Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
So my family usually spends vacation on the east coast. We normally go to a beach (mostly Charleston, SC) and then spend two days at a theme park in the region. However, my mom got a new job recently that requires lots of travel and with it comes frequent flyer miles. We had enough frequent flyer miles to send us all to Cancun and I wasn't happy. I had absolutely no desire to go to Mexico and spend the week splashing around in the water. It sounded like there was nothing cool to do there and I would spend my week with my family acting like idiots dragging me along. I wasn't looking forward to it.
Boy was I wrong! It wasn't as much fun as what we normally do but it was nice to do something this different. Some of the things I saw there I couldn't see anywhere else in the world.
So we didn't want to go to Cancun since it was a tourist destination and we like to do more obscure local things. *puts on hipster glasses cool) * so we found somewhere else. Off the coast of Cancun was an island called Isla Mujeres. Beginning its life as a sanctuary to the Mayan goddess Ixchel, it became a fishing village a while after, and then its main moneymaker went from fishing to tourism. While it does seem small and off the beaten path, the entire northern half of the island told a different story. This island is on its way to being a powerhouse in the tourism industry and it's good we found it when we did, because in five or ten years there's no way we'll afford to be able to go there. It's just a 20 minute ferry ride from Cancun and while this does make it a great day trip for those staying in Cancun, it seems like they are discovering how nice it is and choosing to spend their future vacations just on the island.
First picture of the trip. This is the Dayton International Airport in my hometown. You have NO idea how embarassing it is to find that your airport chooses to welcome visitors to your home with cow tipping. There were little toy tractors with them as well. This is why I hate living in the Midwest...
First time flying since 2003!
The very first thing I saw when we got off in Cancun was a huge Corona advertisement on the control tower...
This was the beach at our condo. You could just go downstairs and relax on this beach!
You see those pictures of the Caribbean and think that crystal clear aqua blue water is photoshopped. It's not...
Punta Sur was beautiful!
We didn't go down on those trails but I'm sure it was beautiful.
My family and I in front of the Temple of Ixchel!
Seeing the waves crash against the rocks was amazing. I probably could have timed this better but I was too busy trying not to fall and get slammed into jagged rocks by waves.
We made this nice breakfast the next morning and ate it on the balcony of our villa. Sorry it looks all Instagram-y. I had taken my camera from my air conditioned room into the humid Mexico climate and taken the picture immediately and my lens fogged up.
Didn't spend that much time actually in Cancun since we didn't like it (it was hot and all there was to do there was walk around sweating while people tried to shake you down for your wallet) but I did get this shot of me with Michael Jackson's jacket!
Taken across the hotel belt!
Yes, they charge you five pesos to use the bathrooms in Mexico...
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Jarrett! You're only 19! What the #%$& are you doing?!
I'll tell you what. :drinking: The drinking age in Mexico was just 18 so it was perfectly legal for me to drink. I never had too much and mostly it was just a beer or margarita with my parents at dinner in a completely controlled environment and I never got out of hand with it. This is just me enjoying my first beer at a tiki bar in the hotel belt.
We were there during the Mexican election and afterwards we got stuck in traffic because of a protest march put on by some people unhappy with the results. The catch? We got stuck in traffic on a GOLF CART. There were three ways to get around the island. Golf cart, moped, or the world's crappiest taxis.
The market district of Isla Mujeres was rocking at night.
Just relaxin'...
Here's an artsy photo of our villa complex. If you look at that balcony up there it's where our rooms were.
This restaurant was in the touristy northern part of the island. Apparently this is what they think Americans like...
We caught two barracuda when we went fishing and they prepared it for us at this restaurant. First time for me having barracuda and I loved it!
You can only get this beer in Mexico!
We had a cookout at the resort one night and the resort staff made this awesome snapper. Seeing how they prepare fish there was so strange because it was so different from what they do in the states. This island puts this red rub on their fish when they cook it. And we actually got to see these guys filet the fish...with a hatchet. I can now say I saw somebody filet a fish with a hatchet.
