Sunny Days in AZ: The Honeymoon

Hello! Sorry I haven't posted yet about our honeymoon. Just when I thought things would settle down for us after the wedding, they seem to have sped up instead! I am just getting around to posting pics for our honeymoon. I will post a couple here directly and then include a public link to my Facebook photo album too.

Bobby and I had a blast on the trip...the flights to Cancun were great, so we were definitely grateful for that! Our resort was 30 mins south of Cancun along the Mayan Riviera. We stayed at The Grand Mayan, a gift from my parents - thanks Dad and Mom! =) The pools were INCREDIBLE there...I can't say that enough. We spent the first day at the pool and met a couple from New York that were fun to hang out with and it was a great day at the pool. The next day, Bobby and I found our way down to Tulum (Mayan Ruins about an hour south of our resort) by taking a bus from Playa Del Carmen (about 15 minutes south of our resort). Luckily, my man speaks fluent Spanish, so it was an easy and cheap trip! Tulum is a great site in terms of Mayan Ruins because one side of them is the coast/beach/ocean. You will see that in some of the posted pictures....it just makes it gorgeous! Plus, since the site isn't enormous and they are fairly compact, it's a great spot just to spend 1-2 hours looking around. After Tulum, we took the bus back north into Playa. It started raining right when we got to Playa...so we actually were complete dorky tourists (laughing at ourselves the entire time) and bough rain ponchos and walked up and down 5th Avenue (the popular street in Playa with tons of shopping and eating) with them on. I think there is a picture of us with them on too in the bunch...we had to capture how dorky we looked! Luckily, the rain let up some and we could walk without them on...we found a great restaurant called La Parilla where we experienced some amazing food! The best tacos I have ever had there....and the guacamole was awesome too! Yes mom, I kind of like quacamole now, believe it or not! We just spent the day walking and looking around, buying the girls some souvenirs and then headed back to the resort.

The next day was going to be a pool day....except it was cloudy and rainy. =( So...we ordered room services, waited for the sun to shine, and read as we waited. If we kept waiting in the room for the sun to shine...or even a little blue sky to show, we would've been waiting until that Friday afternoon (it was Tuesday at this point). Yep...that's right, it rained about 70% of our trip...the first and last days were the only ones that were truly not raining and sunny. We got over it after the first day and decided we would just make the best of it and still go to the beach, pool, etc. like it was sunny. So we did...wasn't QUITE as enjoyable...but we really did have a great time regardless of the cloudy, rainy weather. I even had to wear a sweatshirt at the beach during the day when we were reading and spending time there...but it was still nice to have the ocean waves, wind, sand in your toes, etc. We were going to go to Xel-Ha mid-week (an eco-water park with snorkling, cliff diving, dolphins, swimming, etc.), but we just felt it would be a waste of money, so we nixed that from our "to do's." By Friday, it was rumored to get a little sunny, so we were set we were set to get out to the pool. It was nice to just (finally) have a day at the pool and just relax and enjoy a nice(r) day. It was still cloudy and really windy...but it was 100% improvement on our last 3-4 days, so we were loving it! It was our last full day there, so it was a perfect ending. We did get a little more sun the next morning, since our flight didn't leave until 4pm.

All in all, we had such an amazing time. We went to relax and do nothing and mission was accomplished! The resort, The Grand Mayan/Mayan Palace, was absolutely incredible. I have never been to a nicer place. Our room was amazing and HUGE. We had about 1400 sq. ft. of space! We felt almost guilty since we ended up not using one side of it altogether. But...oh well...it was our honeymoon! Oh...and another thing...we have never seen so many different creatures - birds, crocodiles, many, many iguanas - it was like we were at a zoo some of the time! Also, the restaurants at the resort were amazing as well...so many to choose from and just the best food all around - I will miss their steak tacos and real, fried chips and salsa! Bobby also had the most incredible prime rib ever too at one of their nicer restaurants. I can't say enough about the food there....it was wonderful.

I think that's about all to share for now. Bobby and I will be back in IL for this weekend...Bobby stays until Monday and then I am staying through until next Friday, Feb. 6th. Let me know if you have some time to catch up when I am back!