Mexico, Here We Come!

Despite the dire warnings about swine flu, Maki, CJ, Maki's parents and I traveled to Playa del Carmen last week for a wedding and vacation. Our friends, Nate and Helen, were getting married on the beach. We loved the area two years when we came for another wedding, so we were game to go again!

We flew out of National on Saturday. I love flying out of National because we avoid the haul out to Dulles or BWI and it means that we don't have to get up before dawn and will have a civilized morning. We flew American and got a ridiculous deal on the airfare - $1,100 for 3 people!

Standing in line to get on the plane, the pilot walked by us and CJ said hello. I said something silly like, "Hey CJ, maybe the pilot will let you see the cockpit." At that, the pilot said, "You want to see the cockpit, young man? Follow me." Oh boy. The pilot led us to the front of the line then let us visit the cockpit! The pilot asked if mom had a camera. Does mom have a camera? I always have my camera!!!

The pilot let CJ sit in the pilot's seat, he let him wear a pilot's hat, and the other pilot even asked CJ to turn on the wing lights. CJ eyes were bugging out at all of the switches, lights and controls. Of course, CJ had to entertain the pilot with stories about his trains. And CJ explained that we were going to Mexico for a vacation. So cute!

It was very sweet of the pilot to let CJ visit the cockpit area and I wondered if he enjoyed it as much as CJ did. It must be amazing to see the wonder in a kid's eyes at the work that you do and the things you make happen -- like make a big piece of metal fly through the air!

We got delayed in Miami. Our flight was delayed and I think it was because another flight to Miami had been cancelled and American was trying to consolidate passengers. The same thing would happen to us coming back. The sad part is that our flights were not crowded, despite the cancelled flights. It was just an indication of how few people are visiting Mexico.

Flying to Cancun from the DC area is easy. It's just over two hours to Miami, and just over an hour to Cancun. Cancun is on Central time so there would be no jetlag and time difference to adjust to.

Because we were delayed in Miami for so long (3 1/2 hours), we ducked into the Admirals Lounge. I did my best Tina Fey imitation and showed the receptionist my Platinum card - it worked! They let us in, they gave CJ candy, we were able to get online, and best of all, we got to hang out in the kids' lounge! The kids' lounge was a godsend during the long delay. CJ was able to watch Disney channel and play games on the computer. I was able to read my trashy novel, which meant my vacation was starting and I minded the delay a whole lot less. Somehow, we even found sushi in Miami airport (the little stand was called Sushi Maki, which cracked up CJ).

Here's a photo of CJ showing off his crab sushi. This kid continues to be mad for sushi and is now eating salmon, tuna, yellowtail, egg, crab, and California roll.

We finally got to Cancun around 5pm, met mom and dad, picked up our rental car from Hertz, drove less than an hour to the resort, and checked into the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo.