Riviera Cancun: Operation Relax... Pt1

OK, this week is all about Mexico, amigos!  Last month Bossyboots and I were on a mission - a mission to relax, that is!  We'd both been feeling the need to run away from civilization, and a beachytimes vacation sounded like just the thing.

We had a few things we were looking for out of this vacation... mainly we wanted a place that wasn't rife with sightseeing opportunities, so anything resembling Hawaii or St Lucia was out.  We didn't want to feel pressure to go see alllllll the cool things in the area - we really needed to just lay on a beach and drink frosty beverages - no pressure, no schedules, just relaxing.  We also wanted an adults-only location.  We both love kids, but the family-friendly resorts (at least in my experience) tend to be loud, with a lot of running [children].  Peace and quiet was of utmost importance to us!  Last but not least, the destination couldn't be a budget buster.

Now I have to give credit where credit is due, and really there are two people that made this trip happen for us.  Firstly, I had read Nodakademic's fantastic recaps of her Jamaican honeymoon, and so she lead us toward considering the Secrets all-inclusive line.  In fact, in the end we were deciding between her exact resort and the one we ultimately chose(!)  Secondly, Bossyboots and I decided to work with a travel agent - Margie over at All Seasons Travel.  She suggested our final destination and took care of all the details for us.  Book her!  She's great.

Now our first day involved an early, early morning, but I didn't care - wire me up with some caffeine and I'm ready to GO.  See?

And I was so excited, because here was where we were going to spend the next six nights for our Riviera Maya adventure...  Secrets Silversands!  This resort filled all our hopes - quiet, pretty, all-inclusive, adults only... done.  Sign us up.  (clearly)  I know this is a spoiler, but the resort looks exactly as it does in the pictures.

Once Bossyboots and I were settled onto our departing plane, Starbucks in hand, thin airline blankets stretched over our knees when what to our unsuspecting ears should we hear but the pilot... telling us about a major mechanical issue that they HAVE fixed, but felt the need to tell us about.

Cue panic.

But we remedied our panic with a vodka tonic - immediately quelling any fears.  Nobody was crashing in the ocean TODAY.

Anywho, after a long, long set of travel hours, we were picked up at the Cancun airport and dropped off here...

That's the website photo, but it's really what our room looked like.  My sister also surprised us by having a bottle of wine sent to our room!!  Here, I'll show you (and ignore my super annoying voice/mannerisms please!)

This was our view:

And in addition to the main pools, each building has its own private pool - we loved ours:

Well, that's enough for today - after taking the tour and enjoying the wine my sister sent us, we cleaned up and headed out for our first dinner on the resort!  More on the food later - hint: I came back 6 pounds heavier than I left.  Really.

New Orleans - Bring on the Gators!

Earlier this month, three girlfriends and I set off on a cajun adventure.  Goober, Wrigley-T, and I flew in from Chicago - our bud Bruiser set off from NYC... all of us on a New Orleans adventure!

There were planes...

Elevator photo shoots...

Streetcar rides...

Oysters (and the coldest beers on earth!) at Cooter Browns...

Frosty beverages...

LOTS of synchronized swimming (they should join the Olympic team, don't you think?)!

A fancytimes dinner at John Besh's August (highly recommend!) - where Goober discovered that elusive treat known as bacon bourbon...

I mean REALLY - so delicious!

Plenty of night-walking...

And of course we had to go on a swamp tour... GATORS!!!  See how scared everyone was?? (except for Goober, she is always cool as a cucumber!)  

Bruiser brought gummy gators for us to enjoy all weekend long, and of course we had to bring them along to meet their namesake!

Based on a recommendation from one of our friends that grew up there, we chose Honey Island Swamp Tours out in Slidell, LA.  For $45, they'll pick you up from your hotel and then take you out to meet those impressive reptiles...

We all agreed that the swamp tour was the best part of our entire weekend.  It was so cool to see alligators up close, something us city folk never ever get to see.  

Check out the gators (and their gummy counterparts) in action!

We ate a lot, drank a lot, and then ate some more on our trip.  We stayed at the Hotel Montelone (highly recommend.)  I'll take New Orleans over Vegas any day for a quick weekend getaway.  What are your favorite NOLA spots?

