A Day Off

The worst thing for any vacation is for the vacation to feel like you aren't getting any rest an relaxation.  So we decided to take a breather today and enjoy the amenities.  After waking up at a lazy 8:30 am we got ready and ate on our patio in the open air.  In fact we've done that every morning and it has been so nice to take advantage of the pleasant weather an temperatures.

Later we headed down to the beach to lounge and relax.  It was nice to watch the waves and listen to Loren read to me.  We are continuing to enjoy our book "All the Trouble In the World" by P.J. O'Rourke.  Loren is such a good reader.  I also took advantage of some of that time to sketch.  Though I did not get too far in that project however.

We had appointments at the spa.  First on the agenda were somewhat tickley fish pedicures.  Loren laughed and hooted, fit to be tied.  It felt very strange.  As we acclimatized to having our dry outer epidermal layers sucked away by tiny cleaners we discovered one thing: fresh meat is just as appetizing to them as it is for their bigger counterparts.  We had to have the spa attendant bind our blisters with bandaids to deflect the aquatic munchers.

Then we had hour long massages.  Having never been to a proper spa before this was a unique experience.  A deep tissue massage and a warmer placed underneath my body when I flipped over to the front to keep my muscles relaxed.  It was the best massage I have ever had.  Loren said his was as well.  aFter sixty minutes with my masseuse I didn't want to leave the peaceful seating area set aside for after a treatment is completed.  I told Loren that if their massages were this tranquilizing I wondered what their facials were like.

We rode our first public bus since we arrived here and it took a little while to get my "sea legs" back.  We missed our stop and had to walk back to the restaurant.  It was fun to sit and chat and eat.  Loren really likes HardRock Cafe and we enjoyed the music and the ambience.  The restaurant is located in the shopping and club area of the hotel zone of Cancun.  We were laughing at the random people walking around in Mexican versions of Jim Carrey's The Mask costume accosting passers by to get them to take photos and go to Club Coco Bongo which advertised an atmosphere combining, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Spider Man.  We stopped at the Haagen Daas ice cream shop for dessert.  I have never gone to an ice cream shop that had a waiter in the States before.  This one did however, we got to select our ice cream dessert from a menu and were even given a selection of coffee or water as accompaniment.  What we ordered was divine, banana caramel crepes!  I am inclined to agree as Loren once said the best bananas are in Mexico.