Confession first! I was of two minds about Cannes. A part of me thought it might be a good day to just take it easy, to do nothing, to hang out on the boat, to go to the beach. This was only a 7 day cruise and we were hitting 7 ports. There was only 1 day at sea and that was going to be our vow renewal, so not much in the way of relaxing offered. At the same time, Cannes had the most intriguing and most affordable shore excursions on the Celebrity cruise. What would we do?
What I Wanted
As is often the case, I wanted a clone. The clone would go visit all the places on the possibilities list. I‘d spend the day on the beach and then my clone could tell me all about it after my facial in the spa. There was a relaxing little trip to Provence Lavender fields and rustic little town squares. Another trip offered an industrial view of the perfumeries in the area. One seemed more like a perfume shopping trip.
And I was serious about the beach day. I was exhausted just planning this whirlwind tour of the Mediterranean. I knew we’d be interested in a break come Day 6.
What I Considered
Then I thought about the day we visited Atlantis, a resort in the Bahamas, on another cruise. It was one of those DIY tours. Atlantis is the biggest thing there, but it wasn’t at the port and once we got there we stomped all over the place without gaining access to the places I really wanted to go. It was a fun day overall and we got some great pictures, but it wasn’t a complete success.
As to Cannes, I couldn’t find out exactly how one got from the boat to the beach and if the beach was accessible or we’d have to be associated with some hotel. Sometimes the most relaxing thing you can do is just go with the flow. My thoughts flowed to a bus trip which would take us around the French Rivera.
What I Booked
Cap d’Antibes, Cote de Azur and Nice. You hear them in the movies and read about them in books. Cannes is all about the Film Festival and celebrities. The others seem to float out of the Jazz Age and tempt you out of the every day. So I booked the bus trip. After the flurry of booking was over to get the shore excursion specials which were to be short-lived, I almost thought I might have made a mistake. The bus trip Bill wanted in Monaco seemed to overlap in Nice with the Cannes bus trip, but some voice inside me warned me to leave well enough alone.
Good thing that voice. When we changed the Monaco bus trip for the Monte Carlo Yacht Club event, it created a need to see something of the French Rivera than the cruise port cities. The selection was perfection itself. Want to know why? Well then you have to keep coming back. Next week we’ll plan our visit to Palma de Mallorca.
Princess Grace of Monaco, Prince Rainer, Yachting, Wealth, Grandeur, Bond James Bond, the Casino, the French Rivera…we all know what Monte Carlo stands for. Where else in the world would the list of shore excursions include top of the line Ferrari with race car driver – for a few thousand dollars?
What I Wanted
Monte Carlo is a pretty small place. I envisioned stepping off the boat and strolling around the city with the help of some map. In my dreams I would often change companions. One time Bill and I would stroll the street hand in hand. Another time I would envision Deb and I gleefully remarking on the excessive wealth – and not without a tinge of jealousy. In my dreams, I never saw all six of us stomping around trying to figure out what we were seeing.
We would be at the port from early until late and it would be the morning after our vow renewal, so I could imagine Bill and I sleeping late, then visiting the city in the afternoon. I hoped we’d scoot back to the boat and get all gussied up for an actual visit to the casino – not just the tourist part – but inside, just like James Bond. Maybe we’d be that couple who showed up in the last few minutes before the anchor was lifted. The anxious crew would be searching the horizon for our silhouettes and when they realized we were coming they’d be angry that we’d waited so long – but only for a few moments, because when they identified us as the 25th Anniversary couple and saw the love we had for one another, there would be smiles all around.
What I Booked
Because the cash register just kept ringing, I thought Monaco might be the right place to see without an official guided tour. After all, most everything was withing in a one mile radius. Mr. Bill, on the other hand, wanted a guide. That seemed to suit everyone, so we booked a bus tour of the French Rivera.
I still had hopes of coming back to the boat afterwards and dressing to the nines for a visit to the casino, but shortly before cruising, a new opportunity presented itself. The CEO of Celebrity Cruise Lines was coming on our cruise on The Edge.She’d arranged for a wine tasting at the Monte Carlo Yacht Club (Yes, THE Monte Carlo Yacht Club, I didn’t stutter) and an after-hours, special access tour of the Prince’s Palace.
