Day Three AM

Ah, Mexico. Here we are. I can’t help but feel the excitement of a new adventure run through my veins. I stepped off the ship and pushed my way through the throngs of photographers (no, not the paparazzi, instead it was the ship’s vultures eager to make commission on a photo op). I took a deep breath of Mexico…then coughed. Note to self: walk away from the fishy wharf before breathing again.

Yup…we were in Cozamel. One of the tourist islands off the mainland.
Many of the group chose to do different land tours. Some went to see the Mayan ruins while others wanted the excitement of the zip line through the treetops. I had already done both on a previous trip so instead, I joined six lovely ladies for a shopping adventure in downtown.

Our hard-core shopping group consisted of Kimberly Burke, Karen Kendall, Tea Majors, Rosemary Letson, Patrice Wilson and yours truly.

The sights and sounds of the markets were incredible. Mexicans would stand outside their colorful stores and say anything to drive you inside. One man said to us, “Come in, come in. Everything inside is almost free.”
I had a feisty man take my hand and offer me a free massage if I went into his store. I cleared my throat and retracted my hand. “No thanks.” Then I practically ran to catch up to the other girls.

Definitely, the best sales pitch we received was a man calling out, “Come into my store so I can try to rip you off.” LOL.
We almost bowled the man over trying to get inside his store. We thoroughly enjoyed his honesty after so many others would lie to us to get our business. After bartering all day and saying, “No gracias” over and over again to the outside sales team, we headed off to the La Mission – a Mexican restaurant with the best shrimp and avocado in town. In fact, all of the food was delicious. Kimberly was our translator, she wow’d us all with her fluent Spanish, even the Americans at the next table were impressed.

After a tasty excursion into the Mexican fare, everyone went back to the ship to relax except Kimberly and myself. We wanted to see more of the island. With the last of our cash, we haggled a price for a quirky little taxi man call Segio to show us the sights of Cozamel. However, I believe we had more fun chatting to the driver about the naughty exploits that happened in the back seat of his cab than checking out the sights. For some reason he pointed out the swingers hotel on the beach. And hinted he would like to take us out again but this time with a bigger back seat. LOL. I wonder if it was because Kimberly told him we were romance writers. Hmmm.
We eventually returned to the dock and rockin music blared from the bar, Fat Louey’s. Kim asked if I wanted to have a drink on the boardwalk or go back to the ship. I looked longingly at the ship. My feet screamed for relaxation, not dancing, but my wild side said, “Do it!”
So we went into the loud bar on the waterfront and ordered pina colada’s. Drunk women and men danced on a small stage, grinding against a pole. Gotta love blind drunkenness and lots of enthusiasm. It was infectious, but I resisted the urge. I would need at least three more cocktails. Four, if I was to grind a steal pole. LOL.
All in all, I had a great time with awesome company.

PM
I must dedicate a portion of this blog to karaoke. It’s not something I do very much but Heather’s daughter, Bryee Anne convinced me to pick a song for us to sing. It snowballed into an FRW sing-along and I must say I had a blast. By the end of the night my voice was hoarse from singing and whooping for the brave who ventured on stage. Two FRW members stood out from the rest of us. Toni Andrews had a very sultry voice that had us in awe, and the other was Kristen Wallace. Holy moly, that girl can sing. The audience was entranced with her sweet voice.
There was one person I must tell the world about. This person was new to karaoke and had the most theatrical zeal. When he sauntered across the stage with mic in hand, the whole room cheered with abandonment. Eric Raab had to be the coolest karaoke singer I had every seen. He was totally unabashed when gliding around the stage like a rock star. Gotta love his showmanship. He totally rocked the house!