Vacation 2006

On Friday, Sept. 1, 2006, Teresa and Jon chucked their cares for a while and went on vacation.

This was the first time they had actually taken a full week off since Jon started consulting so “anticipation” was an understatement for what they were feeling. This was a celebration of our sixth wedding anniversary as well

The plan was to use Jon’s timeshare in Orlando (right across I-4 from Walt Disney World) and then make a whirlwind tour in the Yucatan Peninsula (in Mexico) for tours of investment property and tours of the city of Merida. Merida, known as the “White City” for the large use of white limestone and paint was founded in 1542 and is the capital city of the State of Yucatan.

On Friday morning, the car was mostly packed. Jon got up about his usual time (6 AM – the 6 AM habit is hard to break) and took Poindexter (the dachshund) for a walk and a game.

For those that are not aware, Jon and Teresa are now a two pet family: Her Highness Sheba (as in Queen of) the Persian cat and our latest addition, Poindexter Tesla Walton (because the dog is way too smart and is an excellent dachshund). He’s training with a group that trains police dogs and their comment is that he’s actually a German Shepard in a dachshund suit (which, from them, is an extreme compliment). Dexter was going to the trainers during the trip, so Jon took him up to the tennis courts (where he could run free) and they played a game for a while. The only problem was, while they both agreed they were playing a game, they did NOT agree on what game to play. Jon thought they were going to play Fetch with a tennis ball. Dexter thought they were going to play Keep Away. Since the difference between Fetch and Keep Away is completely the dog’s choice (in one, the dog brings the object back… in the other, the dog runs with the object until the owner can catch him), Jon and Dexter played a long, fun game of Keep Away.

Once we arrived in Orlando, some large plans for the evening were discussed but we ended up with a Pizza Hut pizza delivery and snuggling in for an early night (we were both BUSHED). We were to be in Orlando from Friday through Tuesday evening, and leave EARLY Wednesday morning for Fort Lauderdale and the flight to Mexico. The plan was to “rest” on Saturday and Tuesday. Disney’s Animal Kingdom was planned for Sunday and Epcot for Monday (Labor Day).

Saturday was the day to drive around and sight see. Neither of us had ever visited the Animal Kingdom Lodge but Jon had read that there was a savannah area (complete with animals) there, so it was a stop on the tour. The reports were correct; the Animal Lodge is very impressive.

Next, Teresa had expressed interest in going Air Boat riding (or driving). Ever since Jon had been coming down to Walt Disney World, there has been an “Air Boat and Canoe Rental” place on 192. When Jon first came down, it was pretty much out on the fringe; however, during the years, the tourist area has grown up to and beyond it. Yet, this same rental place was there and this was finally the opportunity to use it. These were not the “big” air boats that go zooming through the Everglades at 60 MPH. These were small airboats (two or three people) that go up and down the creek about 10 MPH (it turns out that Jon was VERY thankful for the difference in speed).

Airboats are guided with both hands. The left hand is on the tiller, which directs the vanes on the back which channel the air from the propeller. The steering directions are “push forward to go right, pull back to go left” – maybe. Jon never did quite get it (more on that in a moment). Now, with that being said, it would make sense that if the tiller is left in the middle, the boat would go straight… that isn’t how it works, though. The tiller is shifted back and forth (i.e. right to left and back again) to keep the boat going straight. The right hand is on the throttle. On the smaller airboats, the throttle is left on full most of the time and only slowed down when doing tight maneuvering, like going under the bridge, between the pylons…

Jon, being the guy, assumed he would drive. After renting the boat, they headed north up the creek, went under the 192 bridge, then continued for a couple of miles through mangroves and other ‘swamp edge’ foliage. Jon and Teresa had about 50 yards from the boat dock to the bridge to get the hang of driving the air boat, before driving through a fairly narrow passage of the pylons to go under the bridge.

50 yards was NOT enough distance for Jon to get the hang of driving the airboat. Honestly, 5 miles would not have been enough (and it would have taken a LONG time – Jon found out that the oar was in the boat to push off when the pylons or the edge of the creek seem to form an attachment with the front of the boat).

By the time the airboat was out from under the bridge, Jon was more than ready to turn the driving over to Teresa. She did very well (just a couple of rough spots where the paddle was used again). According to Teresa, you had to just relax and not concentrate on the driving and it would be okay (when she concentrated was when we had to use the paddle).