I’d never been all that excited about the bus tour. The town of Eze seemed to be the best part of it, but we’d only have 45 minutes there. The Yacht Club was just too much to resist – regardless of the outrageous price for four hours of entertainment. And there was still a chance I’d get that peek at the Casino. Perfect!
We cancelled the bus tour and booked the Yacht Club. For me, the palace was laginappe. I was just imagining all the ways I could slip “the Monte Carlo Yacht Club” into my sentences after I got home. Did I get to the Casino? You’ll find out. For now, come back next week and we’ll plan towards Cannes.
TRAVEL THERE: THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF EXCURSIONS
Even the name of the shore excursion sounded exciting – Renaissance Vacation in Tuscany. I looked carefully, read all the options, but from the very first glance, I was sold. Here’s what I was sold on.
What I Wanted
Michelangelo’s David – is there really anything else in Florence you have to see? And the Duomo, of course the Duomo and this baptistery and those doors. And the Uffizi Gallery. That’s must. Florence is a lot like Rome – a ninety minute drive from its port with entirely too many things to see.
And then there was Netflix’s The Medici’s. It was way oversexed for me to actually say I enjoyed it, but it was filmed in Florence and seeing the Medici episodes made me want to see every location.
What I Considered
Michelangelo’s David is in one museum. The Uffizi is another museum. Conveniently, the doors and the baptistery were both at one church, but the church is not the Duomo. How was I going to see them all?
The Renaissance Vacation Shore Excursion from Celebrity Cruise Lines didn’t even mention these must-see classics. It was also one of the most expensive tours offered, but just reading it transported me back to the days of da Vinci and Titian.
What I Booked
The Renaissance Vacation excursion focused on Palazzo Pitti. I actually didn’t know what a Pitti Palace was until I did a little research. The name on the palace might be Pitti, but it was all Medici and to boot,it had the Boboli Gardens. I love gardens and the Boboli is like the garden of all gardens. Only the Gardens of Versailles had hold a candle of fame to it.
I assure you, I could spend a whole day right there. The online brochure waxed eloquent about the ride through the Tuscan countryside. The list of city sights to visit sounded like a list of shooting sites for the Medici’s. I grieved over (and still grieve over) not seeing Michelangelo’s David, but the Renaissance Vacation was going to be the best excursion of the trip – I just knew it.
And the booking was so easy. With so many things to see in the area, the usual must-see list with the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the David, was getting all the attention. Once I booked the excursion I started in-depth research into what we’d be seeing. I devoured the section of my travel guide devoted to the Medici’s. I soaked in every episode of the Medici’s and mourned when the second season was over. I found a special about Italian gardens which focused on the Boboli. I opened the pages of my copy of 1000 Place to Go Before You Die and marked all the pages which would described the places I would see in Florence.
I was literally giddy – again. Would this blast from the past be the highlight of my trip as I anticipate it would. Well, you’re just going to have to keep coming back to find out, but next week, we’ll talk about Monaco.
TRAVEL THERE: NOT DOING UNTO OTHERS AS I WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO ME
Naples is a lovely city. A traditional bus tour of the city with various stops would be a lovely way to spend the day. However, besides just being a lovely city, Naples is the gateway city for so may lovely attraction. Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, Positano, the Isle of Capri! How does one choose which Celebrity Shore Excursion to enjoy?
What I Wanted
If I had done exactly as I wanted to, I would have hired a private guide and spent the day taking in Pompeii and Herculaneum. It would be hot, it would have been crowded and I would have been walking all day long. I would have also been in heaven.
Two cities from ancient history preserved for posterity by an extraordinary volcanic eruption, lovingly researched and restored over centuries. If I had to choose between the two cities, I would have opted for Herculeneum. Pompeii is the most famous, an entire city frozen in time, but Herculaneum had been a sort of ancient Riviera-type playground for the rich and famous. The frescoes and tile floors were supposed to be out of this world.
What I Considered
I’m not crazy. I know if you drag a bunch of people around to a bunch of places they don’t care about and wear them out at the first port of call, you are not going to be the most popular person on a cruise. I needed something a little more engaging to transition my group into the swing of things.