A New Orleans Getaway: Day 4

Missed Day 1? Click Here

How about Day 2? Click Here

And, of course, Day 3? Click Here

By Saturday, our fourth and final day in New Orleans, Bossyboots and I were whooped.  We decided to mix things up a bit and get out of the busy French Quarter.  That morning, we boarded the Algiers Point ferry and locomoted ourselves across the Mississippi for some walking and a relaxing lunch.

Ferry time!  FYI the ferry is free and departs roughly every 20-30 minutes.  It just shuttles back and forth across the river, so if you're waiting, you can see where the ferry is at any given time.  The ferry is also brightly lit, in case you can't tell by our squinty eyes in the following photo:

We walked around for about an hour after disembarking the ferry.

The houses are older and really beautiful - they all had a lot of character, and they reminded me why I hate cookie cutter houses so much.

As a "city person" I get kind of excited to be in a place where you can see the sky and the grass appears in areas larger than 20 square feet.

You may or may not already know that there's a place called Mardi Gras World, where you can see lots of the floats that are used during Mardi Gras.  The large location that's open to the public is on the French Quarter side of the river, near the Convention Center.  However, they do have a tinier location where floats go to die on the Algiers Point side (not open for tours) ...

We met a little stray dog that decided he wanted to be our friend, and he followed us around for awhile.  He was a sad guy - he seemed to be sick, from the way he was acting and from his appearance.  His eyes were all gickly.  :(

We also ate lunch in Algiers before coming back to the city side: BBQ shrimp.  Very yum!  I forgot to warn my native Chicagoan boyfriend that true southern shrimp dishes arrive body-intact, head and all - so he was a bit surprised.  :)

After our excursion across the river wrapped, we ferried back on over to the city.  Hello, Scary Jester!

After baking in the sun for several hours, we were actually happy when a thunderstorm rolled in...

We just sat down under an awning and waited for the rain to pass!

I decided this horse's name was Fernando.

I had waited until the very last day to snag a voodoo doll for myself.  We happened on this little handmade doll shop, and I selected one with a droopy eye.  He's very cute, for a voodoo doll. 

Finally, it was time to pack up and fly home.  Still raining!

I do feel like I should review our hotel for you all.  We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites French Quarter, and... we loved it!  Our initial decision had been to save money on our hotel, so that we could spend our dollars on food and drinks.  When we arrived at the Country Inn, we were shocked to find that the room was more than adequate, the free breakfast was delicious, cheap beers were available many hours of the day, the pool was lovely, the staff was friendly, and the decor was attractive.  And there were free cookies.  Free. Cookies.  I generally stick to 4-star hotels because I'm a hotel snob, but this 3-star was great.  I would A-1 stay here again.

Our New Orleans trip was wonderful, and really, pretty perfect.  Everything was affordable - there was so much to see and do.  For me, I love to travel to places with a rich sense of culture and history, and NOLA definitely lived up to those hopes.  I couldn't help but this this would be a great place to come back to for a girls weekend, or time with friends, anything.  You should go!

So now you've seen what I saw in New Orleans - for those of you that have been to New Orleans yourselves... what did I miss?  What should I go/see/do next time?

A New Orleans Getaway: Day 3

Missed Day 1?  Click Here

How about Day 2? Click Here

Our third day in New Orleans was also our 1-year anniversary, so we celebrated by taking a river cruise!  See how excited Bossyboots is?

Not really - he was just putting on a show.  :)  We started off our day on a lunchtime cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez.  The boat piped out calliope music (that I think was live), so Bossyboots danced himself up the gangplank.

The cruise was actually one of the highlights of our trip; I totally recommend it.  For two hours, we just chilled and watched the banks of the river pass us by. 

The boat offered a pretty decent lunch.  The food wasn't A+++, but it was good - we cleaned our plates! 

I took a break from photos as we spent the majority of our day wandering the streets and then stopping for a lil ice cream.  It was hot out - we needed it!

For dinner, we just left our hotel and walked into the first place that looked tasty...