Could be – but Jon just couldn’t get the hang of driving it, so he leaned back in the front seat, relaxed and watched the scenery go by.

The airboat trip was very nice; fun and reasonably priced.

After that, our Theme Park tickets were purchased to be ready for the next morning. After getting our standard, two day tickets (Disney has changed their tickets a great deal – check the web site before you go), we went out on one of the speed boats on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. Disney retired the Water Mice that they used to have and are now using “Sea Raycers”, made by the company Sea Ray. As best I can determine, they are made JUST for Disney: I’ve checked the Sea Ray web site and there is no mention of them, and Google just talks about them in conjunction with WDW. This is a shame – I love those little boats and would love to have one for the lake house. We had a great time buzzing around the lakes, making it back in just before the boat dock closed due to a coming lighting storm.

That night was our “anniversary dinner” (although the pizza the night before had been a lot of fun, as well). We decided to go to Kobe (Japanese) Steakhouse and had an excellent time.

The next morning was our trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Jon is so in the habit of waking up at 6 AM that it held true all the way through the vacation. Teresa was up about 7:30 AM, so there was plenty of time to get over to the Animal Kingdom before it opened.

Yes…BEFORE it opens. Jon has found that the single most critical determinate of how good a day someone will have at one of the Disney parks is average crowd density the person experiences. If there is going to be a crowd (as there was Sunday of Labor Day weekend), get there as EARLY as possible to get the maximum possible “low crowd” time (i.e. before everybody else shows up). At Disney, the turnstiles usually open 30 to 45 minutes before the “rope drop”. Once the turnstiles are cleared, a crowd of people will move towards whatever ‘hub’ the park has, where they will encounter Disney cast members and a rope. The cast members (almost always the staff for the attractions that people will rush to get in line for) will then make a big deal about the coming day, and then drop the rope. At that point <grin> it is everyone for themselves.

However, while there may be a “crowd” at the rope drop, that crowd is maybe 5% of the total attendance for the day… so the park is actually uncrowded right at the opening. Usually within a couple of hours, the rest of the people visiting the park that day will come in and everything will be running at capacity (and wait time for attractions will build to maximum).

Jon and Teresa got to Animal Kingdom before the turnstiles opened. There is always a group that will be waiting with baited breath for the turnstiles to open so they can rush up to the rope. At Animal Kingdom, this is mainly the group heading for Expedition Everest (Disney’s newest roller coaster attraction).

Animal Kingdom has a Rainforest Café, which is open for breakfast. We had already eaten, but decided to wander through and window shop for a bit. At this point, Teresa found a new tip for the Animal Kingdom.

Rainforest Café is ‘part’ of the Animal Kingdom, although you do not have to have park admission to enter (I’m not sure about parking). What this means is that there is a special turnstile that lets you leave Animal Kingdom, directly into Rainforest Café… and that same turnstile will also let you go into Animal Kingdom from Rainforest Café.

Teresa saw the turnstile and went over and asked if we could enter the park through there. “Sure” responded the cast member, who then helped us with our tickets (Disney has a new biometric process for their tickets, trying to cut down on resale… it is rather a pain).

Jon and Teresa headed in (well ahead of the crowd at the main turnstiles) and began working their way through the Oasis. This is the “transitional experience” that the Disney Imagineers designed for Animal Kingdom. It is a lush forest with multiple paths through it and *lots* of animal habitats.

And, in this case, welcoming cast members who were looking to tell guests about the animals in the area and point them out to said guests. For about 10 or 15 minutes, Teresa, Jon and about 5 other people who had also entered through the Rainforest Café had a semi-private tour of the area.

It was very clear when the main turnstiles opened; guests begin streaming by at a high rate of speed, heading for the rope drop area.

We went to the left, to the “Africa” area. A large part of the crowd went right, heading to “Asia” (and Expedition Everest).

The major attraction in the Africa section is the Safari ride (designed to make it look like a camera tour in the wilds of Africa, with real animals). The other attraction is the “walking trail”, that has several animal habitats along the way. Most people will ride the Safari ride, and then walk through the walking trail. This means that the walking trail gets VERY crowded, shortly after the first people get off the Safari ride.

So, we switched it: Jon grabbed a Fastpass for the Safari ride (lets you come back and not have much wait at all) and then started a slow meander through the walking trail. We had it to ourselves (with the exception of the helpful cast members who were very happy to tell us about the various creatures). The walking trail includes such things as an underwater viewing area for hippos (which are actually the most dangerous mammals, if you count number of deaths, in Africa), a large gorilla habitat, and nice aviary and various monkey habitats.

