Vacation in Mexico: Where we stayed, what we did

Hi! It’s nearly been a week since we returned from Mexico and of course I’m missing it like crazy. I mean who wouldn’t miss warm sand between your toes, sun-kissed skin, all the food you could imagine, breakfast buffets for days and of course, chips and bowls of guac.

Traveling always encourages me to plan more trips to experience more of the world’s culture and people. I can honestly say that Mexico is one of my favorite places. I’m part hispanic; so the culture, food and people really speak to my heart.

WHERE WE STAYED: We stayed at the Royal Sands and Spa in Cancun. I have previously stayed at the former Royal Cancun, their sister hotel; this time I decided to book with the Royal Sands to experience something a little different. My experience was so-so. The food was terrific and the beach was gorgeous, but unfortunately our rooms were a tad bit outdated and the beds were terribly uncomfortable. I won’t go on about it, but if you want to read my full review of the Royal Sands, you can head to Trip Advisor.

Here’s the view from our room. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Each morning we woke up and enjoyed some seriously delicious and fresh breakfast buffets. I was obsessed with omelet bar and Tony loved being able to get authentic Mexican breakfast items such as refried beans, spanish potatoes and pastries. Oh and their cheese is fantastic. Whatever they put on my omelet each morning melted like mozzarella on pizza — seriously extraordinary.

As you can see, I couldn’t stop from indulging in pancakes and/or waffles. My favorite.

We spent quite a bit of time reading and relaxing on the beach. No complaining there.

Tony got me this awesome Garmin watch for Christmas. I wore it pretty much the entire time we were in Mexico as I wanted to make sure I was being active and not just laying around all day. The great part about the watch is that it acts as a pedometer so you can monitor steps; you can also use it when you run to track miles and calories (there’s GPS in it). Each day I tried to get in about 15,000 steps in.

Seriously you should see the amount of food we ate. Walking was necessary.

I started reading this book by Gillian Flynn after I quickly finished this memoir!

By the way, I can’t say that Sharp Objects is as good as Gone Girl, but it’s a decent read.

I also got to stare at him. Ha. Lucky me!

Another thing we did to stay active was play tennis. And can I just tell you that it’s now my absolute favorite sport! Tony is pretty good at it and it was my first time really playing, but it was so much fun. I didn’t realize how great of a workout tennis was until I was out of breath and sweating truckloads after about 15 minutes.

Oh and many of you asked where I got the romper from via Instagram. Unfortunately they no longer are selling the exact version I have, but this one is very similar.

Each day we enjoyed the freshest lunches. Of course they most always included fresh house-made tortilla chips and guacamole. This was their shrimp with a unique cocktail sauce that included tequila, lime, fresh tomatoes, and cilantro. Other days I ordered cajun fish sandwiches. Tony normally got quesadillas with that fucking awesome melty cheese.

My favorite part during each day was running on the beach or taking a nice stroll with Tony after a big meal. We usually jumped in the ocean after our walks and attempted to body surf waves. Can’t say we were successful, but the water was warm and crystal clear so it didn’t really matter.

Next was date night!

In the evenings we ventured off to eat again. Yes, this was basically like a food vacation. One our favorite spots was the Hacidena Sisal. It was included in our all inclusive vacation package, but you can go there even if are staying at another hotel.

The food was excellent. I ordered chicken fajitas with a side of habanero salsa. Damn that shit was hot. Tony got some sort of pulled pork. We drank margaritas until we couldn’t anymore.

We also decided to go on an excursion to Isla Mujeres during our trip. We booked it through a travel agency at our hotel for only $68/person. The day included snorkeling, sailing, free drinks and lunch, holding a shark and also going to the island of Isla Mujeres.

The catamaran boat was fantastic. Our hosts were funny, energetic and lighthearted. We stopped at a spot near the island to snorkel. Tony actually spotted a barracuda. On the other hand, I was fascinated by the all of the beautiful coral.

The drinks were pretty fabulous too.

Here I am holding a nurse shark! Apparently they try to breed the sharks to increase the population, then release them back into the wild. The sharks are pretty harmless to people.

On our way to the island, Tony had the opportunity to ride a spinnaker, a special sail on the catamaran. He got up pretty high and was able to stand too. People kept telling him that he should join the Cirque du Soleil. He’s got the body for it.

Jokes.

Check out how clear the water was!

Overall our trip was a huge success. We ate, we drank, we laughed until we couldn’t. Best of all, we were able to relax.

Cheers to 2015! xo.