I know pizza isn't a New Orleans food, but we ARE pizza lovers.  It was actually really great!  The pizzeria was located on Decatur, to the West side of the French Quarter.  I believe it was even named "The French Quarter Pizzeria"!  The pizza was neapolitan style, and we chose a Greek pizza w/ feta and olives, then a muffaleta pizza...also with olives.  I enjoy olives, what can I say?

For several days, we'd been joking about getting our tarot cards read.  We thought it'd be a fun laugh, and we weren't taking it seriously.  Our end destination for the night was supposed to be live jazz at Preservation Hall... and it was right across the street from a voodoo shop.  Of course that meant we HAD to waste time getting our cards read while we waited for the music to start.  :)

The reading took longer than I thought it would  - about an hour for both of us.  The reader gives an overall impression, and then you can ask specific questions.  Although, since they charge $20 each, they probably want you to feel like you got your money's worth.  I REALLY wanted to take photos, but that seemed extremely inappropriate, so I didn't.  Sorry, Sad Panda.

Our reader was super normal, and actually not awkward at all.  We were led to the back of the voodoo shop, behind a beaded curtain that came straight from your dad's attic.  Bossyboots went first, and we were surprised that his reading was actually extremely specific and accurate - no stretches of imagination.  I started to wonder if he'd peeked in Bossyboots' wallet somehow.

Then... it was my turn!  If you've never had cards read before, you select five cards out of a very large stack.  I picked one, two, three, four, five cards.  Our voodoo guy turned each card over one by one, and I noticed that two of the cards featured very voluptuous women in various reclining positions. 

Eyebrows cocked.

Our reader: "Sooooo, out of 78 potential cards, you pulled 2 fertility cards.  You have fun with that."

Oh Tarot Reader, you are humorous.

My reading was also surprisingly familiar and specific.  Color me surprised.  We went into our reading for a lark, and it was much different than I expected. I thought he'd tell me I had a rainbow-colored aura or that my spirit animal was a unicorn!  (My spirit animal is a piglet, in case you were wondering.  I decided that they're pink; my soul is pink.  It's perfect.)

Anyway, we stepped out of the dark voodoo shop into the sunlight and joined the looooooooooooong line for Preservation Hall.  For your own trip to New Orleans, if you want to visit Preservation Hall, make sure to get in line an hour before they open.  There are only a few seats, and the hall overall is not large.

Once inside, Bossyboots and I were relegated to standing room only, but that was ok.  We just wanted to hear the music.

We really enjoyed the music.  It wasn't rompin' stompin', but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  There is no bar, but you can bring in drinks from Pat O'Briens next door, no problem.  Also, the cover of $12 is good for all night.

After a few hours, we manned up and finally made it out to Bourbon St.  (As two claustrophobics, we had been too chicken before.)

Seemingly by magic, we found ourselves back by Cafe du Monde, and we *had* to order frozen cafe au lait and beignets.  HAD to.

Tomorrow, our NOLA expedition concludes with BBQ shrimp, ferry time, and a new friend.  :)

A New Orleans Getaway: Day 2

Missed Day 1? Click Here

Our second day in New Orleans was probably my most favorite!  Our entire day was spent exploring and stopping in whereever we felt like it.  And eating.  Lots of eating.  Did I tell you we ate a lot down in Louisiana?  Because we did.

Jackson Square

The night before, during our burger date at Port of Call, Bossyboots' friend recommend we check out Royal St.  Bossyboots and I are in our thirties... Bourbon St is way too crazy for us - fun for people-watching, but our crazy drinking days are behind us.  (Well, unless you count drunken NOLA ghost tours.  I digress.)

Royal St really was great - full of antiques, paintings, food, and collectables.  We really enjoyed it and walked up and down Royal at least twice a day for the rest of our stay.

As an avid reader, I was pretty excited to see a signed first edition book from my favorite author.  Only $30,000, but the shop was willing to drop down to $10,000.  :)

This shop carried all kinds of antique weaponry and coins - strange combo!

LOTS of jewelry and antiques. 

We decided we needed a sugar break and visited the incredibly famous Cafe du Monde.  Once again, I know it's a tourist spot, but whatevs, it was delicious.

We ordered cafe au lait and beignets, because that's what you do at Cafe du Monde.  I am by no means a coffee drinker, but.... frickin yummo.  This was actually my favorite meal of the entire trip, and it was just a snack!!!  If you visit New Orleans and don't get beignets AND cafe au lait... you have failed, my friend!