Once Jon and Teresa completed the walk, they walked onto the Safari ride (very well done). Next, we rode “Dinosaur” (Animal Kingdom has built up that area of the park quite well… several more well done rides), the Tree of Life and the other major attractions (except for the raft ride… Disney was having trouble with it, and then a thunderstorm was on the way so it was shut down for the rest of the day).

Frankly, we decided to let the approaching thunderstorm end our day. Usually at Disney, a thunderstorm is a good thing: it will chase a lot of people out of the park and cool the air off for the evening. However, Animal Kingdom is usually only open until 5 PM, which means that the 4 PM “afternoon thunderstorm” may keep going until the park closes.

We began to meander towards the exit and for those couples that are reading this, here’s a tip: Teresa and Jon found the most romantic spot to wait out a thunderstorm in Animal Kingdom. Right where the “Oasis” section enters the central hub, Disney has built a large hill with a waterfall (falling into the oasis section). On the ‘back’ of the waterfall (facing the central hub) is a series of caves, complete with benches. This was a wonderful place to wait out the worse of the rain.

Another tip: naps (or swims or some other kind of relaxation in the afternoon) should be a critical component of your Disney World trip if at all possible. This won’t work with Animal Kingdom (they close too early), but when the day starts to get hot, return to the room and do something else for a couple of hours (including, preferably, eating… it will save you a lot of money!) then go back to the park. It will be cooler and the WDW parks all have a special magic in the evenings.

As well, most of the parks have some activity in the evenings (fireworks, parades or a stage show) that make it worth going back.

Monday was Epcot day (and Labor Day). Fortunately, most people that had come out for a long weekend were on their way back home and Epcot was uncrowded. Again, Jon and Teresa got up in time to make it to the park for the rope drop. Animal Kingdom had a significant ‘staged’ show (complete with Disney characters) for the rope drop: Epcot was much lower key, but just as fun in a different way. The various staff for each of the major attractions were manning the rope and they make SURE that you understand (in a humorous manner) that, if they are trampled, the ride will not run.

There are now three “major attractions” at Epcot: Test Track, Soaring and Mission Space. Test Track is the replacement for the old GM “World of Motion”. The concept is that your car will go through an entire variety of car prototype testing (including, apparently, one where the rider will be appearing in the role of a crash test dummy…). It is vaguely like a roller coaster/motion simulator/track ride all rolled up into one. There are a lot of people that find it to be amazingly exciting and will ride it multiple times. Jon enjoys it, and will ride it whenever he goes to Epcot, but one time per visit is enough. Soaring simulates hang gliding over the state of California (over lots of it… starts in San Francisco, goes by Yosemite with pine scent wafting by, Camarillo with the smell of the citrus groves, swing by San Diego and points in between). This one is a motion simulator with a difference: it is *very* smooth and relaxing. You do move, but it is gentle movement, just enough to let you suspend disbelief without having to worry about getting motion sickness. Teresa *loves* this ride (we rode it five times with fast passes that day) and it is amazingly well done. The ride was originally developed for the California Adventures park (next to Disneyland) and only recently came to Epcot. It is in the Land pavilion and has made a major addition to that area.

Of note: Wonders Of Life (originally sponsored by MetLife) is seldom used any more. It is open “seasonally”. MetLife’s sponsorship for the pavilion has lapsed; it would require a major update to bring up to the current technology.

We had lunch at the Coral Reef (the restaurant in “The Living Seas” pavilion) which was excellent as always. Teresa and Jon sat right next to the glass of the aquarium … and as soon as they sat down, one of the green sea turtles (probably 4 feet across) settled in for a rest, right next to our table.

After lunch, a nap at the condo and then dinner preceded the return to Epcot, primarily for Illuminations, the nighttime fireworks and laser extravaganza.

<sigh> Illuminations was excellent, as always, but Jon misses the original “classic” Illuminations, when the various pavilions were lit up with music from each nationality. It may just be that he remembers the magic of seeing that the first time, but it does stick in his mind as “the best” version of Illuminations.

Tuesday was rest (mostly – some sight seeing and shopping in the afternoon) because Wednesday was the start of the next part of the vacation.

Jon and Teresa got up *early* Wednesday morning and drove to Fort Lauderdale airport to fly down to the Yucatan Peninsula to go house hunting. Spirit airlines was having an excellent sale and Teresa found some good investment prospects online.

