When I got the call from my dear cousin, Pilar from Veracruz, to join she and her family for a weekend in Cancun… I didn’t hesitate and said YES! You see, Pilar was turning 7-0 and her two kids gifted her a weekend in Cancun! Imagine that. The invitation list included her two sisters (Rosalba from Veracruz and Martha who lives in Boston, Massachusetts), her two kids (who live in Mexico City), their partners and their children (2 each) and lastly Martha’s daughter, Marthita and her husband Oscar (both also who live in Boston). And to my surprise, she invited me! How nice.

Now, mind you, the last and only time I was in Cancun was in the early 1990’s, some 30+ years ago. I remember liking it certainly. The water, oh the water! The blue water. So beautiful. I stayed at a Club Med. It was the first resort that I traveled to alone so many, many years ago. And I’ve visited many since then, mostly in the Caribbean. But back to that first trip. I remember thinking, it’s SO American. And I didn’t think that as a good thing, for sure. So, I never went back. But this Blog post is not about my trip 30+ years ago, but rather about this recent trip.

The day Pilar called me was exactly one week from their intended travel date. So I didn’t have much time to plan my trip. I immediately got on my laptop and started looking for airline tickets and hotel rooms. I was able to find both easily (!) and on the same connecting flights with my family and of course the same hotel.

My trip to the Puerto Vallarta airport was unfortunately full of mishaps. I had ordered a taxi from someone that frequently offers transportation to the residents in my community. I set up the reservation several days before and confirmed it the night before. As I needed to leave my house at 4am in order to get to the airport with sufficient time, I wanted to make sure the taxi was a go! Well, regrettably, the taxi did not arrive on time… in fact it didn’t arrive at all!! The night guard at my community tried to find me a taxi with two different companies, but at that hour, nobody was answering their phone. After numerous attempts, I was able to find an UBER that raced over to pick me up. He got me to the airport in 15 minutes, record time really. Normally a trip to the airport is 25 minutes at best and indeed sometimes 30-35 minutes. At that hour, of course, nobody was on the road. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time (5:05am) to get a tea at Starbucks, the only place open at that hour. My flight to Mexico City left on time, and was uneventful. Onward!

Once we arrived in Cancun, we took a pre-arranged van/shuttle to the hotel. It wasn’t far. The USA faction of the family arrived on a different flight and were already at the hotel bar when we arrived! We all checked into our rooms and headed to the pool area.

Unfortunately, the weather in Cancun was not ideal. The day we arrived it was raining and although the rain stopped after a little while, it remained overcast all day. We headed to the pool, found chairs and ordered drinks. The kids and their parents were off to the Water Park. My cousin has 4 grandkids (all under the age of 10) and the “family” in this resort’s name was no joke. Us girls never did go into the pool, but enjoyed tropical beverages and chatted and chatted and chatted some more. It had been 3 years since we had all been together after all.

The next two days were overcast and rainy. On our second night the winds were horrible, frightening. It was hurricane force winds, really. I thought for sure the wind was going to knock down the sliding glass doors in my hotel room.

So, what do you do when you are at an oceanside resort in Mexico and the weather is not cooperating? In addition to enjoying alcoholic beverages (packed with Vitamin C like oranges, pineapples, limes, mango and other tasty fruits), we found time to get massages. That was super nice.

Finally, on our last day (Sunday) the sun came out! Hooray! After breakfast at the giant buffet, we headed to the beach. We took a long walk and then gathered on a large beach “bed” where the drinks were plentiful as was the bar food (nachos & ceviche). It was a great day: sunny, happy and fun!

We had plans to get a group picture together. We were asked by Pilar to bring something in the color beige or cream/tan. I had to go out and buy a dress right before the trip. But the weather had other ideas. We did, however, get a great pic on the beach on Sunday. Although everyone is not in it (we were unable to round up the kids). Nonetheless, it’s an awesome picture. Take a look:

We did enjoy some nice meals while we were there. The resort was all-inclusive, and we took advantage of that at every turn.

It was a great weekend, 4 days of spending time with family and simply enjoying each other’s company. I’m so happy that Pilar included me. It’ll be a trip I will remember fondly for a long time to come.