In our short days there we were able to take 2 tours of the surrounding area.  We visited Xel-Ha (a natural aquarium park) and Chichen Itza (a Mayan archaeological site).  There are two others posts that cover these visits (click on prior links).

We were able to stay at the JW Marriot Resort & Spa.  Wow!  We were treated like royalty.  I guess Customer Service isn’t truly dead…you just have to pay a lot for it .  Check out the pics:

An aerial view of the resort...

The sign as you drive into the resort...

That's Frank in front of one of the restaurants at the resort...that's where we ate our first meal there.

Frank and a coconut tree in front of the resort...

Taken from the lobby looking out toward the ocean.

Lobby of JW Marriott in Cancun.

This is Frank waiting for our first tour of the trip - we were headed to Xel-Ha!

This is the view from our hotel window. It was Heavenly!! Isn't the water beautiful?!!?

Another view from our hotel room... This pool was amazing! It stretched all over the place...you would swim under bridges to get from one pool to another. The main pool you see there was one of the kinds where the water continually goes right over the edge...there is no actual edge to the pool.

Another view from our hotel room...

Another view from our hotel room...

Frank enjoying the view...

From the hotel room at night...it was lit enough to take a nice stroll on the beach at night...which we did...

Hotel room...each night they left us a washcloth figurine...just like a cruiseship.

..another figurine...

That's Frank going to check us out on our last day...sniff, sniff...I was crying in the corner not wanting to leave ;-).

These are the Air Tran ladies at the Atlanta aiport as we started our journey.

This was the ride back to the airport when it was all said and done :(...

Above: Video view from our Hotel Room at the JW Marriott Resort & Spa

Be sure to check out the other two posts from our trip: XEL-HA & CHICHEN ITZA

These pictures are from our tour of Xel-Ha (pronounced Shell-ha).  According to their website:

“Xel-Ha, one of the amazing attractions in Cancun, Riviera Maya, Mexico, a natural aquarium park considered the largest aquarium in the world, the perfect place to perform activities in Riviera Maya.  If you love nature, there is no better place than Xel-Ha to practice snorkeling and water activities like swimming with dolphins, Snuba® (combination of snorkeling and diving) or Sea Trek® (walking under water).”

“Xel-Ha” is actually the Mayan word for the point where a river meets and ocean…which is what this is.  The activities take place at the mouth of the river…just as it is meeting the ocean.  It is SO strange to see the mixture of the salty water and the non-salty water….it looks like an oil mixture at times.

I can’t even tell you how much we enjoyed our visit there!  I think we were wise to visit in January.  I am sure it gets VERY packed during the summer months.  It was actually close to 80 degrees the day we went and it was perfect.  One of the best things about the place is that food is all inclusive with admission.  There were multiple buffets and you could walk in and eat any time.  Plus there were free sodas to be had.  During lunch at one of the buffets, we had a large iguana scrounging for food at our feet…scary but cool all at the same time.  They also provide free lockers to keep all of your stuff in so you don’t have to worry about it.

Important Note:  They don’t let you wear sunscreens with chemicals in it (to preserve the natural balance and not destroy things).  I knew this before but forgot…so I ended up spending $9 for a natural sunscreen from our guide on the bus.  He said it would be cheaper than at the facility…forgot to check on that.  It seemed to work fine…I don’t have any lines .

XEL-HA!!!!!

Beautiful Parrots at Xel-Ha...one of them kept saying, "hola!"

This is a boat in the river where you can go down below and sit and watch the large fish swimming by. They must feed them right there because there were MANY!

There were tons of places to just lay in the sun and relax...not a TON of people in January though...perfect time to go!

This was THE best part of the tour and definitely the highlight of Xel-Ha. This is the first time I have been snorkeling...and it was a blast. This is where you get in the water and then you swim out to the open river. It takes about an hour to go from there down to where all of the buildings and restaurants are...they take you to this point by bus...or you can ride bikes or walk. We recommend the bus so you can have more time in the river! Along the way there are fun things to do like: ziplining into the water, walking across the river on a rope (holding onto a rope above), jumping off of a cliff into the river, etc. We didn't do any of those things...we were having fun looking at the fish in the water...which are most plentiful up against the rocks. When I say fish I mean Nemo-type tropical fish...very beautiful. They become more plentiful as you near where the ocean and the river meet.

