Friday morning dawned early with us docking in Cozumel. Now here is a town geared for the cruise ships. They have two gianormus concrete piers that can dock two cruise ships each. Since I am an early riser, I will typically get up at 0530 and head up to the top deck to try and get some running in (got to have some way to work off all of the food & liquor we consumed). It is really cool/neat to run the track on the top of the ship and get a panoramic view of the ocean. I don’t really like prefer running on a track (just slightly ahead of running on a treadmill) and this track was only 1/10 mile long (that means 10 laps = 1 mile). While running laps that morning, I got to watch us pull into port around 0700 and dock next to another huge cruise ship. Nothing like seeing two giant ships parked side-by-side 30 yards apart.
If you were on the port side of the ship, you could look out of your stateroom directly into the stateroom of the other ship (Hey, now, folks. How about closing your curtains?). We got to disembark at 0800 and head to the local village/shops for tours/activities. Of course, whenever you get on/get off the ship, there is always someone there to take your picture as a “memory” (translation: we’ll sell you a picture of you and a Mexican dancer or leather clad Aztec warrior for $9.95). Just smile and move on. 
Cozumel has figured out how to maximize their profit from the tourist trade and has set up a shopping center/village right at the end of the pier to sell you whatever you need. While it is a bit hokey/commercialized, I understand that these shops are tied in with the cruise lines so they are a more dependable/reliable to the customers and you are less likely to get ripped off. You can bypass these shops and head into downtown Cozumel as my parents did, but you may not be able to score a fair deal. Besides, most of anything you could ever want from a tropical paradise is found there. You can buy your trinkets, hats, souvenirs, meds, jewelry, duty-free cigarettes & liquor, or you might even find a good pair of boots for a steal. Me? I got a couple of bottles of Omaprazole (for heartburn) while my brother tried to talk me into a new pair of alligator boots.But, what if I don’t want to do shopping? You can partake in one of several dozen activities from sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming with the dolphins, jet skis, parasailing, etc. Get the picture? There is something for all interests. If you have no aspirations to do any of these exciti
ng adventures (we are on vacation, remember?) you can sit on the boat and enjoyu the pool or lounge on the beach and sip a 3 foot tall margarita from the local bar. Us? We signed up for a Mexican cuisine cooking class that, on the surface sounded a bit lame but turned out fantastic. Basically we were driven to a local resort and set up in a kitchen and taught how to prepare some very interesting genuine Mexican dishes. It was not a real stretch since most of the stuff was partially prepared for us and there was an open bar (another beer, senior?), so it turned in to a wild & crazy event. We prepared a fish wrapped in a banana leaf along with rice & beans and a sweet dessert. We spent about 2.5 hours cooking & drinking and we got to eat the results. The head cook (Luis) was very funny and had everyone laughing as we went. Afterwards, we sat around the resort and enjoyed the activities on the beach. Eventually, we caught a taxi back to the village and meandered back to the boat. Of course, along the way, I just had to stop by and pick up my new boots. Excellent pair of boots for almost nothing (ok, 2300 pesos), but it still was a quarter of what I would pay in Houston.Boarded the ship and we pulled out at 1700 and headed north for Texas.
Next stop: Galveston.
1 comment:
Well at first I was wondering WHY you would want to take a cooking class while on vacation, but obviously it turned out to be a blast! And you got the alligator boots? Pictures????
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