What I really needed was a sort of overview of the whole thing. I checked into the cost of a personal guide for the day, but in order to have sufficient space in the vehicle for all six of us, along with a driver and/or guide, was prohibitive.
What I Booked
Hoping to kick things off with a bang, I decided on something that didn’t have a very exciting title, but promised a wide variety of activities – sort a something for everyone smorgasbord. Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii didn’t grab me right off, but then I read on – jet foil to Capri, funicular ride, lunch in Florence and guided tour of Pompeii! First day planned.
Booking Nightmare
This is where the booking problem came in. I told you several blogs back that when I first looked at shore excursions, they were one price, but had gone up significantly a month later. I was new to Celebrity as a cruiser, so I had not antisciapted the shore excursion sale, but the Bagley’s had cruised with them many times. They let me know when the next promotion came along – 20% off all shore excursions. It was booking day.
Booking day lasted all day and into the next as I tried to guide everyone onto the same excursion at the same time. In the end, we were all going to the same excursion, but Jim and Melanie had been forced into another time for it. Not an auspicious way to start, but the hunt was on.
Frustrations be damned, we were booking excursions. Come back next week and let’s explore the opportunities in Florence.
I rarely get the vacation I dream up in my head. That’s disappointing, because I have such a lovely time up there in my own gray matter, but I usually enjoy what I end up with. Here’s how the planning for Rome went.
When in Rome or Not
When you sail out of Rome, the port is actually Civitavecchia and it’s not exactly convenient. It’s not all that far away from the airport, but it’s in the opposite direction from the city of Rome from the airport. Initially, I had hoped we’d stay in Rome for a few days before the trip. I planned and planned and re-planned it with the help of Sandra Rubio at CTC Travel. We worked out a pretty nice itinerary for and outstanding price, but it was still outside the budget of time and of money.
So, I thought the second best option would be a combo of airport transfer with a bit of sightseeing, but it was dicey. You had to factor in the bus trip from the airport to the city and then from the city to the boat. After all that was taken in consideration, we would have only have a few hours to see one of the most important cities in the world. I told myself something was better than nothing, purchased the transfer/excursion package and started investigating what we would see.
They took a whole lot more words to do it, but basically it was a loop around the Colosseum in the bus with a short photo opportunity and then a short stop at the Vatican. We would have had to stroll several blocks to and from the bus at the Vatican, so at best, we’d barely have time to gawk at St. Peter’s Square and get back to the bus.
Still, the buildings right around the Square have some pretty amazing stuff. The church holding the Pieta fronts on the Square and the Sistine Chapel is not far away. Only this is the Vatican. As soon as they open, huge lines form and you wait hours to get your few moments of grandeur.
I did more research. There were skip-the-lines tickets you could buy. Not exactly cheap, but not out of the realm of possibility either. What put them out of my reach is that they are timed tickets and no one anywhere could tell me what time I would be at the Vatican. Easy to read in the publications about the shore excursions was the notice that they reserved the right to switch the order of the tour based on crowds.
I was trying to make it all work in my head. I applied my favorite travel mantra – ‘seeing something is better than ‘seeing nothing,’ but I came to realize I was fooling myself. I would arrive exhausted from extensive air travel and board a bus. I’d gaze at some of the most famous architecture in the world and not even be able to get a decent picture of it. Worst of all, I’d be mere feet away from the Pieta and not even get a glimpse.
Then I thought about arriving at the boat in the afternoon – exhausted even further by the sightseeing and fighting all the last minute crowds every embarkation entails when you board at the end of the day. We’d miss the Concierge Embarkation Luncheon for sure and I’d miss out on the only opportunity I would have to unpack. Once I envisioned living out of our suitcases the whole trip, the uber-quick visit to the Vatican didn’t sound quite so good.
So, I cancelled the transfer/excursion and opted for the transfer only package. I’d see Rome someday, but it wouldn’t be on this trip. Come back next week and we’ll discuss a few more shore excursions.
Looking back on Mayan society, we might be quick to blame priests or kings, perhaps even warriors or ambassadors. Study history and you will know their sins are legion, but we allow the same sort of characters to control us today, as surely as the Mayans were controlled then.