This is the open area near the main buildings where you end up and do a lot of snorkeling as well. This was taken at the end of the day as it was getting cloudy...but most of the day was sunny and clear...we just didn't carry a camera around most of the day.

Close-up of the buildings...the large one is a buffet restaurant. Some of the food was interesting...not stuff you are used to...but there was still lots of good stuff and a lot of yummy fruit.

Frank at the end of the day with the bulk of Xel-Ha behind him...

This is the point where the river empties into the sea (Xel-Ha). The little hut on the left is where we donned scuba-type gear and went under water for a SeaTrek (see picture below).

That's me doing the SeaTrek. You step onto a ladder going into the water and they put this 60 lb. helmet on you and you decend into the depths. There is no seal or anything...just the constant pumping of air that keeps you from filling up with water. You have to be careful to stand straight up (don't tilt) or you will start filling up with water. But this can quickly be corrected by standing up straight again. We were able to touch Sting Rays and touch tropical fish that were swimming in our faces. The Sting Rays know that the guides have the food and they are actually all over them...they won't leave the guides alone. It was such an intense feeling being under there...I've never been scuba diving before and don't think that I would especially like it. I had to keep popping my ears and you feel like you are in a little world of your own. I'm glad I experienced it once...but not sure I would do it again :-). I am claustrophobic and Frank is not. But he actually was really uncomfortable with the situation and ended up going up early.

Frank at the end of a FUN day!

Shayne at the end of a FUN day!

More River...

Two iguana checking out the tourists...I think they were hoping for food...

Hahaha...so this is Frank at the little restaurant where we had breakfast BEFORE we went to Xel-Ha that morning. We were taken there two mornings in a row as we did our tours with the same tour company (http://www.allcancuntours.com/). They collect you from the hotels, drop you here (it's actually in a mall in the Hotel Zone) for about 45 minutes and then put everyone on the appropriate bus for their tour. We had fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast...but it tasted watered down. So we started worrying about Montezuma's Revenge! I am happy to say that we returned to the states having NOT been affected by the water of Mexico. Our hotel swore their water was filtered and safe...and we did have ice in our drinks...so I guess they were right :-).

Living it up in Mexico....hahaha...just fun and games...no drinking going on..

Hahaha...yeah, NOT! Gotta love the Burger King right across from the Mexican restaurant...

Frank and a little Mexican beauty with a gun...just killin' time waiting to leave for our tour.

Frank and Shayne in Mexico!

Above: This is a 360 (almost) of the Xel-Ha complex. It was taken from the opposite side of the river from where most of the activities take place. At the first of the video you can see the actual Xel-Ha…where the river and the ocean meet.

Above: The iguana that greeted us as we first got to the park.

Above: Swimming with the dolphins at Xel-Ha. We didn’t actually swim with the dolphins, but it was fun to watch others do it.

Above: More swimming with the dolphins…

Be sure to check out the other two posts from our trip: THE RESORT & CHICHEN ITZA

These pictures/videos are from our tour of CHICHEN ITZA.  It was a 2 hour drive from Cancun into the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula.  According to http://chichenitza.com: “Chichen Itza, which  means “at the mouth of the Itza well”, is a Mayan City on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, between Valladolid and Merida. It was established before the period of Christopher Colombus and probably served as the religion center of Yucatan for a while.”

Read More about Chichen Itza HERE or HERE.

Frank loves history and has had a strong desire to visit this location for a very long time.  This was a dream come true for him.

At it again...waiting for the bus to depart in Cancun so our tour can start...

Woohooo!

Frank and the fake donkey....??

This is the bus that took us into the jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula...

This is a young Mayan boy who makes money by letting tourists take pictures with him. He was at a large and famous Cenote (say-NO-tay) near Chichen Itza that we visited. According to http://www.yucatanliving.com: "Nearly anyone who visits Yucatan soon learns of a rather unique feature of the landscape called a cenote (say-NO-tay) in Spanish or dzonot in Mayan. The Yucatan Peninsula is a flat, thick shelf of limestone with thousands of miles of underground, water-filled caves interconnected by rivers. When the roof of one of these caves collapses, it produces a sinkhole or natural well, filled with fresh water. The most famous cenote is the sacred cenote at Chichen Itza, but hundreds of cenotes large and small dot the Yucatan. Some cenotes are hidden deep in the jungle and others are inside larger caves. Some have been reliable sources of drinking water for centuries, which is why many Maya villages and ancient cities are located nearby."

