December Vacation, part 3

After we returned to the ship from Progreso and had showers, we enjoyed a little family foray into the casino before dinner. Some nickel slots and a game that took quarters were our entertainment. It was nice to go when there weren't many peoople, and the room wasn't full of smoke. We all shared our winnings, but I don't think any of us left with more $$ than we went in with.
On Thursday morning we watched as the ship docked at Cozumel. It was cool and cloudy, and just before we disembarked, there was an announcement that due to the high winds, Port Authority had closed the beaches and cancelled all water excursions. That was a huge disappointment. We hadn't scheduled an excursion, but had plans to go to a beach. Jessi snapped this photo of the sign on her bathroom stall door in the public restroom on the pier. Hmmm. Glad I waited until we got back to the ship...

Jessi had to take a few minutes to call her work, then we wandered through the area of tourist shops until we got outside and found a taxi to go downtown. He took us to the far end of the main street and we walked back several blocks, stopping in a store here and there, picking up souvenirs. After awhile, each store looked like the last one, and they all had the same offerings.

We grabbed a cab and went back to the pier. There was a place for lunch that Greg had read about online, "Pancho's Backyard". We got a table on the patio and Marisio was our waiter. Wish he'd been a good waiter. He got our orders and brought our drinks right away, then eventually brought our chips and guacamole, then awhile later brought our dinners. Then we didn't see him again. We'd been finished eating for quite some time when I finally stopped a waitress and asked her to send him to our table. We were enjoying the musicians and ocean view, but were ready to go. We waited. And waited. And waited. He finally brings our check, lays it on the table and walks away. Greg puts some bills inside the folder, and we wait again. Marisio finally returns, picks up the folder and thanks us. We say, "Uh, no, we need some change". NO WAY he was getting a $22 tip!

Again we waited. Then we waited. He finally brings us our change. He got some of it, but not much. After all, he did bring us the giant margaritas right away.

Oh, the giant margarita. What was I thinking? One of the things I wanted to do in Mexico was have a margarita. Now I've done that, and don't have to do it again. Each sip made my entire body shiver, but did that stop me from taking the next sip? Nooo.
Granted, I only drank half my drink, plus several sips of Jessi's peach margarita and some of Greg's strawberry one, but that was more than enough. I don't remember what struck me as being funny, but I remember I couldn't stop laughing. And then I laughed some more. Oh, it was a happy lunch at Pancho's Backyard in Cozumel.

So, by the time we finally got to pay for our ginormous (and expensive!) drinks, I was ready to go back to the ship with Nick. We settled into the nightclub where they were showing "The Dark Knight". Greg rejoined Jessi on the pier to finish her shopping.

While he was taking me back to the ship (no, I could walk, there just was a lot of stuff to carry. Yeah, huh.), Jess wandered around the pier by herself. BAD IDEA. We figured there were enough people around she'd be okay. Mexican men saw a girl alone and thought "easy prey". She was hit on several times, one guy even grabbing her hand - she found a group of people sitting by a fountain and joined them until her father got back. Lesson learned.

I was happy when they got back to the ship and joined us at the movie. Not laughing uncontrollably happy like earlier, just glad everyone made it safely back. :o)

The ship sailed away from Cozumel in the high winds and we were in for a rocky night. I waited a bit too long to take the Sea-calm, and was sick for awhile after dinner. Early to bed that night, and the rocking of the boat was anything but soothing.
By morning, we were all feeling the effects of the 12-15 foot waves and strong currents. Ugh. Sea-calm was our best friend. I'll introduce you next time.