at the resort, we had some beer and bar food here (e.g. nachos, buffalo cauliflower) and watched the Duke game.  

Palmita Market & Deli - located at the resort, we had breakfast here two mornings - yummy breakfast burrito and chilaquiles!

Mi Casa - located in Cabo, this is a large restaurant with traditional Mexican food and fun decor.  We had margaritas, chips and quest/guacamole and carne asada.  Food was tasty!

South American Grill - located at Villa del Arco (resort next door) with tables around the pool, they served grilled dishes.  We shared a few appetizers and the steak and shrimp entree for the table.  Food was OK.

Baja Brewing - this location is on a rooftop in Cabo overlooking the ocean (great views).  We originally just stopped here for a beer but ended up making it dinner - sharing nachos and wings.  The beer is quite good and the views are nice so worth going to.

Salvatore G's - a great Italian restaurant located in Cabo.  We ate way too much (but it was so good) and had enough to take home and have for lunch the next day.  We shared a salad and stuffed mushroom appetizers and then had Mama's Sunday Gravy (pasta with meatballs, sausage and pork), Italian Porketta (pasta with marinated pork shank) and Lasagna for entrees.  

Neptune - located at Villa del Arco (resort next door), this restaurant is very nice with views overlooking the ocean.  We shared a bottle of wine, seared tuna and mussels and shrimp appetizers and a yummy fish dish with mashed potatoes. Very tasty!

Walk on the beach!

Cabo San Lucas - Oct 2021

We had not been to our time share at Hacienda Encantada in over two years so we decided to spend a week in Cabo with John and JoAnna - our first 'international' trip since Covid!  We had to work from there a few days so we upgraded to a one bedroom with an adjoining studio so that we could work in the living room and bedroom at the same time.  The only unfortunate part was that Shawna could not get her laptop to connect to the hotel wifi so she had to tether to her phone which was quite slow.

Hacienda Encantada

We arrived on Saturday, later afternoon - flying direct from Chicago on American.  John and JoAnna had arrived a couple of hours earlier and waited for us at the airport while getting a head start on the beer drinking.  When we arrived, they had a beer waiting for us which we quickly gulped down and then we got into our private transfer van where the driver also had a few beers for us to drink while we rode the 45 minute ride to our hotel.  After checking in and getting settled into our room, we went out to dinner at Los Riscos (at the hotel).  

For the rest of the trip, we stayed at the resort - we thought we would go into town one day/evening but opted not to do that.  We had purchased the all inclusive food/drink package which ended up being a good deal financially but not a good deal diet wise!  Each day (when we were not working), we relaxed by the pool - trying each of the three pools - our favorite being the one by Phase 1 that has an infinity pool overlooking the ocean.  We also ate all of our meals at the hotel - our favorites being the pizza place and the taco place.  One evening, we did the Mexican buffet and show which was entertaining.  

Phase 2 Pool

Phase 1 Pool

Since we had last been there, they had built a new building across from the main lobby that had a bar in the lobby (with live entertainment some evenings), a rooftop pool and a rooftop restaurant.  We tried both the restaurant and lobby bar a couple of nights - both of which were good.  John and JoAnna ended up doing the obligatory 'tour' of the property and were pitched that we should upgrade.  While the deal sounded tempting, we opted not to partake!

To get back into US, we had to take a Covid test which the resort offered onsite.  Aside from it being somewhat inefficient of a process, it was convenient.  We all tested negative - we were told that no one had tested positive which made us suspect of the quality/rigor of the testing!  We got home on Sunday evening - having had a really nice and relaxing time - albeit one with too much food!

Cabo - March 2017

Hacienda Encantada

For our annual beach trip with John and JoAnna, we decided to return to our time share in Cabo San Lucas.  We had not been there since we bought into the time share four years ago.  Of course, we knew what this meant - sign up for an 'upgrade' pitch and hope to hell we say no this time!

View from Hotel

Since the flight was rather long for John and Jo coming from NC, they opted to break up the trip by flying into Phoenix and staying with us the Friday night before the trip and the Saturday night when we returned.  On both of these nights, we opted to eat at our house rather than go out.

