Our Honeymoon Journal

Monday, August 10th
Sara:
Honeymoon Day 1 ~ Luna de Miel ~
Oh flying! You delay us so, but even with my Xanax we booked it and made our connecting flight.
Grand Palladium Royal Suites
+ Food at El Jardin
- Little booze in fruity drinks
- Wine was mediocre
+ Lots of beautiful walkways
+ Big plans for tomorrow: free, fancy dinner and lots of swimming
+ Service was "forced but friendly" (Josh's words)
+ At El Jardin: tortilla diablo soup was excellent!
+ Room is Huge and has a hot tub on deck. It's fabulous.
+ Lots of extra special things, as we are "Royal"

Tuesday, August 11th
Josh:
We discovered the private "Royal" beach area today and although I've had some slight bourgie disdain for our own special "Royal" status, the private beach spot was wonderful. Big padded wooden shade beds with pillows and fine loose drapes, all encircled by spectacular tiny sand grains and authentic (looking at least) foliage.
The water is super clear and greenish. In many spots there is flora growth on the seabed, even right up at the shore, and in some spots there is scattered coral.
Enjoyed the buffets today and actually didn't over-eat at either. Morning fare was mostly average, I'd rate it a 7 in a vacuum but only a 4-5 because we are in Mexico and the Mexican stuff could probably be better. A real treat was the beautiful quesadilla filled only with ham and cheese. The red and green sauces were very good and same with the bean mixes. I love Mexican style beans. Lunch was similar. Good chips and sauces (excellent salmon ceviche) but surprisingly tame jalapenos. I couldn't tell if the fish was really really good or just water-soaked so as to seem perfectly fresh and moist. Sara's fish last night (a la carte) was truly good while my spaghetti bolognese (I know) was expectedly average. I did have a soup--tortilla diablo--that was superb. This slices of chips with chunks of guacamole and cheese plus this odd spinach-looking substance were all piled salad-ish in the bottom of the bowl then the waiter ladeled on the thick broth over the top. Awesome. Chips stayed chippy, other ingredients weren't faded, and the broth was delightfully spicy. I will recreate this at home.
Also at lunch I dropped Sara's wedding ring in a pile of beans. Afterward we excitedly went to play mini golf but disappointment isn't nearly strong enough a word to describe the terrible conditions or the mosquito nest in which the holes were located.
I did experience my first swim-up bar and while I can say it was exciting in the same way a grilled cheese sandwich would be if the added peanut butter to it, by the third time I wanted s drink I was wishing there were a terra firma bar option at the pool because wading around a kid's water volleyball game while holding bloody marys at eye-level is just non-sensical.
The drinks are horribly weak. Tasty, I mean, but light on the hooch. Each 8oz plastic cup full of concoction contains about one shot's worth of booze. It's only about 7:00pm right now and I've had maybe four frozen drinks plus six or more beers lus one shot of tequila and I'm nowhere near drunk, or buzzed. You really do just sweat it out. Oh, and I had two mimosas with breakfast. A real treat that was to serve myself. Two bottles of champagne were available with myriad juices and I think Sara and I were the only two smart enough to put two and two together. A number of fools were sitting and drinking plain flutes of champagne at 10am.

Friday, August 14th
Sara:
I want to paint our bedroom the colors of Tulum. The sand is so light, almost white and the ocean ranges from bright blue to green to a dark almost purple. The furniture on the beach is brown and natural. The sort of furniture we could build. The palm trees look like paintings with their gray trunks and dark green leaves that stick straight out from the lime green spine of each one. No blues are the same here and the grey is a pale harmless shade. Today there are scattered clouds, maybe ten. The are puffy and perfect.
From the hammock on our porch we can see all of these colors. I want to wake up every morning to all of this.

Josh:
Today is Friday morning in Tulum but I'm returning to our stay at the Palladium for a minute. Tuesday evening we had our "luna de miel" dinner, in which we shared a table with another honeymooning couple--the woman from Pittsburgh actually. While it was fun to be served a five-course meal, the food was underwhelming. That's a theme from the all-inclusive experience: average-at-best food. The buffet quality was good for a buffet but the a la carte restaurants were not as good. Wednesday night we ate at a Brazilian-style place which means the waiter comes around and serves you meat directly off a large skewer. Unfortunatley almost every meat I had was overcooked, though the breadth of this carnivore experience was hamsgiving-esque.
We figured out how to properly expose ourselves to the sun and so are not much burned (though my lips are in tough shape). Maybe 20-30 minutes on one side, turn and get 15-20 more on the other, then a 10+ minute dip in the pool and then pause for shade for at least 30 minutes. This will be tougher to adhere to (I mean in the self-discipline sense) here in Tulum because it's all beach all the time.
The pools at the Palladium were spectacular: ridiculously clean and with these built-in lounge chair things that Sara took a serious liking to (see left).
Interestingly, it was the pools that tipped us off to the sad truth (for them--it was great news for us) of the resort: that it was very empty. In our 40ish capacity building, there were not more than 10 residents. And yet everything was open all the time. This created a surreal ability to get anything I wanted whenever I wanted, the ideal of an all-inclusive resort. We were even served fresh fruit skewers by the pool totally unsolicited.
Finally, on Wednesday evening I had my first ever spa experience, including a 50 minute Swedish massage (masaje suecos). This was very nice in parts but all in all nothing to write home about (Yes I get it. Thanks). I guess I'm just not a massage guy. I even tried deep breathing during, to what I think was moderate success.

