We had a glorious first full day in Mexico. We spent most of the day relaxing pool side sampling cocktails and reading our books. It was just what we all needed to get ourselves on "island time."

The town of Playa Del Carmen is an easy 20 minute stroll up the beach. Around sunset we headed that direction not really realizing what we were going to find. It is a combination of street fair and street party with crazy locals and even crazier tourists. There were sand sculptures and performers in the town square and a huge restaurant/shopping district that seemed to go on forever. We found a good restaurant and dined on the sidewalk. We were serenaded several times, met a monkey and enjoyed the great people people watching. After a few hours of wondering around we caught a taxi back to our hotel.

We are staying at the Reef Playacar which is a smaller resort where some of the staff has already learned our names. We have a favorite bartender named Gerardo and he runs a really cool bar that is right on the beach and is only available to the upgraded guests. We happen to fall in that category. We have found ourselves sitting on the beach sipping Grand Marnier and Champagne in the evenings. They have these crazy planters and lighted balls that change colors. Clarice loves them and we play with them and pose with them every night.

On Wednesday we booked an excursion to go snorkel with turtles and to visit the Cenotes. A Cenote is a natural pit or sinkhole resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. Cenotes are especially associated with the Yucatan Penniinsula of Mexico. They were considered sacred ground by the ancient Mayans.

We visited 3 Cenotes at a location called Chikin Ha which is Mayan for West Waters. We were able to swim and snorkel in Two of the holes and walked through a cave at the third location.

After a quick snack we jumped back in the van and went to Akumel Bay to swim with the turtles. We saw several turtles and enjoyed the sunny afternoon. Unfortunately this is an extremely popular sight and the waters were pretty murky so it was hard to see any distance.

We returned to our resort and decided to try the Italian restaurant on site. This is one of the restaurants included in our package. It was pretty good. It started to rain during dinner so we had to hide under a huge umbrella at our favorite beach bar after dinner.

So far we are really enjoying our time here in Playa Del Carmen.

******There will be turtle pictures added later. They are on a CD and this little computer I brought along does not have a CD drive in it so I will have to add those when we get home.