Cozumel April 23rd, 2009 - Day 6

Our anniversary! It is hard to believe we've only been married 4 years. It seems as though we've experienced far more than just 4 years would suggest, but that's where it is. Haylie let us sleep late again and we got up a little after 7. Colleen was pretty hung over and I know that's true when she repeats that she's never going to drink again or that she's at least not going to drink today. I swear I don't mean this as an offense, but I just find it funny when she says it.

We realized that because of how the cabs work, we've never been to the Margaritaville in Cozumel and there's actually a "mall" of sorts called Punta Langosto that we'd never seen nearby, so we decided to try our hand at having the cab take us to Margaritaville and then walking back toward the resort for a bit of town prior to catching a cab back. It wasn't any more or less expensive. We found the appropriate souvenirs in Margaritaville and then crossed the street. We chose to take the stroller today and I somewhat understand why, but I also regret the choice. Haylie is less constricted in the stroller, but we're also slave to a city that has little concern for OSHA safety standards or ADA requirements for ramp access. That meant we had to negotiate a couple of pretty steep curbs to get her across intersections, some places had no crosswalks so it was jaywalking like we meant it, and of course cracked sidewalks that showed the signs of a decaying infrastructure.

We got to the mall and it was pretty disappointing. It was merely a set of shops set up to try to hook cruise passengers as they disembarked from their respective cruises. Because we chose to go on a day when there were no ships docked, many of the stores hadn't even bothered to open. Most were very much the same nonsense: T-shirts with risque or outright crude sayings, Luchiadore masks that look WAY too hot to wear even as a gag, and a variety of Mayan art or a reasonable facsimile of Mayan art anyway.

Colleen was still reeling from our melt downs during meals and she asked if we'd eat at the Burger King instead of one of the party chain restaurants close by. I had to agree that the open air seating near an American burger chain seemed less likely to incite a screaming baby and so we ate there. I was pretty miffed when I had to explain to the woman that she couldn't do basic math and that their exchange rate of 10 pesos to the dollar was atrocious given that the current rate was 13 or almost 14 through a bank. Of course, the manager decided I was being rude and his response was to give me the correct change (they'd charged me 18 dollars for a meal priced at 162 pesos) in nickels!! I should have just said "en pesos" and paid them with their own currency. I'll learn. It was still an outrageous price for two whopper combos! At least the food I got was consistent with the quality you'd expect from a fast food chain. We decided we'd have dessert at a Gelateria, serving Italian ice style ice cream. The quality was well worth it and the price was quite reasonable. I was stunned that once again the man behind the counter could not do basic math, opting for a calculator to charge me the 65 pesos and then to calculate that I'd need 35 pesos in change for the 100 note I handed him. Now, Colleen is quick to point out that I'll do long division in my head for the "fun" of it, so I'm not exactly the voice of reason. Still, when I consider being a member of a tourist driven economy that is trying to garner as many dollars and/or pesos as possible from my customers, I'd know SOME basic math and change for a dollar was something my mother taught me when I was still in elementary school. Eh, who am I to judge? It is entirely possible he dropped out of school or would have had to pay for school beyond middle school and he does the best he can.

We got back to the room without what I'd consider a major meltdown for the afternoon. Not a bad thing, honestly. We got her back to the room about 30 minutes late for her afternoon nap, but that wasn't late enough that she'd really put up much of a fight. She took her bottle and was fast asleep after just a bit of grousing about having to take her nap. Colleen and I used the time to get into the jacuzzi tub again on the patio and just enjoy the afternoon the way we do most often this vacation.

Tonight was my special night for us. I'd pre-booked and pre-paid for a floral arrangement for Colleen to be delivered to the room as a start. HOLY COW! The size of this display is massive and I wasn't really prepared for it. The picture at the top of this post shows my attempt to photograph it, since we'll never be able to take it home anyway. The other half was a sitter for 3.5 hours and a dinner for two on the beach. We even took the time to dress for it. I had really wanted it to be a total surprise, but she asked me when we were packing if she should pack something nice to wear and I thought it a good touch so I had to share that we did have "plans" for the night of our anniversary. Our sitter was one of the women that worked the sales desk. In fact, I'd worked out a horse trade that if she sat our daughter for free, we'd do the "update" pitch I described yesterday. So, she came right on time and we went through the checklist like the concerned parents we are and felt she'd be OK and that we were really only a few yards away from the room anyway.

I intentionally set it up so that we'd have time for one drink before dinner. We went into the lounge and got to have a drink from a real glass instead of a plastic to go cup and sit quietly and just talk for a few minutes. We went to the desk and apparently though never telling us anything about the specifics, they were at the desk wondering where we were.

We get to dinner and it is set up just out of view of the main dining room and out on the beach. They took our shoes for us and set them aside and we were led to a dinner set up for just the two of us with two waiters dedicated to us for the meal. The food was exquisite. Lobster broiled and served with a garlic olive oil mix or clarified butter with vegetables and rice. The starter was a really good mixed greens salad and a pumpkin soup with garlic croutons that was served in a martini glass. For desert, it was cheesecake with strawberry compote and coconut ice cream for me and lime for Colleen. We had a red wine that was a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend that was reasonably tasty and it made Colleen happy. She's not a typical red wine drinker so she wants one that isn't heavy with tannins which leave a "winey" taste. I know what she means so I try to help expand her palate with choices that avoid the tannins.

After dinner we walked back to the lounge. We wanted to have a quiet drink, but that was somewhat impossible. The piano player was there pounding away on the keys. It made me sad to listen to him play to a certain extent. I can accept that he'd likely not grown up listening to American 70's and 80's pop, but his playing reminded me of why my guitar playing has fallen off. It was mechanical. He knew all the notes, the melodies, but it had no passion; no art. He was just pounding on the keys and it was loud! And, the time was all wrong in that it was faster than it should have been. Again because he had no passion for the music. In the end, I was honestly worried about Haylie and we opted to return to the room about 30 minutes early to call it a night.

Despite having had 12 ounces while we were gone, she managed to wake up at 11 screaming and then almost every hour on the hour. We had a LONG night and it was evident that tomorrow could be a bad day as well.

Cheers!