ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

Friday morning we woke up late after being out late the night before. We headed to the pool to swim and grab some snacks for lunch. I had a massage scheduled in the shelter that's located between the pool and beach.



The masseuse basically told me to remove my top right there in the open which was a little bit funny to me because we are so discreet in the US. She spoke almost no English so it was a little hard trying to figure out what to do. It was relaxing and nice but the construction taking place 50 feet away was a little disruptive.

We ran to the photography window to pickup the pics we'd taken the day before and then decided we had to go on a run since we hadn't fit it in on another day. The goal was to run 4 miles at the beach - 2 miles down, 2 miles back. We would wear our normal running shoes and try to stay on the firm sand.

Well, that didn't work out quite as well as we'd hoped. We did run a total of 2.5 miles but it was very VERY difficult in the heat and on the sand. I was sore for a few days afterward from this run. At least we tried. We immediately grabbed some cups of water, stripped ourselves of shoes and electronic devices and jumped in the ocean. Ahhhh....

We had to go back to get cleaned up and start the packing process because we were headed to Playa del Carmen in the evening on the courtesy shuttle from the hotel and wouldn't have a lot of time to pack the next morning. I realized I didn't have anything left to wear the next day to the airport so I did what I always do on vacation - laundry. Andy thinks it's hilarious that I always end up washing clothes but I just won't wear dirty clothes.



We caught the bus to Playa around 6. It was a full-sized luxury bus and it was full. We were let out at this intersection in Playa and told to return there by 11 for the ride back.



We walked around Playa, mainly on 5th Avenue looking at the various stores and restaurants. It was all touristy and we didn't end up buying anything.

I knew beforehand that we would be going to The Bucket - a bar owned by Al Mack of my favorite radio show, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. He (and his best friend, Steve, who is a co-owner as well) were both in town and I wanted to hang out there at least for a little bit.

When we got there, there were just a few people there but we were just glad to have a place to use the bathroom, get a drink and sit down after walking for so long. I could see Al in the upstairs part of the bar so after getting a drink, we headed upstairs to grab a table and talk to him.





We were having fun talking to the people that started to accumulate at the tables (95% of whom were from Dallas) and Steve eventually came around too. This is blurry but Steve was sitting on Andy's lap and it was kinda funny...



Jez (manager of the bar) and Steve...



A random balloon-making clown showed up at the bar...





We met a couple that brought their sons and daughters-in-law for the weekend, a group of people celebrating their 50th birthdays, met some guys from Atlanta, saw one of the 50-year-olds try to pickup on a much younger guy, watched Al and Steve make out with multiple girls and just had a great time overall. The time got to be 10:30 and Andy asked if I wanted to get a cab back to the hotel or go catch the bus. I told him I'd do whatever he wanted to do - I'm NOT good at leaving once I start having fun and get in party mode so I have to defer to Andy on these things. He chose the bus so we left.

We got back to the hotel and went to bed. Our shuttle to the airport was arriving the next day around noon so this was our last night in Mexico.

Next (and last) installment - the trip home and our overall thoughts on the trip!