like a whole other country

After Key West, our cruise ship headed off for Cozumel, in Mexico. Unlike Key West, in which we had a lot of ideas about what we might want to do, we didn't have much of an idea of what to do in Cozumel. There were a lot of excursions offered through the cruise line but they were expensive, and furthermore, I didn't find anything that was too appealing. Apparently I have no desire to swim with dolphins or go to Mayan ruins. Oh well.

So I did some research, and basically we decided that we'd walk through the town of San Miguel and then go to a beach. We came in at a port that was a few miles down the road from San Miguel, so we hopped in a cab and the guy let us out downtown. Which looked like this:


We walked around for awhile, going into shops. Mom and Dad started to find this stressful, because each shop had someone outside yelling at you to come in and take a look. Then the salesperson follows you around. It's not a very enjoyable way to shop. Also, most of the shops have the same souvenirs, so after just a few shops you feel like you've seen it all.

After awhile, Dad was ready to go back to the ship, and the plan was for Mom and I to continue to a beach club for a few hours, before we too would head back in time for dinner. We passed a place advertising $1 Coronas, however, so we decided to stop and have a drink. Plus the place had shade, and this was a very hot day.

It turns out all the beers were $1, so Dad asked the waiter if there were any local ones on the list. He and I enjoyed Montejo, a Yucatan beer.
Look at all the fun we're having in the picture above! And for only $2! I also split a strawberry daiquiri with Mom, which was $4. I guess there's a reason kids go to Mexico for spring break. It's so cheap to drink! Too bad I didn't figure this out earlier, before Mexico got all dangerous!

Another plus for Mexico is you can wander the streets with a beer in your hand. That's what I'm doing below, with the Mexican flag carefully placed in the background, so as to prove that I did in fact leave the country:

After all the drinking, it was getting late so we decided to head back to the cruise ship together and forego the beach trip. We did take some time to walk along the coast. We walked out on this pier and saw these little fish that looked like sharks! Also I saw these fish out of water:

There are all sorts of these statues along the main road along the coast.

We walked down to Senor Frog's before we caught a taxi back to the boat, because when I see giant frogs, I must have pictures with them. Luckily, my parents support me in this quest. If you have a real eye for detail, you might notice that I've moved on to a beer in a can. Dos Equis in a souvenir shop for $1 a can!
A few more swigs of Dos Equis led to this:


Then I was drinking and driving!

After my froggy photo shoot, we got in a real car, though. And it turns out Mexico doesn't have any of those pesky open container laws so I enjoyed that beer all the way back to the cruise ship.

At the dock there was like a little miniature downtown Cozumel, only the drinks were more expensive and the shops catered to American tourists that don't want Mexican shopkeepers shouting at them. I found a nativity scene made in Mexico at one of those stores that was far cheaper than anything I saw in the real downtown, so that was my Cozumel souvenir. (I'm sure it will get a picture post when it becomes my seasonal centerpiece!)

Apparently, all those shops were brand new and built after damage done during 2005 hurricanes. While that part was nice to walk around, I'm glad we got to go into the real town. We met some ladies who only went to that part, and that seemed sad. Granted, they didn't seem like ladies that drank, so I guess they wouldn't have been impressed with all the cheap alcohol prices.