a Goodling Family Vacation

On the 10th of December, Geoff and I met my parents, brother and sister in Baltimore where we managed to get a few hours of excited sleep before boarding a plane for Cancun, Mexico! My parents have a time share at a resort called Fisherman’s Village in Playa del Carmen, about an hour bus ride south of Cancun. We all vacationed there 2 years ago, in August of 2008, and were excited to be going back, especially during a different season when Mexico would not be so oppressively hot, and we could escape the cold of the north for a week!

Some highlights from the trip:

• spending a week relaxing with the ones I love- laughing, exploring, and creating new memories
• stuffing ourselves with some delicious, authentic Mexican cuisine (for the most part, we escaped the restaurants along the main drag in Playa in favor of finding “where the locals eat,” which was sooo worth it- delicious tacos, fajitas, and queso fundido just to name a few)
• perfect weather almost every day! We were so blessed to have 70degree days that made laying on the beach enjoyable and just hot enough to entice us into the cold Caribbean water. The nights were cool, which was perfect for walking around the downtown area, but not too cool that you couldn’t still enjoy some tasty gelato :)
• exploring an ecological water park for a day! We went snorkeling in the cold, underground river… swimming through dark caves where you couldn’t see anything in the pitch black water but wondered what had just touched your leg… finally to reach a beautiful lagoon where bright blue and yellow schools of fish could be seen. We’re still deciding if it was worth it… but a memory for sure! We also enjoyed inner-tubing in a peaceful lagoon, watching people swim with dolphins and sharks, and the absolutely stunning beauty of our surroundings.
• Geoff and I enjoyed a date night of dinner and shopping. Walking along the main street in Playa, every shop and restaurant worker calls out to you “Hey honeymooners, we have what you want” or “where you from? your people love it here.” Its pretty comical for the first day or two, then it becomes a bit annoying, until finally you learn to avoid all eye contact and walk quickly with your head down. Anyway, back to our date- we eventually decided on a restaurant that offered mostly “authentic” Mexican dishes, was decently priced, and offered a nice view of the street. Well, the atmosphere was enjoyable, the food was delicious, and of course the company was delightful ;-) We even had a stray cat come and sit by me for much of the meal(escaping the dangers of a busy street I guess) until children passing by kept scaring him away. Oh well. The thing we will probably remember most about our date, though, are the 5 or 6 groups of singing children that stopped by our table to sing for money. Anyone stopped along the street for a length of time is a prime target for these children, as we had found out the previous night when we sat and ate our gelato outside the storefront. If you don’t pay them, they just kind of stand there and stare at you for awhile. Needless to say, we learned that by paying them right away you won’t have to endure the whole song… maybe next time we’ll eat somewhere with a second story…

stay tuned for more pictures to come!