While in Cancun, playing run-around-the-poles no less, Caleb decided to say hello to his friend back in Boston…

All good things seem to come to an end. We were just starting to feel as if we could live in Mexico forever when we realized that we had to hop on a plane back to the freezing northeast. We spent our last day and night hanging out with our friends and picking up a few souvenirs (namely Caleb’s orange guitar). We had a great time and cannot wait to return. (Click on the photo below, or here, to view the last of the photographs.

…and some some singing (the loud, out of tune, and annoying voice belongs to me). We were in a store one afternoon and Caleb spotted an orange guitar. He loves the color orange and loves guitars too. We decided to return a few days later and get him the guitar as a present (he deserved it — he was on his best behavior for the whole trip). He carried it everywhere that first evening (and more or less still does) and treated us to a song. I love the ending (he knew about the camera from the beginning).

Just off the coast of Cancun is a seven mile long island called Isla Mujeres. We were looking for something adventurous to do and decided that the outing fit the bill. There are a number of ways to get there but we opted to take the public ferry (roughly a $7 round-trip ticket per person). After two bus rides to get us to the port (the second of which was in a tiny van), we seamlessly bought our tickets and hopped on the ferry. The boat was great with seating on the deck for us sun-lovers, and the trip was pleasant and fast.

As an aside, the ferry, as mentioned, is roughly $7 for a round-trip. It leaves from Puerto Juarez (a few kilometers northeast of downtown Cancun) every half hour (from early in the morning to late at night) and appears to be the best method of transport. There are a number of other boat services that are closer to the hotel zone but are much more expensive (several times more), and have much less frequent trips. So skip the seeming convenience of whatever the hotel or time share guy wants to tell you and take the bus (or, sheesh, a cab) to the ferry (full disclosure: despite my predilection for mass transit we took a cab back home, and are very glad we did despite the 160 peso fare, and tip, versus the total cost of roughly 35 pesos for the bus, simply because both boys were asleep and we really wanted to get them home as fast as possible). Definitely try out the ferry — it will probably be faster, far cheaper, much more reliable, and an awesome experience to boot.

Isla Mujeres is beautiful and without a doubt, something you should try to experience if you visit Cancun. You can rent golf carts (Caleb called them “Monster Trucks” — they did have pretty massive wheels) and speed around the island, but we went with the more leisurely walking option. The boys didn’t mind (Caleb and Erik spent much of the time on my and Mike’s shoulders, respectively) and we managed to wander around quite a bit.

A bite to eat, some browsing, and a quick trip to the ocean to surf, and it was time to get the boys back to the hotel for their afternoon nap. Both conked out on the boat ride back to the mainland and managed to miss the commotion when our boat rescued a capsized kayaker (sans kayak, oar, or anything else but a wee life jacket) out in the middle of the ocean. Suffice it to say, it was a great adventure.

Click on the photograph above, or here, to see all of the photos from the island.

Early in our planning Megan and I figured it would be great if we could vacation somewhere like Cancun with friends, rather than just on our own. We asked our friends Mike and Monica from Minnesota if they and their boys wanted to join us and they enthusiastically agreed. Due to excessive airline costs we ended up booking a few extra days on our own at the beginning of our trip in a different hotel (the Westin). Essentially, in brief, even with the cost of a few nights at the Westin, our nine day vacation cost as much as would have a 5-6 day trip since the plane tickets for the shorter date span were so expensive. So after our alone time at the Westin, we packed up and headed to meet our friends at our new place.

Part of our strategy was to book a villa, condo, or similar place where each family would have their own room(s) but share a kitchen and living room so everyone could all hang out but also switch off watching the kids for a few evenings. We settled on a place called the Ambiance Villas, and although there were a few hiccups, it is somewhere that we might consider returning to someday (I think that is a nice way of saying that it wasn’t bad, but that we would probably look elsewhere next time). There were a lot of really great aspects of the villas including the great pool for the kids, a compact playground with swings (Caleb loves the swings…”Higher Daddy! I want to go HIGH!“) and the wonderful beach (the sand felt like silk). However, the room, which was comfortable, happened to be on the fourth floor (ahem, no elevator, cough…not a big deal, but it gets old with four adults and three young kids + luggage). There is also the small matter of the all-night rave that seemed to be held each night on the other side of the lagoon (indeed, sound barriers would be a good idea, somewhere mid-lagoon) as well as the nearby traffic noise.

Regardless, we had a blast with our friends, were always pretty pooped at the end of the day, and slept like kittens (kittens who wake up intermittently to listen to rave music…oh it wasn’t that bad). Overall, for a first experience, it was fantastic and we look forward to taking another similar trip very soon!

Click on the photo, or here, to check out the pictures!

After a few hours of sleep, we woke up on our first day just before the sun came up. The sight was amazing, and despite a long trip and just a few hours of rest, we were eager to get started on our day.

For the first part of our trip we stayed at the very end of the hotel zone (la Zona Hotelera) which is really an island shaped like a “7″ stretching east, and then south, from downtown Cancun. Most of the action is in the “elbow” of the island, and our hotel was tucked in tranquility in the perfect spot at the base of the 7. We spent a lot of time enjoying the beach and generally relaxing at the hotel (which is not really typical for us as we tend to enjoy buzzing around a bit more) and loved every minute of it. Aside from the relaxation, we toured around the island a bit by bus and even made it into downtown. Click on the image above, or here, to see the photos.

Many, many, many months ago (perhaps last winter?) Megan and I decided that we would have to vacation somewhere warm, each and every year that we live someplace cold. For this winter, we chose to head to Mexico (yes, we have the next few years of warm-climate travel already bouncing through our heads), specifically Cancun. We also decided to meet some friends there (more on that in later posts, and make it more of a long vacation rather than a 3-4 day mid-winter sun-withdrawal fix.

After months, weeks, and days of nail tapping and daydreaming, we finally zipped up our bag (Megan and Caleb succumbed to my travel-light desires and we all shared one carry-on suitcase and two backpacks for our 9-day vacation) and started on our relatively painless journey to Cancun. Click on the image, or here, to view the photos of our journey there.