Friday, August 14th - still pre-noon
Josh:
Went into Tulum pueblo last night and although it's strewn with little knick-knack stores for tourists, it had a good authentic feel. One main street and no building taller than 3-4 stories. Lots of locals, especially couples riding together on little motorbikes. Pretty sure we were the only Americans eating at the very full restaurant: Don Cafeto's. This place is well known and was even recommended to us by a taxi driver who claimed to eat there himself "every time I stop through Tulum." Food was fairly good, maybe 7 out of 10. Almost perfect fish ceviche, nice crisp chips, this odd bowl full of spicy pickled carrots/onions/garlic/peppers (see pic). Sara ate too much of one of the peppers (a habanero?) and was inpain for five minutes. I found it largely agreeable. Sara had a dish of whitefish heavily seasoned with a kind of garlic breading. I got the "Plato Mexicano," which may have been a mistake, but was exactly like what you'd get in the sampler dish at any crappy Mexican place in the U.S., except mine was for real for once. It was more food than I could eat and not as spicy as I'd have liked but otherwise good. Had that odd almost blandness of mostly authentic Mexican cooking.
We were going to go to the ruins today but were told to go very early to beat the crowds and the heat, so tomorrow first thing we will try our luck with some of the bikes.
Today I saw the sun rise and out of a sense of obligation and to tease others with two mere dimensions of image, snapped a few photos.
Our room is lovely with a captial L. (Hmm. Smirking.) There is a mosquito net around the bed that is vaguely magical. No AC so it's pretty hot but still a little breezy. The breeze during the afternoon and evening is almost miraculous though. Reduces the temp by maybe 20 degrees.
The water is quite warm but if you go out about chest-high there are scattered swirls of quite cool streams.
I ran 2-3 miles down the beach today and we might have nicest rooms on the whole beach. You'll see the pics but we are literally on the sand facing the water about 150ft away. It's exactly what I wanted, and quite perfect. (Ok, me being me, even when on vacation, I just stepped off the distance and it's 55 steps from door to water, so 150-175ft probably.)

Friday, August 14th - after 7:00pm
Josh:
I just saw a couple--honeymooners, perhaps--get up and walk off the beach back toward their bungalow set a little bit back from the beach. (I was reclining in the hammock, reading on our porch. Note: I now love hammocks, took a 30 minute nap in it earlier this afternoon. Impromptu, it was that comfy.) So, watching this guy go off toward his less-nice room than ours, I had a feeling rather opposite from my bourgie-reticence of earlier this week. I felt proudly superior to this man, reclining on my perfect porch perfectly located on the perfect beach, thinking what a shame it was for this man that he wasn't able to provide for his wife in quite the same wonderful way as I was for mine.
Yes I felt better than him. Yes it felt good. I will just keep telling myself this emotion is related to pleasing Sara, and not my ego.
Also, the sun is setting as I write (no I can't see it, the beach faces East) and there is a marvelous wind blowing in my face. It's stronger than yesterday. There is barely a cloud in the sky. A gray cloud drifted over us in the pueblo last night for maybe 20 minutes: that was the only moment of non-perfect weather in the five days so far. I know I'm jinxing us by writing that. It has been idyllic. This hotel is totally idyllic.
Since I'm waiting for Sara to return from sunset yoga to eat dinner at the hotel's restaurant and have food on the brain, I'll mention lunch. We took two bikes out for a ride today and ended up at what my trip research told me is a very good spot: Zamas. I can now confirm this. Naturally, I got the seafood tacos, and they were excellent. Spicy and totally delicious. I hate to keep using this word again, but perfect, in a way. They reminded me of the best tacos I've ever had before: Mercadito in the East Village. Since today I only had the seafood variety, I must give Zamas the nominal edge now, but still it's pretty amazing what great and authentic food of all sorts you can get in NYC.
Sara:
My experience with Yoga: It was hard. It made me want to do more because it feels so good.
Other things that feel so good:
Great ceviche
Blue water and clear water
Being married
Honeymooning
Wine with a good meal
Expansive showers with dual showerheads
Jacuzzis on a balcony - used in the AM
Pizza at Om (Tulum)

Saturday, August 15th - noonish
Josh:
Last night we ate here at Ocho's restuarant and it was the best food all-around so far. Everything was easily above-average. Sara said the fish tacos were better than yesterday, the ceviche was easily the best so far (and bonus points for a great presentation), and my roasted shrimp was amazing. Delicious and yet somewhat subtle, that's what I like.
The ceviche (sara diving into at right), by the way, brags of containing "just eight ingredients." I looked at the menu again this morning; they are: shrimp, grouper, octopus, avocado, onion, corn, ginger, and coriander.