The entire Yucatan Peninsula is booming; since Cancun was built, the tourist trade has spread and expanded. The cost of living there is low. People have realized this and started to retire there.

The Yucatan Peninsula is a large, mostly flat limestone peninsula at the south end of Mexico, bounded by Belize at the south and separated from the central Mexico by some rugged mountains. There are no rivers on the surface of the peninsula: they run underground, through the limestone. This area was the heartland of the Mayan civilization and it is still culturally distinct from the central Mexico, Aztec influenced culture. There are still very significant Mayan ruins all over the Yucatan Peninsula, many covered by the jungle.

Yes, it is a jungle out there… despite no rivers, the area has a lot of water (it rains frequently; the water is there, just underground).

There are incredible contrasts on the Yucatan Peninsula: from the urbanized beach resorts at Cancun, to tiny villages in the center of the Peninsula where people still gather their food from the jungle, supplemented by some agriculture. Along the way, there are cities such as Merida, which was founded in the 1500s by the Spanish and sleepy fishing villages that are growing up.

Jon and Teresa went to Cozumel on their honeymoon, ferried across to Playa De Carmen and fell in love with the place. Playa De Carmen was sleepy little fishing village that was growing up after cruise ships started anchoring off shore and sending tourists in on tenders. It has grown fourfold since 2000 and has a Wal-Mart, a Sam’s Club and an Office Depot.

A lot of retirees are realizing that living in Mexico can be better than retiring to Florida, and cheaper. The entire “Mayan Rivera” (from Cancun south) has become a significant tourist destination with excellent resorts. The water is incredibly blue and clear and not far off shore is the largest barrier reef in the Northern Hemisphere (it is only beaten by the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in size). Scuba diving and snorkeling in this area is incredible.

We looked at some property in the area, primarily as an investment. Teresa had made contact with a real estate agent (she and her husband have ‘retired’ to the area… she was a real estate agent for 18 years in the US so understands American real estate culture and the Mexico real estate culture). She showed us around on Thursday. September was the “low season” in the area (winter is high season – September is still quite warm, although bearable).

We flew out of Fort Lauderdale to Cancun on Wednesday, rented a car and drove over to Merida, where the realtor is based. We’ve been to Mexico multiple times, but usually to a resort (with a package, which implies a guide – this was our first time ‘on our own’ rumbling around the area).

On the plane, we sat next to an American expatriate (i.e. American citizen currently living outside the country) who moved near Merida. He gave us some excellent insight into the expatriate scene and some good recommendations for restaurants in Merida.

The toll road is clearly marked from Cancun, but when it begins is a two lane road through the jungle. This is within about 10 miles of the Cancun Zona Hotela (i.e. where all the Cancun beach resorts are) but it feels like the middle of nowhere. Shortly, the road expands to a divided 4 lane highway, just about completely straight, some up and down as it goes over small hills. There is an alternative route, but it goes through villages and is therefore slower (maybe we’ll try that next time). Many of the expats fly into Cancun (where airfare is sometimes cheaper) and take one of the ‘deluxe’ buses back to Merida.

A note of caution if you try to emulate this trip: at the gas stations in Mexico you pay the guy that fills your tank AND THEY DON’T TAKE PLASTIC! They will happily take American dollars; just make sure you have enough cash.

Merida is a bustling city of more than 1 million people. It was a beautiful, vibrant place that centered around the grand plaza in the center of the city (where there are usually weekly festivals and activities, both planned and unplanned, going on all the time). We found our way to our hotel (a beautiful bed and breakfast in the historic section: http://www.casamexilio.com/ ). We stayed in the El Mirador room. It is the penthouse room, complete with a nice rooftop patio. There was also a pool and spa in the center courtyard. Wednesday had been a long day so we ate dinner and tumbled into bed. After an excellent breakfast at the Hotel, we walked next door to Casa Barbariata and met up with our real estate agent.

Our intent was to drive north from Merida to Progresso (where a cruise ship dock had been built – check this Google Earth link to see the area), about 20 miles north and on the Gulf of Mexico. The area is beautiful and there are lots of Mayan Ruins and historical sites.

The first house we checked was a nice place, two rows back from the beachfront and fairly good sized. Per the real estate agent, it would probably rent well for a good price. However, we had our hearts set on beachfront, so we went to the next spot.

