The trip that we were supposed to go on today (Snorkeling the Black Reef with MexiTreks was cancelled due to the large swells. It would have made for a rough trip out there and also with the heavy waves and all the sand being kicked up – it would have made for asi asi snorkeling. The good news, the guide/Mexi Treks was great and let us put together another trip that was a hike to Alta Vista for Saturday. This left us with a free day on Friday.
I was so surprised to see a bottle of my favorite wine – except this was a 1996!! This bottle would probably be worth over a thousand dollars as my 2006 is almost worth $300 now!
We still got an early start and went to Miro Vino for breakfast – best breakfast yet! We had mimosas, espresso, fresh fruit and had the plaza to look over. After breakfast we were ready to make our purchases for the trip. We had been eyeing these beautiful beaded animals and I had been eyeing the Dia de los Muertos art. It The shop we went to had the best quality we had seen since we had been here – and it was a co-op so it had a variety of things and the owner seemed to really care about the community.
After our purchases we headed back to Playa de Muertos – but this time we rented a paddle board. After a long not so great Spanish on my part we finally got the surf shop to deliver a paddle board to the beach – however we were concerned they did not understand they were to come back and pick it up 2 hours later (our concerns were correct and after 3 hours “we” Derek carried the board back to the shop – at least we got some good pictures with him and the board)
Paddle boarding was definitely harder than on the Sound. It was rough and I had to mostly be on my knees the entire time. While I was out on the water I could see the entire coast line and it was a great way to see Playa de Muertos as well. I wished I had a camera to share but we realized the new Go Pro that I got Derek for Christmas has a completely different charger than any other electronic. WHY do they do this? Oh I know – to make money. Horrible – so no Go Pro from Mexico this trip L Next Time.
I was out on the water for about 45 minute and I actually got a little sea sick as the waves picked up while I had been out there. Also, I noticed there were some pretty intense waves and I was getting worried about bringing the board in. I was thinking I might have to do a little faux surfing. I even started to go in and changed my mind as the waves were too big. But since the tide was only starting to come in – I figured it would just get worse and I should just ripe the Band-Aid off. I started in really good….waiting out the big wave and paddling hard during the calm. I was almost into the shore when a wave crashed on the back of the board causing the board to flip – pulling me down under it and pushing me up onto the beach. My hat fell off but my new sun glasses stayed on. It took me some time to get my footing and grab the paddle, board and found my hat but I finally was up and all in one piece without losing anything! A nice little rush of adrenaline and I guess some entertainment for the sun bathers on the beach who I guess were doing a play by play of my landing.
After my paddle boarding adventure – I saddled up on our blanket and we spent the next couple hours relaxing, drinking coconut water and taking in the last day on the beach. We also purchased the cutest pantalones for Aria that were hand made!! The women was so sweet and the clothes were adorable. I purchased pantalonesas well so Aria and I can be twins! We also purchased some gifts for our liberal friends back home.
Around 3:00 we headed back into town with the paddle board – dropped it off and made dinner reservations at Don Padros (this was our fancy dinner for the week). We went back to the villa to get dressed up and we were off to watch the sunset before enjoying our fancy dinner.
We also saw our first iguana
Pre-dinner drinks at Lucid which has some fantastic fruit drinks and is right next to the water – a great place to watch the sunset and people coming back from the beach for the day. We got some great sunset pictures
Don Padros was really nice!! The food was amazing and it was the nicest restaurant we had been in all week. There were granite countertops in the restroom!! We had a couple apps and Derek got the Alai Tuna which came recommended and did not disappoint and I got the Lobster Raviolis. We had a couple drinks and amazing banana cream pie dessert. Funny this “fancy” place with 2 apps, 4 drinks, 2 entrees and dessert ended up being $50 in dollars.
After dinner we headed back to our villa for an early night as we had the earliest wakeup call of the week the following day. I also realized by the time we got home just how burnt I had gotten that day!! Being the water is like 10X being on the beach I guess. I had put sunscreen on a couple times, but it got me! I aloe-ed up and was ready for our hike the next morning.
Postcards to Iowa 