Accommodations:
Hacienda Encantada - We upgraded to a two bedroom suite which turned out to cost us about double our normal rate.  We were able to get a room in Phase 1 which overlooks the ocean and the infinity pool - great views.  Since we had last been here, the resort added a Phase 3 building (which consisted of two bedroom suites), some villas and several new restaurants.  They had not yet built out the new spa/gym as we were told they would do four years ago.

Pool at Hacienda Encantada

Activities:
We got into Cabo on Saturday - both arriving within an hour from one another.  As usual, the immigration and customs line was very long - took close to two hours to get through it.  However, once we got through, it was not hard to find John and JoAnna who were enjoying a beer at the one and only airport bar!  John had prearranged a cab so we hopped in together and got to the resort around 4pm.  The cab stopped at a grocery store for us so we can load up on beer and breakfast items!

Daily Activity

John had signed us up to listen to the 'upgrade' pitch on Sunday - we all had to go to get the $100 resort credit they were offering so reluctantly JoAnna and I joined.  We were glad we went as we got a free lunch out of it, the $100 credit which we used for dinner one night and a funny story to go through the pitch - this time we said no but it was hard to pass it up as they made it sound like an offer we could not refuse.  The pitch involved them telling us that 'time shares' are a thing of the past and they were now offering a 'private residence club' - the only difference that appeared to us is that it cost more money and we get discounts on golf and a yacht!  Somehow if we paid more money now, we could turn in our weeks and get money back each year, making double our investment in 10 years.  If it weren't for the Lloyds bond that we signed up for when we first purchased the time share, we may have caved in but we were concerned that this upgrade would somehow 'null and void' the bond so we in fact declined.  So I guess now we can say that we are able to say 'no' to these pitches!

Dinner at Barolo

For most of the trip, we hardly left the resort and opted to enjoy the amenities - our days consisted of: going for a walk around 7am, sitting at the pool (either the infinity pool outside our building which was often tough to get chairs or the Phase 3 pool which had more comfortable chairs), eating lunch at the pool, enjoying happy hour in the pool, and returning to our room to clean up and play cards before dinner.  It was very relaxing and we had great weather the entire time - albeit it was a bit chilly at times when the wind was blowing!

View from Beach Chairs

For the few times we did leave the resort, we did the following activities:

Swimming with Whale Sharks with Cabo Adventures - They picked us up at the hotel in the morning and transported us to the office in downtown Cabo where we boarded another bus to La Paz where the activity was held.  When we got to La Paz, we suited up in wet suits (a sign for the cold to come) and then boarded a small boat that held 8 guests plus the guide and driver.  We then sought out to find the whale sharks - we found one and were able to hop in and swim with it twice!  Both times, the swim went by quickly (probably less than 5 minutes) and it was awesome - we were right next to the whale shark and could have touched it if we tried!  While the water was not too cold, it was cold sitting in the boat as we drove around.  Back at shore, we had a buffet lunch which consisted of salads, fish tacos and quesadillas and of course beer.  On the way back, we stopped in Todos Santos for about 30 minutes where we walked around the Hotel California (loosely associated with the song) and a few of the shops in town.

Swimming with Whale Sharks

Food Walking Tour in Cabo with Juan More Tacos - This is a great three hour walking tour of downtown Cabo where you learn a bit about the history of Mexico and Cabo and get to taste yummy tacos from various local stands.  We went to 8 different places trying tacos, tequila, churros and Mexican ice cream.  We were quite stuffed at the end and enjoyed every stop. Our guide was Issi who is the owner's father - he was quite entertaining and informative.  We ended the tour with a beer at Baja Brewing before heading back to the hotel.

Shawna Making Tacos

Restaurants:
With the exception of two lunches during the activities mentioned above, we had all of our meals at the resort.  We had breakfast in our room most mornings, eating yogurt and trying to save our calories for later in the day.

Las Marias - Had the breakfast buffet here two mornings. Great omelettes!

La Trajinera - Had dinner here once.  Shared the queso fundido for the table (very yummy) and then the corn sopes for an appetizer and the flank steak for an entree.

El Patio - Ordered lunch here once and ate it at the pool - got some sushi and ceviche which was OK but not great.