Parallels I See
Mayans bound the foreheads of infants to achieve a fashionable look and we may wonder why anyone would do that, but don’t we rush out to rearrange anything on our bodies we don’t like? We may not file our teeth and set jewels in them, but we will pierce the skin under our lip and keep expanding the hole until those around us can see our gum line. We are perhaps even more greatly ruled by fashion than the Mayans.
Here in the United States we argue about our government, yet we allow the same politicians with their same solutions to dominate our legislating bodies year after year, forcing more and more regulations down our throat. Some of these bureaucrats are hired and appointed by our government, but too many are re-elected and re-elected long after they’ve proven how they fail to keep any promise that they make.
I’m guessing the average Mayan on the street wasn’t so different from me. My sacrificial pyramid is delivered to my house daily on my TV and computer screen and in case that’s not enough, I carry a phone, so I can check in on the mounting atrocities at any time. I listen to what the media tells me, just like the Mayans listened to their priests and royalty. I hate so much of what I see around me and yet, I feel so powerless to do anything about it.
The Mayans didn’t wake up one morning and say, “Hey, let’s have a society where the rich get richer, the powerful get more powerful and the rest of the population is ground under foot like ashes. And let’s create a religion where thousands upon thousands are murdered in gruesome ceremonies and we can pretend it makes the sun come back.” Their situation grew out of a series of circumstances. At some point, the tide could have been turned, but they let the opportunity slip away. Their great intellectual capacity and their amazing creativity could have been the foundation of a beautiful utopia, but instead it created a sort of hell.
I pray fervently that we Americans are not making the same sort of mistakes. I hope it is not too late to gain some control over our “priests and royalty.” I hope our religion of self-gratification does not one day demand the egregious sacrifice of our fellow citizens.
Forgive me my doom-saying. Travel is fun and filled with exposure to beautiful things. That’s what I usually focus on. But travel should also expose us to things that make us look at our own lives and think about the way the world is going around us. We should question whether we are doing the right things and promoting the right ideas.
Chichen Itza made me stop and think about my world. I promise to get back to the fun and the beautiful, but I will always try to see something more when I travel than mere entertainment. One more post about Chichen Itza and I am done.
Spanish Colonial Architecture from Bill’s 2011 mission trip to Guatemala.
TRAVEL TALK: SUMMING IT ALL UP
Our return to Dallas was blissfully uneventful. I’ll spare you the details. I entertained myself with Michener’s Mexico, but as I read, another part of my brain was sorting out what I’d observed on this short vacation. My initial impressions required a lot of thought and my arrival in Dallas did not end my meditations.
Capturing My Travel Thoughts
I’ll start with the relationship between Mexicans and Spaniards. I’m actually amazed at how good their current relations are considering the history of the natives and the invaders. Spanish architecture is appreciated just as much as the ancient native sites. There doesn’t seem to be a resentment between the Mexicans and their Spanish heritage. Spain’s Catholicism has been embraced and there doesn’t seem to be any factions hoping to reignite the worship of gods who demand human sacrifice, which were the Mayans gods.
Granted the Mexicans overthrew Spanish rule during an ugly period that lasted more than a decade, but they got over it. They didn’t reject Christianity along with the rulers they ousted or tear down Spanish cathedrals. Though I am sure there was a lot of burning and looting during the war, since its been over, they seem to have developed a great working relationship. The Mexicans I have observed seem just as proud of the beauties of Spanish colonial architecture as they are of their own pyramids. Even when I visited Mexico back in the Seventies and Eighties, this seemed to be so. Most specifically, there is not the tension over monuments and flags we Americans seem to harbor in relation to our own Civil War and slavery.
I Wouldn’t Be Quite as Nice
Personally, as a Christian, I resent the Spanish for the brand of Christianity they forced down the throats of the Mexican Indians. They made most of them slaves and threatened to kill them if they didn’t convert. Not that the Europeans did a much better job anywhere else, but the Spanish Conquest of Mexico seems particularly repugnant, in both their hunger for gold and their forcible spread of Catholicism.