Frank and the Mayan boy

Frank on his way down into the Cenote...

Frank in the cave by the Cenote...

Frank in the cave by the Cenote...

There was a hole at the top of the cave. There was water pouring through the hole into the water below. We were wondering where the water was coming from. Our guide told us later that it isn't natural. The owner of the cenote pumpls water up to the top (you can see the tube in the pictures) and lets it fall back down to make the effect.

 

Frank helping other tourists with pictures.

Shayne and Frank in the Cenote...

I guess the natives believe that the waters of the cenote have healing powers. Many tourists stripped down to swimming suits to take a dip. The water had a haze around the edges though...probably oils from many bodies. It didn't look too fun to us.

The next several pictures were taken from the bus of small towns that we drove through to get to Chichen Itza. The pictures show the civilized part of the towns, but we were really saddened by the poverty that we saw along the way.

Mexican town

 

 

Bimbo!!

All of a sudden, in one town, we happened to see a chapel for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...out in the middle of the jungle! I just managed to get a pic as we zoomed by.

This is a native doing a dance for us while we had a lunch buffet on the way to our destination. I have a video of it below too. Most of the food was quite interesting (more authentic than we had been wanting I guess)....some of it was yummy though. Frank got ahold of some hot sauce that made him tear up it was so hot :-). I'm glad I missed that one. He loves hot sauce too and can pretty much take anything.

This guy took our picture while we were at the Cenote. Later on, after lunch, he caught up with us. He had taken our picture and put it on a bottle of alchol that, from what I was understanding, he had made also. He gave everyone a sample of the alcohol (from what I could tell we were the only ones that didn't partake :-). Then he gave a bottle to everyone with their picture on it and a lot of people purchased it. We, who don't drink, and wouldn't want the alcohol in the house, didn't get one...but we got a good picture :) - see below.

Hahaha...Frank and Shayne on an alcohol bottle...who would've thought?! He actually did a really good job! That's the way he earns his living.

We finally made it!!!!! The entrance to Chichen Itza.

This is the famous "El Castillo." It is one of the first things that you see after you enter the park and pass MANY vendors... I guess up until 2006 you were able to climb on all of the structures and really get up close and personal. But, because so many people were stupid and carved their names in the rocks and did all kind of other lame things...now no one can go on them or in them :(....there is rope around everything.

 

 

This is a colosseum-type area where the Mayans used to have "games" that were fought to the death. I guess the losing team didn't always get to go home. Frank has watched Discovery Channel shows about this and was fascinated. This part of the property had been shut down for a year. But it reopenned just 14 days prior to our arrival...they had restored some of the crumbling block. They numbered each piece (you could still see the numbers), taken it out, fixed it up, and then replaced it in the exact same spot. The accoustics in the arena were amazing. If you clapped your hands you could hear it echoing back and forth on the walls over and over.

This our very knowledgable guide. He said he once helped with a Discovery Channel documentary about Chichen Itza...but that he would never do it again. He said they cut and spliced what he said badly and when it came out it made him look bad instead of informative.

 

Our guide again. He wasn't our guide on the bus that gave us info as we drove there...he just did the walking tour at Chichen Itza. In this picture he is pointing out that the walls have several "teams" engraved on them. Each team has 7 players, each with different headdresses. One on the end has the head cut off and blood spurting everywhere. It was a vicious game.

 

Frank...loving the adventure

 

This area is like the tomb of the unknown soldier. There are tons of skulls engraven around the outside.

