Cancun – Like Dogs in a Cage

We were awake at 3:30 in the morning on New Year’s Day. Admittedly, I have been up at that time on that day before, but I have never done it this way. I went to bed at 11:00 and woke up at 3:30 to get to the airport. This was the beginning of our Cancun adventure.

I don’t remember much from that morning, but a few things have stuck in my mind. One was my wife telling me to watch out for drunk drivers. The other was not seeing any kind of driver for a long time. If you want to feel like Charlton Heston in The Omega Man, then you should drive around at that time of the morning on New Year’s Day. Oh, there’s one other thing I remember. The whole family – me, my wife and my stepdaughter – ate black-eyed peas and hog jowl for good luck. Around here, that’s a tradition.

We made it to the airport without running into any drunk drivers or mutants and had a good flight to Cancun. I tried to sleep on the flight, but that was an impossible task. I can never do that. My family, however, does not seem to have that problem.

Once we landed, the situation became more hectic. We had to make our way through immigration before looking for our transportation. We had directions to where our ride was going to be and made it there easily. However, there was no ride and no record of us needing a ride. After some quick negotiating by my wife, we were provided a driver to get us to the Moon Palace Resort. Before we could leave, he rounded up some other passengers.

One couple was from New Jersey. At least, that’s what their accents sounded like. I hate to stereotype, but they were stereotypical. He was kind of a round guy who stepped off the set of The Sopranos, and she was a little mouthy. While we waited for the driver, she started complaining about having to wait in the backseat and said something about us being treated like caged dogs. We had been on the van for about 2 minutes.

Luckily, we were the first ones to reach our destination, but it was not without incident. Our driver made a wrong turn and headed to the lobby on the sidewalk. I have only seen one other person do that, and you have read about him before.

The bellhop took our bags and led us into the lobby. It was a nice lobby that I hung out in quite a bit, so I am not being mean when I say this. When I first walked in, I felt like I had been dropped into the middle of an Elvis movie. You know – one of those where he works at a beach resort.

They directed us to the VIP Check In. Yes, we were VIP’s for a few days. However, they told us that the room would not be ready for a couple of hours. I guess we were second level VIP’s. We ate at the buffet and tried to book some excursions. That didn’t work because we didn’t have a room number. We hung around until a room came open. It was a good room. It was close to everything and had a jacuzzi tub next to one of the beds. It also had a hammock on the deck. I would use it in the future.

After getting everything packed, my wife and stepdaughter made a beeline for the pool and the beach. I made a beeline for the bed because I didn’t get all cozy on the airplane. After a few hours of relaxation, my wife and I went to the steakhouse by the beach where we had some good food and some good conversation. That’s also where the waiter called me Ricardo.

For the rest of the story, tune in again. Same Cancun Time. Same Cancun Channel.

Tags: Beach, Beach Resort, Black Eyed Peas, Cancun, Charlton Heston, Elvis Presley, Hog Jowl, Moon Palace Resort, New Year's Day, Stereotyping, Swimming Pool, The Omega Man, The Sopranos, Travel