Don't drool on your keyboard because that's gross.

Because we were on a gastronomic mission, we then set off for the Central Grocery for one of their inimitable muffalettas.  Their recipe is a closely guarded secret (no photos behind the counter!) but loosely, a muffaleta is a sandwich.  A really, really cuss-worthy sandwich.  There's meat, cheese, bread, and olive spread involved, from what I can tell. You order at the counter and then sit on a stool to the side for munchin'.

Half a sandwich is plenty for one person, so Bossyboots and I split a full order.  Gosh, that was a good meal.

Following the sandwich noms, we rolled ourselves down the street to work off some crazy calories.  We ran across the tiniest store named "Le Petite Soldier", which sold miniature armies and war memorabilia.  I totally recommend it, especially if you have someone in your family with military interests.  We spent half an hour in this small store, just because everything was so interesting.

Time for another break!  This time the priority was stopping at The Carousel Bar in Hotel Motelone.  Many famous authors have enjoyed stiff drinks at this bar, including William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote, so... we were going come hell or high water!

While there, we observed some hilarity at others' expense.  If you look at the photo below, you'll see a lady in a hat, a girl with braided blonde hair, and a man who looks decidedly bored.  Here's the story...  The man was sitting alone at the bar chatting up the bartender.  Bossyboots immediately pegged him as the patron who was going to be trying to pick up the single girls.  Well, what would you know?  The blonde lady walked in and sat next to him.  We could overhear their conversation (because we have no manners!!) and they were definitely in Flirty Flirterville.  They didn't know each other, but were working on it. 

THEN blonde lady's friend-in-the-hat came in and TOTALLY ruined Blonde Girl's mojo.  She talked loud about asinine things, commandeered the conversation, waved her arms around wildly... check it, can you feel the annoyance?  I kinda felt bad for Blonde Girl and Bored Man.  Love for the Night - ruined!!

Anywhoodle, when the you-know-what Block Show was over, Bossyboots and I headed off to our scheduled Haunted History ghost tour, which was supposed to meet right across the street from Pat O'Briens (pictured).  BTW, Pat O'Briens seems great for college-age peeps, or for guys that are a lot older than they realize.  We saw plenty of thirtysomething guys acting like frat boys.  They found themselves quite humorous. (!)  I apologize if there are any thirtysomething pseudo-frat boys reading this, because I just insulted you.  I feel badly for the man in the photo below because he seemed nice, and he had a lot to deal with from the frat-dudes.

We bought our tour tickets and had twenty minutes to kill, sooooo I decided to put on a puppet show for Bossyboots with our official Tour Skull Fans.

He did not think it was as funny as it TOTALLY was. Pffft.

Finally, at 6p sharp, we were off to ghost hunt!  The lady in the purple skirt and corset below was our guide, and she was pretty fun.  Tipsy.  Irreverent.  I liked her.

Our guide also took us to a bar (the second oldest in the country - I do not remember the name of the bar because she loaded me up with vodka.) 

EVIDENCE:

I hate sugary drinks, and this is the first hurricane I've had that I liked.  It was yum and tasted like passion fruit juice.  A bad sign, as we all know.  I was accidentally tipsy after 10 minutes.  Partially because I don't drink much; partially because that cocktail was topped with 151 and Everclear (that's not soda water you see up top!)  Punch me in the face.

This is Bossyboots after we realized we MIGHT be in Hurricane trouble:

The ghost tour was tons of fun - I VERY much recommend it!  It takes about two hours, and you get to hear many fun stories about the city.

For dinner, Bossyboots and I planned to meet up with our bud Colo at Red Fish Grill.  Colo travels a lot of her job, and she had been transferred down to New Orleans for an entire month!!  She had been there for three weeks by the time we got to NOLA, with zero days off, so we were very happy to see each other.

I look tipsy.  I KNOW!  Colo had many laughs at my expense.  I had ONE DRINK!  ... topped with scary liquors.

Needless to say, after dinner we marched to our hotel to crash.

Coming up?  Steamboats, live jazz, and a tarot reading that scared the life out of me.  What did the cards say?