What an amazing week! Grab a comfy chair… this is going to be a long one.
Last Saturday started off early. I was at the Detroit airport and on a plane before 6am. I seem to always use flights as a time of reflection. I stare out the window and ponder about where I am going and where I have been (literally and figuratively). This early morning flight was no different. I couldn’t help but be amazed at what can change in just one year.
I arrived in Atlanta around 8am. I found my bag and my family. We hugged and celebrated the reunion surrounded by strangers. It was so wonderful! Over the next few hours, we checked into our flight to Mexico, found some yummy breakfast and found our gate in the international terminal. We all arrived in Mexico a few hours later. Let the fun begin!
The Cancun airport was complete chaos. We managed to wind our way through two separate lines to get ourselves and our luggage through Customs. All the signs were in Spanish. All we could do was to follow the crowd… We eventually found ourselves pushed outside into a HUGE crowd of tourists, taxi drivers, honking cars, piles of luggage and overall mayhem. Just when I thought we were doomed, a man appears holding a beautiful sign reading “Jim Winham” (my dads name). The guy lead the way through the crowd to an awaiting car. He grabbed our luggage, gave each of us a bottle of water and we are on our way. I was in awe. It became obvious to me that was going to be an amazing week!
The royal treatment continued at our hotel. We piled out of our car into a magnificent lobby. A lady greeted us at the door and lead us to a table. She ran off to get us a round of complimentary drinks and another lady came over with the paper work required to check-in. Another guy took all of our bags to our condo. After we finished our drinks we took the short walk to where we would call “home” for the next few days. And what a home it was! It was beautiful and perfect. Ocean views from every window. And speaking of the ocean… it was amazing. Words can’t describe how blue it was, and the pictures hardly do it justice.
After a brief moment of settling in, we all decided to take a walk on the beach. A magnificent photo shoot took place…
After our walk, we decided to head out into town. We all jumped onto a bus and headed to Walmart. Grocery shopping became a bit of a challenge since everything was in Spanish. We had quit a few laughs trying to figure out what we were buying.
Lunch that day was at our hotel. We all sat down and each had a stroke when we saw the prices of the food. It took us a moment to figure out that everything was in Pesos. Between the spanish grocery shopping and figuring out the mexican money, I became really angry that I hadn’t paid more attention in my spanish classes. Opps.
The next day (Sunday), my dad and John went Scuba Diving. Liz, my grandmother and I happily found a chair by the pool. We were out there for several hours sipping cocktails and throughly enjoying the sunshine. I was in heaven.
John and dad made it home later that afternoon and we all headed out for dinner. It was Father’s Day, and we had some celebrating to do. We found an AMAZING restaurant. We were seated outside overlooking the water and ordered just about everything on the menu. It was completely delicious! The sunset was perfect, the food was perfect, and the company was most definitely perfect. That evening was probably my favorite thing about the entire vacation.
The next day (Monday), it was snorkeling day! My dad, John and I took a boat ride out to a coral reef for some underwater fun. My dad had so much fun driving his little boat! We laughed so hard our faces hurt! The snorkeling was amazing, the water was perfect, and the fish would swim right up to you. We had a great time!
Tuesday, was another day of laying by the pool. It was pretty hot that day, so I think we were actually in the pool more then we were laying beside it. But just the same, it was another great day. Dinner that night was another wonderful seafood restaurant. Once again we sat outside overlooking the water. This particular evening we had some unexpected company join us for dinner…
Each night after dinner, John and I slipped away to check out the bar scene. He was of course in heaven since the legal drinking age is 18 in Mexico. 
Wednesday, the time had come for us to head back to Atlanta. John had bought a sombrero (without thinking about how he was going to get it home), and of course he had to wear it on the plane…
As we flew over Cancun, I couldn’t help but be a little sad. I didn’t want the week to end.
Basically, it was an amazing week. I especially enjoyed spending the time with my family. It was by far the best vacation I have ever had!! I was back in Atlanta by Wednesday night and was able to see my mom and a bunch of friends before I headed back to Michigan Saturday afternoon. The week had flown by! Life is so good!