This was our house. It was in the village of Santa Clara (basically a fishing village) and the house was on the beachfront. It had a Palapa (palm thatch) roof and tons of possibilities. The prior owners built it on the east side of the lot and put in a large patio on all three sides. Our current plan is to tile the patio and roof it over with palapa (for shade) which will increase the effective living area considerably.

About 50 feet away was the comisar’s (local police) office, which is usually manned on weekends and during the vacation season.

About 50 feet beyond that was a nice open air restaurant, serving mainly seafood. The food there is so fresh that it was swimming that morning… (they buy it from the fishermen in the village).

Our offer was accepted and we started the legal process of buying the house. As best we can determine, there is no “central location” for all of the deed and title information. The real estate agent took us to the “Notario” in the area. The notario is somewhat like a notary public in the USA, but with a lot more power. They are apparently very senior lawyers (the notario, was delayed because he was translating legal documents for the US Embassy… he’s the only one in the area allowed to translate the legal documents going between the countries). However, not all lawyers are notarios… there were a limited number and one notorio must die before another attorney moves into that slot.

Once the contract was recorded in the notario’s books, it was legal. It doesn’t go down the court house; it stays in a back room in his office until the position is passed, at which time the books go with the position of notario to the new person.

The legal process took us until noon on Friday to work out the various details, then we drove south. The next stop was Majahual, on the very southern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula (we were about 15 miles from Belize). Majahual was another sleepy fishing village (it had about 200 people in the year 2000) that built a cruise ship dock and was beginning to boom. Land, including beachfront lots, was for sale and we wanted to look at the lots. To get there, we had to drive to the south east across the center of the Yucatan Peninsula.

It was a fascinating day. Jon and Teresa drove from Merida on a 4 lane, divided highway, heading from the north west to the south east. Shortly, the divided portion stopped. Next, the four lanes narrowed to two. Jon and Teresa frequently went through residential sections of towns and were the main street of smaller villages. There are places where the concept of directional signs was a bit foggy (we got turned around twice, once stopping at a taco factory to ask directions).

Mexico was VERY serious about their speed bumps. Encountering one on each side of each village (at least). DO slow down for them – they are a serious bump. In several of the villages, there were people selling things (usually fruits) as the speed bumps because the cars had to slow down (the villagers would usually be close enough to touch the car). The fruit was usually prepared to eat (such as peeled oranges).

We drove all afternoon to reach 207, the main north/south road that goes down the east side of the peninsula (following it to the north goes to Cancun – south goes to Belize). We turned north briefly, then turned east for the trip into Majahual (it is about 30 miles from 207). We had a concern that it was getting dark (we were supposed to look at beachfront lots and needed light).

Right beyond the military checkpoint was the turn of to Xacatla (another fishing village, 60 miles south). We drove for quite a distance into a very remote area with no sign of infrastructure, other than the road. It was getting dark, and Jon started seeing black shapes, about the size of his palm, zip across the road in front of the car. The second time he saw the black shape, he realized that these were tarantulas crossing the road.

25 miles further, we got to the second beach access road and turned onto it. Then Jon saw something else in the car headlights… many somethings, crossing the road. It turned out to be a herd of crabs, crossing the road. This was just the first of several that we passed/went through.

It was about 5 miles to the turn near the beach (past multiple more herds of crabs), then we turned south on a dirt road (more crabs) and went for a couple of miles. It was beautiful, but more remote than we were looking for. So, we turned around and headed back, looking for a place to stay the night.

Finding a hotel turned out to be another adventure… we were south of the “tourist” section (most of the tourists in this area are from a cruise ship and they have a place to sleep). We also had to pass multiple military check points. During the day, the military wave you by but evidently the smugglers and drug runners come out at night, since all of the check points we drove by were manned and running that evening – and inspecting cars. It wasn’t a big deal (even when most of the soldiers didn’t speak English, which they didn’t): the solider would get out some approximation of “inspection”, Jon would open the trunk, open the suitcase, they would look it over, nod and we would be on our way.

We headed north on 207 and found a nice hotel in Playa Del Carmen where we stayed. Early the next morning, we walked 5^th Street (the pedestrian walk) looking for some breakfast. Jon’s comment was that it was like being back stage at Disney; the pedestrian walk is bustling in the afternoon and especially the evening, but in the morning is when all the resupply and other mundane things are done. We stopped at a small pastry shop, got some good pastries and headed north to Cancun and the airport.

We had a wonderful vacation.