We watched the sun set at the cookout. It set surprisingly quickly but it was beautiful. You could actually stand on the dock and watch it creep below the horizon.
El Milagro (our resort) at dusk!
The sunrise over the island. This was taken very early in the morning...we had to get up at 5 to catch a ferry to catch a van to catch a bus to go to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum.
I have an irrational obsession with cacti. I have my own one at home named Pedro. Seeing cacti all over Cancun rocked!
Stupid truck got in the way but here's the sign for Tulum.
What on earth these guys were trying to accomplish with this I may never understand, but it was cool.
The city wall outside of Tulum!
First ruin we saw. This house was pretty cool.
Iguana on the ruin!
A better look at the city wall.
Landscape shot of the site.
One of two temples at Tulum.
I have very little regrets about this vacation, but not going up the hill to see this house is one of them. We should have, I bet the view from up there was beautiful.
Just a beautiful shot of the Tulum beach. People can't use it because sea turtles lay eggs there.
Turtle eggs! You can see one in this shot...
I tried numerous times to get a good close up of an iguana and I finally did!
You used to be able to climb this. However, because some stupid archaeologist working on preservation for it decided it was necessary to do graffiti up there by using a broken glass bottle to carve something into 700-year old stucco, we couldn't. That made me mad. :x
The round pillars represent a mythical Mayan creature called Quetzoclotl (I don't even care if I misspelled it! :lol: ) that took the form of a flying snake with feathers. You can also see the serpent tails above them.
I hated getting close to the cliffs to get this shot...
I photographed the world's second most beautiful beach while I was there!
Wasn't a huge beach but it was pretty.
As scary as the cliffs were, they were beautiful.
Me in front of the temple.
The Mayans painted everything blue and orange. While most of it was gone, you can still see some of the orange paint on this slab.
Nature turned the foundation for this building into a very cool planter.
Here's the exit part of the city wall.
My sister on her moped.
The funny thing is that the shirt is depicting the Mayan calendar. FAIL
Last margarita in my five days being legal!
Last view I got of Isla Mujeres before the ferry pulled out!
Bye bye, Cancun!
Okay, it wasn't COMPLETELY parkless. My dad snapped this picture of Carowinds when we landed to connect flights.
Well that's our fun from Mexico. We probably can't afford to go back next year but should be able to the following year! Have a good day!
Boy was I wrong! It wasn't as much fun as what we normally do but it was nice to do something this different. Some of the things I saw there I couldn't see anywhere else in the world.
So we didn't want to go to Cancun since it was a tourist destination and we like to do more obscure local things. *puts on hipster glasses cool) * so we found somewhere else. Off the coast of Cancun was an island called Isla Mujeres. Beginning its life as a sanctuary to the Mayan goddess Ixchel, it became a fishing village a while after, and then its main moneymaker went from fishing to tourism. While it does seem small and off the beaten path, the entire northern half of the island told a different story. This island is on its way to being a powerhouse in the tourism industry and it's good we found it when we did, because in five or ten years there's no way we'll afford to be able to go there. It's just a 20 minute ferry ride from Cancun and while this does make it a great day trip for those staying in Cancun, it seems like they are discovering how nice it is and choosing to spend their future vacations just on the island.
First picture of the trip. This is the Dayton International Airport in my hometown. You have NO idea how embarassing it is to find that your airport chooses to welcome visitors to your home with cow tipping. There were little toy tractors with them as well. This is why I hate living in the Midwest...
First time flying since 2003!
The very first thing I saw when we got off in Cancun was a huge Corona advertisement on the control tower...
This was the beach at our condo. You could just go downstairs and relax on this beach!
You see those pictures of the Caribbean and think that crystal clear aqua blue water is photoshopped. It's not...
Punta Sur was beautiful!
We didn't go down on those trails but I'm sure it was beautiful.
My family and I in front of the Temple of Ixchel!
Seeing the waves crash against the rocks was amazing. I probably could have timed this better but I was too busy trying not to fall and get slammed into jagged rocks by waves.