Frank in front of the El Costillo, or Kukulcan's Temple. It is a very famous landmark. It is thought to be an astronomical/mathematical wonder. According to http://www.world-mysteries.com/chichen_kukulcan.htm: "El Castillo's design is thought to relate to the Mayan calendar. Each of the four faces incorporates a broad, steep staircase consisting of 91 steps that ascends to the top platform. Counting the top platform as an additional step gives a total of 365 steps: 1step for each day of the year. The staircases rise at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal, while the average inclination of the stepped pyramid itself is 53.3 degrees. The faces of the individual steps are sloped at a greater angle, approximately 73 degrees. "The nine main platforms of the pyramid are thought to represent the 18 months of the haab, and the 52 panels represent the number of years it takes for a calendar round date to recur." In addition: Kukulcán's pyramid is notable for the fact that at the spring and fall equinoxes (March 21 and September 22) the sun projects an undulating pattern of light on the northern stairway for a few hours in the late afternoon—a pattern caused by the angle of the sun and the edge of the nine steps that define the pyramid's construction. These triangles of light link up with the massive stone carvings of snake heads at the base of the stairs, suggesting a massive serpent snaking down the structure." "Additionally, when one looks at the western face during the winter solstice, the sun appears to climb up the edge of the staircase until it rests momentarily directly above the temple before beginning its descent down the other side. The orientation of the pyramid is approximately 17 degrees east of magnetic north, in an area where the declination is approximately 2 degrees east, so the actual orientation is around 19 degrees east of true north. Several other major structures on the site are oriented in approximately the same way."

This is a Mayan child that we saw wandering around selling handkerchiefs and tortilla towels that his mother made. Supposedly he is in the 2nd grade (according to our guide who talked to the boy). According to our guide they are required to go to school up to 9th grade, but they don't have enough schools, so some go in the morning and some go in the afternoon. He also said that since there is no "welfare" in Mexico, if they are poor and they want to eat...then they work...everyone in the family, including the youngest. It was so very sad to see this little boy and all of the poverty that we saw on our trip out there. I came home with a few hankies...one kid was relentless: "Lady, it's for school." I caved, even though I had already bought some. You could tell that the guide talks to the boy everytime he takes a crowd through...the little boy was kind of hanging out until he called him. But it was very touching how the guide tried to help the little boy sell his wares. It definitely helped and many bought from him.

Frank in front of the Observatory...the Mayans were amazing astronomers. This was the piece de resistance for Frank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I will say a few things about our tour, which was conducted by www.allcancuntours.com.  For the most part we were very pleased…but there were a few things that we didn’t like.

-The first day we visited Xel-Ha.  We really liked our guide and they took good care of us.  I didn’t like how we met at a central meeting place and had to wait for everyone to show up and then go on the tour.  I kind of understand the need for that as a large company trying to service many people at many hotels on many tours…but it really put a dent in the time we could be at the park.  Not only that but they made about 3 stops along the way (which was an 1.5 hour drive anyway) to pick up more people.

-The next day on the Chichen Itza tour it was even worse though.  We were picked up 7:15 at our hotel.  By 8:15 were were on the bus and ready to rock…which is ok.  But we stopped at the Cenote for a while…more time than needed.  There were vendors there (the first ones we came across on the trip).  I am assuming they have a deal between them and the tour company.  Do NOT buy your souveniers there…they are WAY more expensive than the other places.  Then we went onto the place where we were going to have lunch.  For about 45 minutes or more we were able to look at the vendors.  They had a lot of nice things to look at…but it was pretty spendy.  FYI…they seem to work on commission and will follow you around VERY closely until you are ready to check out.  Then we had lunch…which was good and about the right amount of time.

We finally headed to Chichen Itza.  By the time we got there, got our tickets, walked by some of the MANY vendors there and met our guide, there was very little time left….the facility closed at 5pm.  Our walking tour, which was good and informational, took an hour.  We only saw the first block of buildings (included in the 360 video below).  By the time we were done with that we only had 45 minutes to make a 5-8 minute walk (one direction) to see the other set of buildings, walk back and also look at the vendors, which had WAY cheaper souveniers than the other two places we had already been taken.  I was very sad for Frank because had had dreamed of going there.  We were rushed and definitely did not have enough time to just enjoy being there.  So, it seems much of our day was spent doing things other than seeing what we came to see.   I am wondering if in the summer months it is open longer and you don’t have to leave as early?  I would much rather do it in the winter when the intense heat and humidity are at bay, however.