Sunday, August 16th - 4:00pm
Yesterday in Tulum we also got around to checking out the "ancient" Mayan ruins. The experience was neither good nor bad. It just was what it was. We had to guide and so may have missed some of the detail, but I would not have been totally distraught to have missed it completely, knowing then what I know now.
A problem might be that as you walk around, the remnants of buildings are just there, so close and tempting, and yet you can't go up close and explore or intimately experience them. This was especially pronounced with the Castle, the area's centerpiece. There was a wonderful little beach immediately below this Castle, maybe 75 feet down some craggy rocks. It was very nice and the photos we took may end doing it some justice. Another note: because the ruins are raised and sheltered by rocks, there is almost no wind, and therefore the area, in August, is a huge sweatbox.

Monday, August 17th - something AM
Josh:
Hotel La Palapa, our domicile here in Isla Holbox, is not even close to as nice as our first two places. Maybe I should remark that those two did set the bar pretty high. It's not as perfect when I see numerous tiny ants in various corners of the room, or I lay down on a bed that's equal parts hard, lumpy, and crooked, or I notice that the seeming cleanliness is sortof an illusion caused by the white paint and if I look closer I can easily see evidence of disattention, or finally if my room's AC doesn't work on the first night. This last difficulty proved not to be an issue, remarkably enough, as yesterday and last night stayed somewhat cool. A fellow and many times more numerous traveler mentioned that yesterday it was the coolest she's ever experienced it in Mexico.
Now let me tell you why, as I sit on the beach amidst one or two too many flies but in a rather pretty setting of gentle water lapping and slowly departing fishing boats.
There was a large downpour here yesterday, lasting maybe 45 minutes and timed to coincide exactly with our arrival here. I could guess that as much as 2-3 inches of rain fell in just 20-30 minutes. The streets on this island are all sand, and since it looked like it may have rained recently as well, they were waterlogged with over six inches of standing water. Because of this, our golf cart driver had to move at a snail's pace through the town, further ensuring that our bags, and mostly just us, got fully soaked. And so we did. At the time, I was agitated for numerous reasons, but now I have no ill thoughts. It's what happens in places like these. There was still multiple inches of standing water on most of the streets as of 10pm last night, too.
Two striking things about the Holbox beach: long and shallow, and little wind. The former will provide a pleasant wading experience while the latter I fear will encourage bugs. Now, around 8am and so still coolish, there a lots of flies in my vicinity but I can't tell how many mosquitos. The flies are simply annoying. Also the beach here is more what I'm used to in terms of consistency and shell presence, so it's a bit rougher. Tulum's beach was a remarkable softness and not disturbed at all by shells. I can't believe but it seems I managed to take it for granted while there.
Our meal last night was very satisfying. It started with a chorizo queso that used this mozzarella-like cheese that was goupy and oily. Needless to say, it was delicious. (I think this is the oaxaca cheese, very prevalent on every stop so far, Wikipedia will confirm this in a few days, I'm sure.) Then Sara and I both got a fish dish, purportedly different but they looked pretty similar. Both excellent and quite large--my portion was about triple what you'd get in NYC. We also had a tequila with the meal: Don Julio, which was very smooth, not requiring the salt/lime routine. And I've finally made a firm decision on which Mexican beer I like best: Sol, by a lot.

Monday, August 17th - 1:00pm
Josh:
I can't believe I haven't yet mentioned my rash. I've had it since I woke up on Saturday morning and it's worried me on and off at various intensities since. At first I was a little terrified that perhaps somehow I'd improbably gotten poison ivy on my honeymoon on the beach in Mexico. Then I was sure the rash on the insides of both forearms was from scratching my arms on the bed frame when I was tucking in the mosquito netting in Tulum (not a simple task when done alone). Then a local told me in very slight English that it was some kind of sun or sand rash that he's seen before, that I only needed to put a "cream" (I think he meant lotion) on it and keep it out of the sun. That was Sunday afternoon. Since then it hasn't gotten worse but also not better. I've put plenty of sunscreen on it when going out in the sun. His diagnosis makes some sense because that's about the only exposed part of my body that I haven't been lotioning. So I'm going to live with the itch and keep it from sun as much as is possible and hope it goes away. It's spread up my forearm toward my elbow just a little bit but the first spots near my wrists are faded so I'm not yet alarmed. One thing I am is very slightly looking forward to be back in the sheltered safety of NYC so this can pass in peace. And that is kindof a sad commentary from a man on his honeymoon.
This is day 8, and I'm still definitely enjoying myself. Holbox today in the sun has revealed itself to be a lovely little town. Sara and I walked a mile or more down the beach to the West to one end of the island and there was the most beautiful beach there. The beach along the main coast is only average and mostly occupied with small fishing boats. On this far end there were no boats and only one house/hotel/structure set a ways off the water. The currents were sheltered from the main waveline and so the water was remarkably still. The most still I have or likely ever will see for open sea, in fact. The bottom was also very shallow pretty far out. I was lying down in calm clear water less than two feet deep easily more than 50 feet from shore. The fact that we just stumbled onto this little haven made the experience exponentially more enjoyable. The way traveling is meant to be, I suppose.

