Dan's 2007 Tulum Trip Report - Day 3

[austxdan]

Day 3 - May 21, 2007 - Party in Akumal


Being the lady-killer that I am, I had another hot babe join me on the beach for the sunrise this morning. This time it was my lovely bride Chris.

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Figure 21 - My angel up for the sunrise

So we sat for awhile while the sun got primed to give us a good show. We were finally treated to a beautiful sunrise. It started off slowly:
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Figure 22 - The show begins

And then brightened up significantly:

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Figure 23 - Grand Finale

Eventually we got hungry, and decided to walk on down to Casa Banana for breakfast. We had read this was close by and had seen it last night on our drive to Hechizo. So today we thought we'd give it a shot.

Casa Banana is quite a colorful place, and it seems very festive for an early morning.
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Figure 24 - Casa Banana

But the thing we liked most about this place was the big ol' mugs of coffee they give you
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Figure 25 - A big cuppa Joe

Notice the heavenly glow you get from a big steaming cuppa Joe in the morning!

I had a craving for panke's this morning. So I ordered the "Americano" breakfast, which consists of eggs, bacon, and two big hot cakes. These were quite sweet and unlike pancakes I have tried elsewhere. Very tasty. Chris opted for "Los Mayas" breakfast, which was comprised of scrambled eggs with spinach, and black bean sauce. Sufficiently stuffed, we walked back to our cabana to pack up for our day in Akumal. We told Susy and Tim we would pick them up at 9:00 am and give them a lift. They were spending the second half of their trip at Hotel Akumal Caribe, and offered to let us bunk there tonight after the Loco Gringo party.



(More to follow)

[austxdan]

. . .

Once we got up to Akumal and checked into our room, um, I mean Susy and Tim's room, we grabbed our snorkel gear and headed down to the beach (after a couple of cold XX's - hey, it's noon somewhere). Chris and I went out first, and didn't have very good luck locating any Tortugas in our stretch of the water. Once back on shore we hear that the turtles are actually further down the beach. So we all decided to pack up and move down the beach a way's to try our luck there. But before we went back in the water we needed to refuel ourselves, and in Akumal at lunchtime that means Lucy's Tacos.

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Figure 26 - Chris at Lucy's

Of course Chris and I ordered Lucy's famous Shrimp taco's. Tim did as well. Susy went with some sort of fish pieces that were actually quite large in portion size. After we downed our tacos, we had to fend off Susy trying to get us to help her finish the fish chunks. GAH! - I still had swimming to do!

We had lucked out getting to Susy's before a large line formed. But the bad news was that the line was still there after we finished eating. It was very hot along Lucy's little side street, so we opted to not try to get back in line for ice cream, and instead headed back for the beach. That's two years in a row without Lucy's ice cream. I guess she'll have to hang on for one more year now at least ;-)

From our new locale on the beach, we again tried the whole snorkeling thing. Chris, Susy, and I all headed out in the same general direction, and this time we scored big time. We saw one huge Tortuga along the bottom, who then decided to get a breath of air. We were able to, from a distance, watch him climb to the surface of the water - snort out a big blast of . . . snort - and then dive back down to the bottom. I got a couple of decent pics - but I'll need to touch up in Picasa first.

We were enjoying the turtles, when we became a little perturbed at some folks getting a little too close to the wildlife. That, and I think my belly full of tacos and fish was needing a rest, so we snorkeled our way back to shore for a little relaxation before getting ready for the party this afternoon.

Here's the shot of the big Tortuga on the bottom of Akumal Bay
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Figure 27 - Grande Tortuga


We went back up to Susy and Tim's room to shower up before the LG party. And of course, we had to indulge in a few more margaritas and beer as well. No need to pay bar prices when you can just show up with a buzz! Of course the one downside, if this even IS a downside to drinking with friends before the party is that you just might show up a little late to the scheduled webcam event. Oh tough beans, or frijoles, to that - we are on Mexico time!

But as you can see from this pic, we made it to the Loco Gringo party complete with our coolers, er hats, er coolers, whatever.

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Figure 28 - Susy, Dan, Chris @ webcam

And so with a beer in my hand, and a glow in my head, we all made it down to the Loco Gringo party at the Lol Ha restaurant/bar on Akumal Beach. There was a pre-party list that noted 80 LG-ers that were to be in attendance. The real turnout was more like 20 or so. But those that I met were some great folks. We met "Snowbound" and "Green 'kini", "PJamigo" and "Scuba Chica" - (the hostesses with the mostesses) Beach Billy, SamIam, Xelgoer, John & Jeryl, and I'm sure some other folks that I failed to remember and write down their names.

After initial greetings, I left my lovely bride down at the end of the table with Tim and some others while I went about doing my usual "social butterfly" thing of meeting folks I've communicated with on the boards. That's pretty much how I got to build that list of names in the preceding paragraph. But after awhile I got back down only to see Chris about to embark on a round of tequila shots with Mr.Susy. I asked what's up and was handed my own shot in order to not feel left out. Mmm, tasty. I think there may have been more shots, there was definitely more cervezas, and eventually I felt the need to pack some food into my stomach to slow down the earth's gravitational pull on me. So the four of us (Susy, Tim, Chris, and me) headed over to the other side of the bar to get something to eat. I remembered that Lol Ha had some pretty good pizza last year. We decided to split a good pizza, and Susy ordered some bruschetta. Have you noticed that she HAS to be different! (Love ya Susy). After dinner, we walked the 15 steps back around the bar to rejoin the party, only to find . . . "where did the party go?". There was nobody there. We looked around and couldn't find anyone. And the worst part was that Susy had left her precious LG cooler at the party to gather more signatures, and now it was gone. Drag!

So we headed back to Susy and Tim's room, and enjoyed a night cap of . . . yup - more tequila shots and beer. Finally we turned in for the evening. There was a very loud party going on outside the window, down at the pool. The party went on until the extreme wee hours of the morning - never mind the sign saying pool closes at 10. Oh well - so not the best nights sleep - but the tequila sure helped things along.

[minniemex]

And fun was had by all!! - Wish I could have joined the party!! Sounds like the kind of fun you can't plan -

& P.S. Great sunrise - again:p

[TheWindyCity]

Great report Dan, thanks for sharing the trip with us.

[dcap]

Thanks Dan & Chris. Enjoyed another day of your trip.
Look Forward to day 4.

[pepper]

Another fab installment...

Do you remember how much breakfast at Casa Banana was? Sounds like a good place with real coffee and filling eats!!

[austxdan]

Thanks all. I am almost done with my writing of the trip report. Once I'm done I may choose to post more frequently until done. But don't you think the anticipation helps to build up your enthusiasm?

pepper - I can't recall the cost for Casa B's, but I don't recall it being anything "out of the ordinary". Our waiter made Chris a single rose out of aluminum foil, even though we didn't get anything 'to go'. This was a nice touch, and became one of those souveniers from the trip that you hold on to as 'one of a kind'. Casa B's is a nice laid back place, just the way we like it!


Dan

[Gale in KY]

Dan..when trip reports come in installments..I usually wait till the last post to comment..but I gotta tell you guy...I am sooooo enjoying yours! Those Lucy tacos had me salivating this morning wishing I was there for breakfast!
I really appreciate the time and thought you put into your report..makes me wish you had stayed a month..lol..bet you wish you could too!

[Tracee]

Another awesome day. Thanks Dan, looking forward to more!!!

[SassyGirl]

Great report, Dan. I'm really enjoying it! Sounds like you had an awesome time.