My guide on the Chichen Itza excursion pointed out something I’d never quite noticed before. He showed us a church decorated with serpents. According to the guide, killing those who were unwilling to convert did not seem to be all that effective with some groups of natives. So, instead the friars invited the natives to come to the Catholic Church to worship their own snake god. Though this is more humane than murder, it’s still a trick and I didn’t like to hear of it.
The Question of Christianity
Had I not mulled over the question of religion for several days, this post might have turned into a rant against the Roman Catholic Church. They’ve done a lot of things wrong from the inception of formalized religion, but in truth, little about Christianity is attractive to many outsiders today. In some places, like Central Asia for example, people are turning to Christianity in droves. They are hungry for the hope it offers, but the concept of hope is alien to Americans who see Christianity the enemy. They pull verses out of the context of the rest of the Bible and try to hold them up as messages of contempt. I fear these people miss the point.
Christianity fails any time it gains an official capacity in government. It’s one thing to have a Christian king or president, quite another to have that leader promote his faith with his power. Lead as a servant, sure. Wield your power to grow your religion – NO! Christians have made a lot of mistakes in America. They have judged others based on a faulty understanding of what they think God wants. They also took advantage of their majority and wrote laws favorable to themselves. Now we are paying the price for that power.
During the Byzantine era, the Roman government encouraged its citizens to be Christians. The emperor was Christian and he promoted Christianity in many ways, including paying bishops. Many of the subjects of the emperor joined the church, not because they embraced Christianity, but because they wanted access to their ruler. Others joined the clergy, not out of piety, but because it was a steady paycheck. The Church may have prospered under these circumstances, but true Christianity has not. The intentions may have been good, but the results were not.
Conversions which are coerced or forced in any manner are just wrong, period. A conversion to Christianity should be about faith, relationship and hope. I do blame the Roman Catholic Church for much of the antipathy felt towards Christians. It would take me thousands of words to discuss the atrocities of history, the distractions of Mariology and the veneration of saints, indulgences, Apolstolic Succession, the inerrancy of the pope, the practice of confession and absolution, transubstantiation, and so many other Catholic traditions which make me crazy. However, all Christians are human first and we all screw up really badly. Unfortunately, people judge God based on us, rather than judging us by God’s standards – and we all fall short of those.
As I stood in the plaza of Chichen Itza and considered the awful human sacrifices which were made there, it seemed to me anyone in that city should have been thrilled to learn of the God of the Bible. Instead of a stone god who expected sacrifices, the Spanish could have offered a Creator God, who sacrificed His own Son. But the message was garbled, threats were made, abuses were committed and today many Mexicans are still caught up in a religion of works, rather than a joyful relationship with the Most High God.
These misconceptions about God, Jesus and the Bible still abound. God is seen as the big killjoy of the world, because the message is still garbled. The code of conduct outlined in the Bible is seen as a list of criteria to get into heaven, but that’s a total misrepresentation of Truth. Shame on the religious people who promote this heresy.
I could go on and on, but I won’t. Next week I will leave religion and move on to politics.
We arrived at the Seadust’s theater in time to score some pretty good seats and the show started promptly at the given time. Things were looking up.
Audience Participation
Many of the live shows we attend when we’re traveling include audience participation. It was probably most enjoyable when we were on our Nile cruise a few years before I started blogging. There was a hysterical game with potatoes and I won a belly dancing contest on Gallabeya Night. Bill is always the guy they choose out of the audience when belly dancers are involved and he frequently ends up on stage for other performances, too, like one of the shows on the Danube cruise. Thankfully, the participants for this particular show had to volunteer. Bill never volunteers.
Toto, we weren’t in Kansas anymore. The MC did a silly skit where he and an assistant taught four guys a series of four schticks and then the MC called out the names of the schticks in quick succession, trying to catch the contestants performing the wrong schtick. I was little surprised at the skit, because one of the schticks emulated a series of effeminate gestures. I’ve seen things like that before, but in politically-correct America, it’s been a very long time ago.
The audience enjoyed the antics and would laugh particularly hard when the four burly guys would wave limp-wrist-ed at the audience and turn around with simpering steps to waggle their behind at us. Apparently, politically incorrect is funny in Mexico.
