Cabo San Lucas, Days 1&2

October 17, 2009

In Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Getting out of the house was stressful and complicated and I wondered if it was worth only a week out of town.

We had to get up early to make our flight. I took an extra 20 minutes when we left the house, so we barely made check-in, barely made seating and I think B learned not to cut it so close when he’s traveling with his wife and 2 ½ year old. Even though I was 90% ready to go to the airport, that last 20% had to be done the morning we left. And the extra 10% didn’t get done. I forgot to close the living room shade, pack my headphones, bring D’s crocs and her coloring stuff… but, nothing life altering.

We didn’t get upgraded to business class because of a glitch in United’s system, but we lucked out there because the business class and economy were the same on our first flight. All D wanted to do was watch her DVD anyway, so B had to buy me a boxed lunch and all was well.

Note to self: since watching DVD’s is Dahlia’s Holy Grail, we can pretty much fly anywhere within the life of her battery, which is maybe 5-6 hours.

I was skeptical of coming to Cabo because our trip to Cancun in 2002 was so depressing. We had already done a lot of travel the year we got married and Cancun was an easy honeymoon destination considering it was fall, we had to dodge hurricanes and Hawaii was out of our budget. The disparity between the tourists and the locals was sad. The hotel was overdone. The toilets didn’t work. The highlight was Isla Mujeres; boats, a little island, fun shopping, good food etc.
I came to Cabo in high school with my dad and sis. I was flunking Spanish at the time, but managed to give the street vendors hell regardless. We had mostly fun. That was the trip where I got my “shark bite” from an ATV; managed to kinda go too fast and singe the skin off my leg and flip the four-wheeler over. And hell no, I didn’t go to a Mexican hospital. I wanted to keep my leg.

I’ve heard about how much Cabo has grown since my last visit, but was shocked (and a little disgusted) to see a Cartier here. Blame the Americans! Again, the disparity between the tourists and the children selling dirty, handmade toys in the marina. Why aren’t those kids in school?!!?! Oh, it’s Saturday.

Virgin Cabo tourists beware, upon your arrival, the airport is crawling with parasites; hundreds of people trying to sell you taxi rides back to town, condo timeshares, their children… jkjk. I guess you have to talk to at least taxi driver to get a ride, but ask your hotel how much you should have to pay and then don’t pay any more. Have that exact amount in cash (American dollars, or Pesos). Cab drivers have already tried to confuse me with the dollar to peso conversion, which is a simple and fun way for them to make my head spin. Fortunately, since I truly get so confused, I just stand there looking like exactly what I am at that point, a dumb blond and then if I’m really, super lucky, like I was today, the cars behind the taxi start yelling and honking and the parking attendants kick the taxi driver out and I make a mad dash for anonymity. I saved $2 with my “act” today.

I’m tired from walking in my flip flops in the sun and drinking pina coladas, so let’s see if I can reflect quickly on the other highlights from the last 24 hours.

• Our Hotel, Casa Dorada is gorgeous. B chose it because it’s one of the two best in Cabo and it’s very close/ in town. It’s on Medano Beach. (More on that in a sec.) I liked the name of the hotel because it reminds me of Blair Waldorf’s maid’s name in Gossip Girl, Darota.
• Because of the famous arch (El Archo) in Cabo, many of the hotels have an arch reflected in their hotel design. Upon entering ours, the arch frames the lobby; gorgeous pools, the ocean and the rocks by the arch. It was breathtaking, even when I was holding a squirmy, sweaty, hungry, tired, excited toddler.
• Our room is a suite because we invited B’s mom along for the trip. This way, we get quality grandma time, another person to hang out with and a child caregiver on our anniversary. BTW, that’s why we’re here. We are celebrating our 7th anniversary.
• The pools here are relaxing and gorgeous, but they cannot be compared to those at Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. We went to Atlantis last year. We had to be very careful with D around the water because she loves it and she can’t swim. This year, today actually, I got her water wings. We inflated them and off she went. I still stay within arm’s length of her, but I remembered when I had water wings as a kid; such independence!
• So far, the drinks have been weak, but then, I am not a very dedicated drinker and it’s 90 degrees out.
• Today, at the pool, we were all down swimming after my forgettable, but fun trip to, dare I say it, Walmart (family, please don’t disown me, it was my only option barring Costco and I didn’t need 40 bananas, I needed 5). We were done swimming and I went to the bathroom to change into something dry before dinner on the beach. Grandma took D a few feet away, out of sight and a woman went up to B and asked him what he was doing later tonight. She and her drunk friend had just been sitting next to us making out with a guy and 10 minutes later she hit on my husband… I’m not sure if I’m more confused, or amused. The lady and her friends were at least 10 years older than him, yelling and hooting at the pool and when we walked by them later they felt compelled to declare that they were the “fun girls” to the guy whose attention they were desperately trying to get. Later, from our balcony, 6 floors up, I could still hear them hooting and telling yet another guy how much they had smoked. I may push them both in the pool tomorrow even though they’re not worth the hassle.
• The Office is a well-known bar that is right on Medano Beach. Medano is right outside our hotel and The Office has great food, good drinks and a nice vibe. We get to eat with our toes in the thick, heavy Cabo sand. They waiters adjust the umbrellas overhead as the sun moves. The chips are great and they have fresh pico and guac.
• Tonight, after we put D and grandma to bed, we snuck out to The Office. I drank out of a pineapple and B saw fake boobs on two very blond ladies! A group of, um people were there celebrating a birthday. Two of the chicas had enormous ta-tas and took liberties with the restaurant photographer and “Rambo” the icon… hard to explain; just more drunkies looking for attention. And attention they received! Every head was turned. Women were disgusted, men were intrigued; it was hilarious! Good times here in Cabo…
• Both days we have been here, there have been cruise ships out in the bay. The ships dwarf the town and I thought they would flood everything with people, but the marina was quiet and we didn’t notice any disruption.
• We have a full kitchen, a diabetic and a toddler, so hitting a grocery store was a priority. During D’s nap today I thought I’d pop over to a store, grab some necessities and hurry back to catch some cancer on a lounge chair. I asked the baggage guy in the hotel where I should go if I wanted food, a big store. He sent me “two” (three) blocks down to what turned out to be a Mexican equivalent of costco. I could get 300 churros, a back yard play set and a new TV at a great price, but I couldn’t get PB&J. FAIL. Back to the hotel. In a taxi, I went, to The Forbidden. Walmart, sure enough, had everything I needed and more. I returned to the hotel and climbed out of my cab to find B holding a sweaty Dahlia nervously asking the Mexican hotel staff where the hell they sent his wife. I was gone for how long? Oh, tres horas? Oops.
• Looking forward to snorkeling.
• And we saw the turtle club release some baby turtles into the ocean today. Go turtles, go!

It’s been great here. It’s hard to unwind, but it’s nice to have an extra adult around to pick up some of the slack and let B and I go to dinner.

Laptop battery dying.