Los Riscos Mesquite Grill - Had dinner here the first night.  Great views.  Shared a shrimp appetizer and red snapper fillet for entree - food was yummy.

El Eden - Had dinner here twice - it's the tacos and tequila bar.  We shared the queso fundido and the El Hacendado (a mixed grill that we ate with tortillas) both times - very tasty!

Barolo Cucina Italiano - We had dinner here twice as well.  Food was quite good.  We shared the tomato/mozz salad and sea bass one night and the arugula salad and lasagna the next night.

Il Forno - Ordered pizza here twice for lunch and ate at the pool - both times we shared the arugula and prosciutto pizza.  Very good!

Mexico City - Sept 2016

Rakesh, Simran, Shawna, Keith and Rakesh

Simran had sent us an email asking us if we wanted to join them for a long weekend over Labor Day in Mexico City.  Shawna was not interested as she had been there as a child and didn't have the fondest memories of the place.  Keith, however, wanted to go and convinced Shawna to give it another try - she was glad that he did as we had a great time and really enjoyed the city.  Rakesh Marwah also decided to go last minute with a friend of his from LA.  Simran was boasting that she had the idea to go before the New York Times published that it was the #1 place to visit this year - she is such a trend setter.

We love selfies!

Accommodations:
La Valise - Shawna had found this place which only has three rooms in a brownstone.  It is in a great location and the rooms are large and nicely decorated.  There is no restaurant on site but it's not needed since there are so many great restaurants in the city.  The only downside to this hotel is that the people working there were a little dizzy (to use Simran's word) - anytime you needed something, it took either a little coaxing or some follow up!

Activities:
We arrived very late on Thursday night - Simran and Rakesh had arrived earlier that day.  It was no problem catching a cab - we were advised to stick to the official taxis which we did.  We crashed once we arrived at our hotel around 1am.

On Friday, we slept in and then went to lunch at Contramar (which was awesome).  After lunch, we walked around a bit but given that we were planning on a late night, we went back to the hotel for a nap.  We met Juan (who went to business school with us and lives locally) for drinks at a cantina and caught up with him - it had been 17 years since we had last seen him at grad school.  After drinks, we all went to dinner at Pujol at 10pm (late night reservation) and were at dinner until about 1:30 AM.  There was 8 of us at dinner: Simran, Rakesh, Keith, Shawna, Marwah, Anil (Marwah's friend from LA), Toby (Anil's friend who lived locally) and Juan.  Dinner was very tasty but it was a bit tainted by Toby who seemed to want to pick a fight with Rakesh.

Contramar

On Saturday, we had breakfast in our room and then were picked up at 10:30 AM by our guide who took us on a food/market tour with Eat Mexico.  The tour was awesome.  We visited the San Juan market, saw all of the gourmet food and stopped at many places to taste different local foods - we were totally full at the end.  Our tastings included:

• seafood tostada at El K-Guamo - we tried the shrimp which was tasty
• crickets, jams, salsas, mole, cheese and coffee at Mercado San Juan - the local cheese and jams/salsas were amazing.  can't believe we all tried crickets (two kinds!)
• saw how tortillas were made and tasted fresh tortillas at Tortilleria - where they only make 2 pesos per kilo
• quesadillas at Tlacoyos - apparently in Mexico that service quesadillas without cheese!
• mole at Fonda Mi Lupita - at this point we were getting quite full so couldn't finish it
• pulque at Pulqueria Las Duelistas - this is an alcoholic beverage made out of fermented agave.  they add fruit flavoring to make it really sweet.  we had a few sips of various kinds.
• tacos at Taqueria Gonzalez - this stand was crazy busy - quite the popular place

Tortilla Machine

Making Quesadillas

Pulque

Tired from the night before, we went back to the hotel for a nap and then Juan picked us up at 7:30 to go to Coyoacan for dinner at Los Danzantes.  We walked around the square first where there are many restaurants - the neighborhood is very cute, colorful and lively.  Juan's cousin also joined us for dinner.  Juan knew the manager so we got a few things comped which was nice.  The restaurant was great - tasty food and fun atmosphere.  Since we were all still recovering from the night before (apparently we can't stay up as late as we used to), we went back to the hotel at a reasonable hour.