Let’s Start the Show
After the Audience Participation skit was over, a series of Broadway songs were performed. The only song I actually remember was from Beauty and the Beast. I remember it, because the costumes were beyond shopworn. The yellow ballgown was thinner than cheap toilet paper and the Beast looked like he’d been roused out of bed for the scene.
Our favorite part of the show was a dance performed by a guy in, what I can only describe as a multi-limb-ed fabric-enclosed Slinky. The Slinky costume was brightly colored and the dance very entertaining.
Then, yet another opportunity for audience participation came along and yes, another gay-bashing schtick was involved. At that point we had seen enough. I sort of hate most political correctness, but obviously I don’t like gay-bashing.
Time to Call It a Night
Though it had been much more relaxing than the previous 24-hours, I’d had a pretty full schedule. We’d be leaving the following day, but I’d have plenty of time to do my packing before our transportation showed up. I’d stopped by the Best Day desk in the lobby right after breakfast and had made the arrangements. We wouldn’t be leaving until almost one.
I did take the time to be sure our towels and swimsuits were hung up to dry, but soon I had on my jammies and was reading more of my novel about Mexico. It was really beginning to get good. However, I didn’t get very far, because I was soon drifting off to sleep.
Packing It All In
I woke up early and went to the large bathroom and dressing area to pack up our things. It actually took longer than I expected, because Bill was up before I was through. We went downstairs for breakfast at the buffet and I had one more errand I wanted to take care of. I’d been shopping for a gift for my bestie throughout the trip and to my amazement, the best combination of selection, quality of merchandise and pricing was actually in the gift shop of the Seadust’s lobby. I selected the item I thought she’d like and use most. Then we returned upstairs to finish packing.
I felt like I was playing some sort of game, as usual. Our big suitcase can hold an amazing amount of stuff, but if I filled it up, we’d need a crane to move it and we couldn’t afford the surcharge the airline would levy for overweight items. On this trip, American allowed us each a carry-on. So, I juggled our stuff, hoping to balance just the right amount of clothing and shoes with the toiletries to put the big bag under 50 pounds. Then I had to make everything else fit into carry-ons. I couldn’t use exactly the same formula as I had on the way to Cancun, because all of our swimming gear was still damp and couldn’t be packed in the big bag. Eventually I was ready to go.
We’re almost through, except for the thoughts I’d been mulling over since the visit to Chichen Itza. if you come back next week, I’ll try to make my meditations coherent.
So, the food wasn’t great, but we were having a pretty good day at the Seadust Cancun Family Resort thanks to our friends at CTC Travel, especially Sandra Rubio. Hanging out on our balcony, going to the gym, enjoying the beach and playing in the pool. What’s not to like? I could have happily gotten another margarita and stayed at the Main Pool, but I feel like I have a responsibility to my readers. I couldn’t just leave the Seadust without reporting on the Adult Only Pools. So off we went.
First You Have to Find It
If there is a map of the Seadust property, it’s not posted anywhere, there’s not one in the room and no one gave me one. We were able to follow our noses and discover most of the attractions around the resort, but some we had to ask about and as for the casino, we didn’t care enough to bother asking.
We could see the Adult Only Pools, the ball courts and a tip of the Water Park from our room. We found the Water Park our first night. The pool and the courts we had to ask about. With a little perseverance, we found the pools earlier in the day, but they were abandoned and we didn’t have on our swimwear. After our kite and Main Pool adventures, we were properly dressed and interested in what we would find.
The adults only pools are actually one pool and two huge hot tubs. One of those sit-in-the-water bars graces one end of the pool. There is a sizable kiosk in the center of the section, which seems as if it would be a great place for a snack bar and grill or a place to sell excursions, but it was empty. They had some of those double bed-like chaise lounges we enjoyed at Punta Cana, but there was no awning over them.
Then You Have to Overcome Your Inhibitions
Not to worry! You don’t have to take off your clothes to enjoy the hot tubs, but if you have any germ phobias you might have a problem. The first thing I noticed was a ring around the hot tub. It didn’t look like it hadbeen there since the last Ice Age or anything, but it did show a certain level of neglect on the part of the resort.