We made this nice breakfast the next morning and ate it on the balcony of our villa. Sorry it looks all Instagram-y. I had taken my camera from my air conditioned room into the humid Mexico climate and taken the picture immediately and my lens fogged up.
Didn't spend that much time actually in Cancun since we didn't like it (it was hot and all there was to do there was walk around sweating while people tried to shake you down for your wallet) but I did get this shot of me with Michael Jackson's jacket!
Taken across the hotel belt!
Yes, they charge you five pesos to use the bathrooms in Mexico...
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Jarrett! You're only 19! What the #%$& are you doing?!
I'll tell you what. :drinking: The drinking age in Mexico was just 18 so it was perfectly legal for me to drink. I never had too much and mostly it was just a beer or margarita with my parents at dinner in a completely controlled environment and I never got out of hand with it. This is just me enjoying my first beer at a tiki bar in the hotel belt.
We were there during the Mexican election and afterwards we got stuck in traffic because of a protest march put on by some people unhappy with the results. The catch? We got stuck in traffic on a GOLF CART. There were three ways to get around the island. Golf cart, moped, or the world's crappiest taxis.
The market district of Isla Mujeres was rocking at night.
Just relaxin'...
Here's an artsy photo of our villa complex. If you look at that balcony up there it's where our rooms were.
This restaurant was in the touristy northern part of the island. Apparently this is what they think Americans like...
We caught two barracuda when we went fishing and they prepared it for us at this restaurant. First time for me having barracuda and I loved it!
You can only get this beer in Mexico!
We had a cookout at the resort one night and the resort staff made this awesome snapper. Seeing how they prepare fish there was so strange because it was so different from what they do in the states. This island puts this red rub on their fish when they cook it. And we actually got to see these guys filet the fish...with a hatchet. I can now say I saw somebody filet a fish with a hatchet.
We watched the sun set at the cookout. It set surprisingly quickly but it was beautiful. You could actually stand on the dock and watch it creep below the horizon.
El Milagro (our resort) at dusk!
The sunrise over the island. This was taken very early in the morning...we had to get up at 5 to catch a ferry to catch a van to catch a bus to go to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum.
I have an irrational obsession with cacti. I have my own one at home named Pedro. Seeing cacti all over Cancun rocked!
Stupid truck got in the way but here's the sign for Tulum.
What on earth these guys were trying to accomplish with this I may never understand, but it was cool.
The city wall outside of Tulum!
First ruin we saw. This house was pretty cool.
Iguana on the ruin!
A better look at the city wall.
Landscape shot of the site.
One of two temples at Tulum.
I have very little regrets about this vacation, but not going up the hill to see this house is one of them. We should have, I bet the view from up there was beautiful.
Just a beautiful shot of the Tulum beach. People can't use it because sea turtles lay eggs there.
Turtle eggs! You can see one in this shot...
I tried numerous times to get a good close up of an iguana and I finally did!
You used to be able to climb this. However, because some stupid archaeologist working on preservation for it decided it was necessary to do graffiti up there by using a broken glass bottle to carve something into 700-year old stucco, we couldn't. That made me mad. :x
The round pillars represent a mythical Mayan creature called Quetzoclotl (I don't even care if I misspelled it! :lol: ) that took the form of a flying snake with feathers. You can also see the serpent tails above them.
I hated getting close to the cliffs to get this shot...
I photographed the world's second most beautiful beach while I was there!
Wasn't a huge beach but it was pretty.
As scary as the cliffs were, they were beautiful.
Me in front of the temple.
The Mayans painted everything blue and orange. While most of it was gone, you can still see some of the orange paint on this slab.
Nature turned the foundation for this building into a very cool planter.
Here's the exit part of the city wall.
My sister on her moped.
The funny thing is that the shirt is depicting the Mayan calendar. FAIL
Last margarita in my five days being legal!
Last view I got of Isla Mujeres before the ferry pulled out!
Bye bye, Cancun!
Okay, it wasn't COMPLETELY parkless. My dad snapped this picture of Carowinds when we landed to connect flights.
Well that's our fun from Mexico. We probably can't afford to go back next year but should be able to the following year! Have a good day!