Shawna, Keith, Juan, Simran and Rakesh

On Sunday, we had to get up early as our guide (David) picked us up at 8:30 to begin our day of cultural city tours.  We booked the guide through Journeys Beyond the Surface and he was great!  We started out with a stop at his family's tamale place (Tamales Dona Emi) which was near our hotel - Simran and Shawna were both hesitant as neither of them liked tamales but these tamales were amazing.  We tried 4 different kinds (according to Rak, 4 is the perfect amount) - one stuffed with cheese and corn, one with mushrooms, one with spinach and one with cream cheese and cinnamon.  Very tasty.

Yummy Tamales

We then drove over to Coyoacan  - it was raining pretty heavily so we could not walk around much but we drove by some of the churches and saw the colorful homes.  We did go to the Frida Kahlo Museum which is the house where she grew up.

Frida Kahlo Museum

We stopped by the Coyoacan Market and tried the tostadas which were very good - pork, chicken and beef.  After this, we got a few churros - plain, chocolate filled and caramel filled.

Tostados in Coyoacán Market

With fully bellies, we then went to Centro Historico via metro and explored the Diego Rivera murals at the National Palace.  Our guide gave us the full explanation of the murals which captures 2000 years of Mexican history.

Diego Rivera

We then walked over to the Mexico City Cathedral which is sinking!  Apparently the city sits on what was once a lake so much of the downtown area is sinking - the Mexicans refer to this as Montezuma's Revenge as the gods are getting back at them for building over the ancient Aztec sites.  You could easily see areas where the buildings were lopsided and we even got quite dizzy inside the cathedral as the floors were leaning!  After this, we went to a rooftop cafe where we had another "shakiado" and got to see the site where they are excavating some of the ruins.  By this time, it was getting close to meeting up for our next tour so our guide took us over to a taco restaurant where we chowed down on some pork and cheese tacos.

Mexico City Cathedral

We met up with Marwah and Anil for the next tour with Urban Adventure which began at 5pm.  This was the tri-fecta tour where we went to a lucha libre wresting match and a cantina where we saw mariachi bands playing.  The wresting match was quite fascinating to watch - very similar to American wresting but with masks!  We even got our own masks to wear!  We got a kick out of watching the drama and of course the girls who were scantily clad as they danced while the wrestlers entered the arena.  Following the match, we went to a cantina downtown but we did not stay long as we were not as excited by the environment.  We paid for one song by a mariachi band and then we left and had drinks and snacks at Azul Historico.

Lucha Libre

On Monday, we slept in and then went for a walk around the neighborhoods (Roma and Condessa).  The area is very lush and has a similar feel to New Orleans.  We stopped along the way to grab some coffee and pastries and also popped into another place to get sandwiches for our lunch.  We then went back to the hotel to shower and pack and left for the airport around noon.  Our flight home was via Orange County and because we had a long layover, we didn't get home until 11pm.

Overall, we had a great time and would definitely return.

Restaurants:
Contramar - Went here for lunch as it is only open at lunchtime - apparently Mexicans only eat seafood during the day!  It was a great restaurant - very cute decor and the food was amazing.  We all shared a few dishes: tostadas, chips and guac, ceviche, grilled fish and cheesecake flan.  We also tried a "shakiado" which is a coffee drink shaken with cream and liquor

Pujol - Named one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.  We had a 10pm reservation which is crazy late but we were told it's worth it.  We had the tasting menu: street snacks, beef jerky tartare, rabbit and chorizo, lamb tacos, mole aged 1604 days and churros with fruit.  The food was prepared in interesting ways and was quite tasty but we all agreed we enjoyed Contramar more (which was much cheaper as well!).

Los Danzantes - Located in Coyoacan.  Went here for dinner.  Really tasty Oaxacan food.  We had the stuffed peppers with cream sauce (which is only available for a few weeks during the year when walnuts are in season), a yummy leaf and cheese dish, tostadas and a couple of entrees (one with two kinds of mole).

Azul Historico - Restaurant and rooftop bar located in Centro Historico.  We had drinks and snacks at the rooftop bar.  While the location was great, we were not impressed with the food or drinks.