Sara:
Time for a reflection on why we are here. As much time as we spend together in NYC, and have spent together on various travels to the Midwest, Josh and I have never been alone together for this amount of time.
(Of course we are coming off our wedding, so this may be colored by newlywed bliss.)
It has been great. We love eating, drinking, sleeping together, but we also have the same idea about how we want to spend our time (eating, drinking, sleeping together). Neither of us are extreme thrill seekers and so we have done things such as taken walks, played in the water, and befriended local dogs (that's Paco to the left). All this while just having fun being together. There have been some tense moments such as when we debated if it was appropriate for Josh's dad to have brought up God in our ceremony after strict directions not to (I said "no way," he said "if it makes him happy"). This conversation led into a talk about religion and our family. The end of it was extremely positive even if the middle was tough. We talked about how we make the rules for our family and how now we have to look to each other first and foremost. This was a big and wonderful conclusion to draw. How exciting to be in a place and with the person that you get to establish and define this next part of our lives.
We had another uncomfortable conversation when Josh said some things that sound sexist AND racist to me. (Josh editing note: come one thing we can agree on is that Frida Kahlo is overrated. The cause of that overrating is certainly up for debate.) Although it heated me up it allowed us to talk about our differences and how we might have those differences play out in our family. (Yes, I can expose our children to the terrible inequalities and injustices out there but no I cannot force them to be activists. The verdict is still out on if I can ensure they vote Democratic--I come from a long line of families who won't support conservative bullshit especially in regards to social programs. To be honest, there are some definite socialists on my maternal side. This is of course the antithesis of Josh's family.) So we are learning to talk like husband and wife. This is especially important as we are talking about having a little Folger sooner than later. Everyday we are growing closer and becoming a better pair. As fabulous as the sunshine and beautiful surroundings are, maybe this is what the honeymoon is all about.
A list of our most used phrases:
1. Dos cervesas por favor. Con limon.
2. La cuenta por favor.
3. Cuanto cuesta? (Or: Cuantos pesos?)
4. Hay uno pato del mar!
Other important phrases:
1. Tengo hombre.
2. Anything with "esposo" or "esposa"

Tuesday, August 18th
Sara:
Holbox gets better with time. Josh and I have been steadily falling in love with the town, the stillness of the ocean, the restaurants, and the local animals (dogs!).
Last night we ate at a terrific place (something with Pirates in the name). The pasta was made fresh and the seafood was excellent. The meal started with a shrimp-mayo to dip our bread in. Excellent! This morning we set outside at a restaurant and had eggs. Josh had huevos rancheros and they were unlike what we are used to. The tomatoes are incredibly sweet and the tortillas we had to accompany our meals were fresh, as is they were just made. We drank beer, played cards, ate great food, and marveled at our surrounding. There is something very intimate and immediate about this town. It feels like a "no-pretense" town. Often beautiful beach towns have really decrepit interiors where the locals live. In Holbox you see it all. By that I mean that you even see the interiors of the houses.
The temperature has probably hit 100degrees every day we have been here so windows and doors are always open. From what i can gleam, people live in hammocks here. They are used as beds and as seats. It makes me want to chuck all the unnecessary things we have--wait, we have none.
Which reminds me: today we bought ART! The nesting part of me went crazy. Finally! We have items that have artistic and sentimental value (not prints in frames--such as how our current home is decorated). And I bought bowls yesterday. I looove them.

Wednesday, August 19th - 7:00am
Josh:
Terms to wikipedia: sun rash, Roberto Borge, whale shark, oaxaca cheese, camaron ya'ax, pescado a la veracruxana, Isla Holbox, Tulum ruins, sol beer. And I know I'm forgetting a ton. Will try to remember on the way to the airport. Also, I want to go back and re-read descriptions of places on sites like Trip Advisor. And I definitely definitely want to go to Google Earth and have a field day with 9+ days of new locations to orient myself with.