DREAMS--PUERTO AVENTURAS

Is it Friday already?  When a person decides to blog and post three times a week, each one of those days hits her in the face before she's picked herself up from the one before.  Really, it's a silly thing for an older person to blog on a schedule, because under the best of circumstances, the days fly by us at whiplash speed.  It's a known scientific phenomenon.

Nonetheless, it is still Friday and that means we need to be somewhere besides where we are.  Let's go to Mexico.  Grandma is celebrating a milestone birthday this year.  Actually, it feels more like a MILESTONE BIRTHDAY.  Yes, that's more like it.  So, how better to do that than gather the entire clan at an all-inclusive resort along the Caribbean coast of Mexico.  And that's exactly what we did last week.

We number twenty-two and range in age from seventy-seven (not me) down to two-and-a-half.  We settled on a family-friendly resort called Dreams Puerto Aventuras which is located about an hour or so south of Cancun and a short hour north of Tulum.  The ocean here is a beautiful blue, the waves are relatively gentle, fish are thick and perfect for non-threatening shallow snorkeling, and handsome young men or beautiful young women are at the ready to fill your order for an all-inclusive pastel-colored drink.  It's just short of heaven.

Am I right?  I'm standing on our balcony looking out toward the water.

Now I'm leaning over the balcony just a bit to check out the family pool.  My grandchildren & greats--ages five to ten--are all parked at the swim-up bar under the thatched roof.  It took them nearly five minutes to find the bar and begin ordering.  Some might suggest they are chips off the old block.  All I know is that the bartender at the family pool is a saint in the making.

Moving on, we had read about a little pool (A tidal pool, perhaps?  I wouldn't know, I'm from Kansas.) Just head out the "Family Pool" door, bear right, and you'll find it.  BC helped all the kids feed the fish, but the fish were so aggressive none of them would put a toe in afterward.  Scared them to death.  Beautiful, though.

  

 We suffered the normal stresses of today's travel.  Some planes were late.  One was cancelled.  There was weather in Dallas.  My guess is there is always weather in Dallas.  But we all made it.  Our rooms were very nice (we were on the recommended seventh floor) and nearly all of them matched our request.  Apparently, in the world of Dreams, reservations are requests.  I can't explain it. 

This isn't Dreams but it gives you an idea of the neighborhood.

 

Before this vacation, as I was fixating on all that could go wrong, I began telling my kids that the next best thing to an absolutely wonderful vacation is an absolutely horrible vacation.  I read that somewhere; the premise being there will be lots to laugh about.  Well, another little vagary with Dreams and their six really nice restaurants is that a large group absolutely blows them away.  We're an independent bunch, so we simply split up into smaller groups and enjoyed a different restaurant every night.  Some ate early, some ate late.  Some dressed, some didn't.  Did I mention that in all of the restaurants there are no reservations.  It is strictly First Come-First Served.  It's OK unless you want to reserve for a large group.  You can't.

Last Saturday night, twelve of us decided to visit the Italian Restaurant which generally gets rave reviews.  It's called Portofino.  We wandered down and were reminded (kindly) that Portofino has a dress code.  Men must wear long pants and dress shoes.  So, son Michael and grandson Collin walked back to their room to change.  Seating twelve was problematic, but we waited quite comfortably on Portofino's patio, chatted, and sipped on a little wine.  We were quite content until we realized Michael and Collin hadn't come back.  A quick search led us to the hotel lobby where a crowd had gathered near the elevators.  The elevator on the left which had been temperamental all week, was now stuck and the doors wouldn't open.  Long story longer, Michael and Collin were in that elevator which, fortunately, also contained three football-types who proceeded to rip open the doors so everyone could pour out...literally.  It was an oven in there.

I know it's been a long story but it's good.  Michael met with the Director of Sales who quite graciously asked, "What can we do to make this right?" while no doubt cringing and expecting demands for compensation.  My sweet boy answered (the short version) that he would like Dreams to allow all twenty-two of us to sit together the next night at Portofino for a birthday dinner for his mother.  You gotta love that thought.  And that's just what we did.  We were seated at two tables on a covered porch looking over the beach.  We had privacy, a gentle refreshing breeze, impeccable attention, and a short visit from the Sales Director himself.  It couldn't have been nicer.  All is well that finishes well.  And this was perfect.

Thanks to BC and my great family, this was absolutely the best birtd I've ever had.

Margie aka GeGe (GG)