Playa del Carmen, day 6: relaxing and recovering

After a day at Chichen Itza, we needed a day to relax and recover. We spent the morning at the pool, and then walked into town for lunch. We found a place with a great view of the beach, and enjoyed some tacos and drinks. The kids played in the sand while we ate, and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather.

First thing in the morning, I dropped off the rental car with Phil and got pastries for breakfast. After breakfast, I went back to town for souvenirs with Becca. We found a shop with ceramics that went through at least two buildings to the road on the other side. We found a dress for Abbie, a necklace for Jack, a jersey and shoes for Noah, and a hat for Than.

We got Carl’s Jr for late lunch and walked back to Casa Del Sol. The tacos are amazing, but everyone was missing the familiarity of fries and fried chicken. The kids were happy to have a familiar meal, and we all enjoyed the walk back to the house. We even saw some fun wildlife:

The afternoon was slow, probably with some pool time and tv shows. Becca and Phil made some fried onion rings to consume a few more onions from the kilos of onions we bought earlier.

In the evening, Phil and I walked 40min through two night markets with local, artisan crafts. The first one had a rec-league volleyball game, and the bigger one had a live singer on a stage singing something beautiful in Spanish. We bought earrings and necklaces from a few different vendors–returning to the very first one for some amazingly light maze-based earrings for Becca.

After dropping off our findings a home, Phil and I took a walk down to a local park to smoke a cigar and talk. I had never smoked anything before and expected a feeling nauseous on my first go, but a Mexican cigar with my brother-in-law was an awesome experience–smokey aromas that can’t be rushed pushed the conversation while keeping interruptions and pace to a new level. I won’t be smoking a cigar again soon, but it was very peaceful and connecting.