When we arrived in the Adult area, the bartender was absent and a couple was trying to pour themselves a beer. Bill was ready for a beer so he went over to help them. I went ahead to test the waters and found them to be a very comfortable temperature. As I went down the steps the bathtub ring caught my eye, but I decided to overlook it. While I sat there, the bartender returned and caught Bill in the act. How much trouble can you get for pouring yourself a drink at an all-inclusive hotel? Apparently not much, because soon Bill and the couple returned.
As we enjoyed the hot tub we shared some conversation with the other couple. They were Russian, but lived in America. The woman had started her American residency in Oklahoma, but had moved further north when she married. I don’t remember what state.
Along with a lot of stuff about their business, we discovered they were in their second week of vacation at the Seadust. They were having a great time. They thought the food was fine. They loved their room. They had kids, so they loved being able to abandon the young ones to the kids clubs and have some private vacation time. We told them how beautiful the beach was, how much we loved our balcony and pretty much smiled through their happy description of their time at the resort. No use tarnishing their vacation with our culinary and architectural complaints.
So like beauty, enjoyment means different things to different people. The other couple had to go get their kids and the sun was going down, so we headed back to the room to get cleaned up for dinner. Yes, there are a couple of more meals before our time at the Seadust is over. Come back next week and we’ll go try out the Big Ben Steakhouse.
So, pretty much anytime Bill and I head to a destination with a beach, I say, “Bill, don’t forget to pack your kite.” His kite is a Windsurf Trainer he picked up when we lived in Pismo Beach, CA. Flying kites was a popular pastime in Pismo and after destroying a more conventional kite, Bill graduated to the large training kite. On some trips the wind is too strong or not strong enough or there’s really not enough room to fly the kite, but in Cancun, we flew our kite.
A Two Person Job
If the wind is forceful enough to fly the huge kite, then the flier is going to need someone to help them get it into the air. When we flew the kite almost weekly in Pismo, we had the logistics down pat and could get the kite up in a very short period of time.
In Cancun, we were rusty, so it took a little longer than usual for us to get the kite into the air. We had one false start and then fumbled around so much, a hotel employee pitched in to help. Bill was very frustrated with our efforts until he realized while we’d been fumbling around, the wind had changed direction. We hadn’t been helping him wrong, we were just in the wrong place once the wind changed.
Bill was almost too frustrated to continue, but as we folded up our gear, a breath of wind teased the kite. Bill speculated that just a little further down the beach might provide a better wind, because instead of tall hotels, the beach was lined with two-story condos.
Up in the Air
We trudged further down the beach and fairly soon the kite was in the air. I’m so glad we gave it one more try. Bill loves flying the kite, but not as much as I enjoy him doing one of the few truly carefree things he likes to do. Bill has many things he enjoys. Golf, for instance, but he’s serious about his game, so he’s not carefree. When his kite goes up, Bill is transformed into this joyful boy I especially adore. Oh how I wish he enjoyed more things with such gusto and abandon.
We kept the kite in the air for quite a long time. We didn’t get the kind of audiences we usually end up with in American venues, but the hotel employee assigned to beach duty enjoyed our antics, as did a lady who stopped to video us. She gave me the idea to get a video of Bill as he handled the kite. I hope you like it!
Coming Back Down
Flying the kite is the fun part. Getting it in the air and packing it up to go represent the price you pay for fun. While the kite was in the air, Bill tried, as he has before, to get me to pilot the kite. Just as in previous attempts, all I did was down the kite. The fun was over. It was Margarita time. We packed up and headed back to the Seadust.
As we climbed the stairs to the resort’s main pool, I stopped by the bar for a Margarita, while Bill found a pair of chaise lounges. The water was great and we had fun. Once out, I sipped on my Margarita and Bill opted for a tequila shot with a beer.
We had one more area we wanted to enjoy before the sun was down. so we headed off to adult pool we’d found earlier in the day. Come back next week and take a dip with us.
TRAVEL THERE: ADULTS ONLY AT THE SEADUST
TRAVEL THERE: SAND, WATER AND A BRIGHT BLUE SKY
jane sadek 