Sleep in…. soooo easy to do here! Now that the A/C is working, no street noise at night or early morning. Bed is surprisingly comfortable (or we’re so tired we don’t notice!) so it’s easy to sleep a little late! Roy walkie-talkies us around 8:30, we’re ready for breakfast, come on over.
Note: the day we were leaving to go to Isla, Roy gets Sheena Easton’s “My Baby Takes the Morning Train” stuck in his head when it was playing on the radio station they broadcast throughout our place of employment. Known for belting out a song whenever the mood strikes him, this becomes the theme song for our week in Isla… Roy would walkie-talkie the first line, Tim or I would respond with the next, and so on… this also became habit as we are walking down the street. O.K. I’m sure you all want to shoot me now, as you can’t get the brainworm out of your heads either! So this is how we wake up every morning!
We get up & get dressed, no particular plan till 2:00 for Big Jim’s Sunday gathering. M & Js for breakfast again. I choose the M & J Cazuela and the Watermelon/Papaya drink, Tim, the Bacon & Egg Torta with Chocolate Milk and Roy, the Holbox Cazuela with Limeaid. All very satisfied! Pedro’s a great waiter and agrees to pose for a picture with Tim & Roy.
Laughs all around & gracias amigo! Walk back down Guerrero & come across our first “face planter” (thanks PH Terry for the heads up!). Some kind of gnarly hook sticking up out of the sidewalk that could be deadly if you don’t see it!
Ah, there’s Chris’ DigaMe!! Gotta go in and dump my 512mb memory card – it’s almost full! Introductions all around, Chris needs my USB cable to dump the photos because his card reader doesn’t like the XD cards…. No problem – Tim runs back to the room to get it & Chris & I chat it up. Tim returns, Chris burns the CD for me $5.00 US and we’re out the door! What a bargain! All in a pretty case with a picture of 2 beachchairs & an umbrella on Playa Norte and an equally nice CD label! Say our goodbyes –we’ll be back!
Continue down Guerrero in search of Alexia y Giovanni’s. Boom! There it is! I catch Leonore’s eye, she comes over & gives me a hug, I tell her we’ll be back in the morning for breakfast!
On to the cemetery for pictures… I’ve never seen anything like this! I’ve walked through one in Grand Cayman, same principle, above ground, but no where near the colors or detail that we see here. I find Mundaca’s tomb no problem and continue around to snap photos of some of the most beautiful ones, those for the little angels, one for a Mariachi, one for a baseball player…. What care these natives give to their departed loved ones!
Photos complete, we continue up the street in search of Hortensia’s shop. Take a left, there she is, hard at work at her sewing machine. A young man assists me in picking out an outfit, I try it on… $15 US – sold! Hortensia looks up and sees my Isla button, touches it & says “Marianna!” I say, si, si… she points to her button on her “cash register” – a pocketbook hanging from a hook! I pay for my outfit, she hugs me, says “mi amiga Marianna” and hands me an embroidered coin purse (that fits a pack of cigarettes nicely) as a little gift for being a friend of Marianne in NYC – thanks, Mare! I tell her we’ll try to get back for more – still have to buy for Tim’s nephew & niece, 6 year old twins, but sadly we never made it back…. One more thing to look forward to in June!
Wow, how time flies… It’s close to 1:30 now and we’ve got to get to the market and pick up snacks to bring to Big Jim’s…. I get a nice block of cheese and 2 boxes of crackers for $4.27US – the cheese alone would have cost me easily $6 here! We’re standing and the checkout & just crack up! There’s a grandmother in front of us with her adorable little grandson in the cart… she puts her little tiny Chihauhau on the converyer belt while she unloads her groceries… damn! I wasn’t quick enough with the camera & she finally puts him inside the carriage… I snap a couple of photos but the little bugger didn’t stay still enough to get a good one! Oh well, at least I have a funny memory on film, blurry as it is!
We continue on toward the ferry area and there’s a street vendor selling six packs of Sol for $4.25 US. We buy some to bring to Jim’s, hail a cab near the ferry and decide $5 is o.k. with us. Onward to Big Jim’s!
We get there quickly (Isla is only 5 miles long!) thank the cabbie & walk in, sign the guestbook, put on our name tags & Carmita greets us. She remembers us from yesterday, hugs & kisses & calls to Jim that JoAnne’s here. Jeez, I feel special! Hugs from Jim – God, that man is huge! Thought he was going to break my back again! Tour the house – it’s absolutely beautiful! We brought our bathing suits – the pool looked so inviting, but that damn Norte was still blowing and even though the sun was out, I had goosebumps! We had a great time, Leo & Trisha arrived, chatted with them, fun conversations about retiring to Isla – Trish is such a sweetheart! Tiffany from Sunhorse Weddings showed up, some fun conversation there. Tour the grounds and take some breathtaking pictures of Jim’s “back yard” – unbelievable! God, I could do this in a heartbeat! A couple arrives and the woman is asking Carmita if I’m here…. Carmita brings her to me, she tells me to guess who? I’m embarrassed at first, I’m running through board names…. Then she says “Paradise Love”!!! It’s Lynne from Indiana!! What a sweetie! We’d been corresponding off-board, as they stayed at Color de Verano, where we’ll be staying in June for our honeymoon! Hugs again, we meet her husband Wayne, a lovely man. We catch the New England/Indianapolis Game and shuddering at the weather we seem to be missing back home! Go Pats!!
Carmita’s a lovely hostess – a wonderful, warm lady. I can’t get over how she reminds me of Sophia Loren! Her English is perfect! It’s apparent that she adores Jim – she waits on him hand & food while he “holds court” like a king in his throne on the terrace. Lynne & I get wound up in conversation and the game, Go back out to the terrace & everyone’s gone!! It’s almost 7:00!! God, how time flies with good friends and good conversation! We snap some photos for the memory banks, Lynne & Wayne say their goodbyes and well wishes for our marriage – thank you so much!! Hugs to Jim & Carmita for their hospitality – Jim asks me how it’s felt to be vertically challenged my whole life! I just laugh – don’t think I’ve ever hugged a man that big! We make our way up the driveway & to the road and start walking till a cab comes around. Tiffany comes by on her scooter and kind of keeps us company till we see a cab and flag it down. Bye Tiff! See ya later! Another $5 and we’re back to the ferry stand.
Hike up to the room to change, we’re goosebump freezing!! It’s Sunday night & the Zocalo is hopping with the locals. Tacos, empanadas & all kinds of deserts for $1 each. We try a taco each from the stands… oh my God, are they good!! An empanada each, then flan…. I think I died and went to Heaven!!
Stuffed, we head down to Hidalgo, and there’s Tiffany at Don Chepo’s. We sit down and meet Dylan, Steven and Karen… Tiff introduces us to Don’s killer margarita’s! Uh-oh, this can be deadly! The funny Mariachi starts singing his doggie song & we’re all in stiches!
Feeling those margaritas, we decide to call it a night – Roy & Tiff seem to be having fun, he’s in good hands and I don’t have to worry about him!
We take the long walk back to our room, down Hidalgo, turning left at the Zocalo - wow, how quiet it's gotten - everyone's gone home now
Upstairs, we retire to the terrace with a couple of cervesas with the radio tuned again to the “classic rock” station. It’s all in Spanish, but we’re laughing, because it sounds like two zany morning show hosts that we’re used to listening to in the states. Whatever they’re saying, they’re having a great time & entertaining us as well. We people watch awhile, then it’s time for bed. Ni-nite my honey baby… ni-nite my love…. Another wonderful Isla day is in the memory banks… fall asleep with smiles again…. Don’t change the channel, friends!
Here is a Link to my pictures. Enjoy!!