Above: This was taken in the cenote near Chichen Itza. In the video I pronounced cenote incorrectly. This is how our guide pronounced it: say-NO-tay.

Above: This is footage taken of a Mexican village that we passed through on the way to Chichen Itza.

Above: On our way to Chichen Itza, our tour bus stopped at this Mexican restaurant for lunch. This is a show put on by the locals for our entertainment while we dined on the interesting entrees.

Above: This is a 360 of the first part of Chichen Itza where our tour began. Our tour guide is giving us some introductory information.

Above: This footage was taken near the Observatory in Chichen Itza.

Be sure to check out the other two posts from our trip: THE RESORT & XEL-HA

SHAYNE’S PROFILE

FRANK’S PROFILE

**You can get to the profiles from the buttons in the column to your right as well.

To celebrate, we went out on the town in Atlanta. We found a place to eat that we had never been to: Mary Mac’s Tea Room.  I guess it is quite well known…it has been there since 1945.  You can see the history here.  The food was REALLY good.  I had some Fried Green Tomatoes – a favorite of mine since I moved to the South.

After dinner we saw a production of Peter Pan.  This was a unique production, however.  It was a theater-in-the-round…and there was a 360^ video screen that stretched around the room.  When they were flying over London, they were held up by ropes, but as the video was playing it looked like they were truly zooming over the city and even THROUGH landmarks.  It was really amazing.  The video changed frequently to match the set.

Mary Mac's is so unassuming outside. We were a little nervous about our choice when we first drove up. But once you go inside it is very nice. It appears from all of the signed photos on the wall that many leaders and celebrities have frequented Mary Mac's.

 

Frank and Shayne - we had just finished dinner.

This is a good shot of the Peter Pan stage. You can see the large screen above the people. There was nothing on the screen at this time, however, because it hadn't started yet. They kept telling us not to take photos...but I thought they meant "FLASH" photography...so, I took a couple with my phone before I got in trouble...ooops...

Another shot of the stage.

Me and my presents...

This was THE best birthday cake E-V-E-R!!! They got it at Dairy Queen. It was made mostly out of Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream...just like a DQ Blizzard...only better.

ABOVE: Megan singing Happy Birthday to me while playing her Ukulele.

ABOVE: Blowing out the Candles – Very TRICKY!! Liz didn’t realize that turning the camera sideways while in Video Mode makes for a sideways video.

Frank on the River

 

 

The snake...

After the hike we checked out the local ice cream shop - Scoops. It sits on an old time Towne Square that is extremely quaint. There is a Back to the Future clock and huge magnolia trees.

Us with our ice cream on rockers outside the shop...

Frank in front of the clock and a Confederate monument.

 

Shayne in front of the monument.

Date Night – River Hike – Near Covington, GA…really not sure what river it is.

The family took me out to dinner at Don Tellos (TexMex). We had fun.

...Meggie Lou waiting for food...

...Mikayla and Don eating chips while waiting for their food...

The kids at Don Tellos...except for Liz (missing to the left) and Cody (who was in Utah at the time)...

Ooohhh...Frank got me some pretty jewelry for my birthday...I was totally surprised!!

Modeling the jewelry...not sure what the hand was for...it was a necklace and earrings :-).

Word got out it was my birthday (hard to hide when you have 6 kids at the table)...so they brought me a sombrero and a chocolate drizzled sopapia (yummy!) and then sang to me.

So, we watched Liz's soccer game and then got home just in time for cake, ice cream and presents before everyone headed off to bed (all sugared up). It was a fun birthday.

VIDEO: So, we didn’t bother to put candles on the cake (fire hazard, ya know?)….so I just pretended…

Shayne’s 2010 Birthday from Shayne Nolden on Vimeo.

Above: OK…I wasn’t going to reveal how old I was…but Megan made me this awesome cake and I had to share it. But, I just don’t know what all that blue stuff is covering up my age…how did that happen??!! (the cake was YUMMY!!)

Above: Bring on the presents!!

Above: “Oh, yeah…I need help getting up at 5:50 to get kids out the door to school!”

Above: Frank was looking amazing in his new brilliant blue shirt. Weird…the cake is blue again.

Above: Time for cake and ice cream.

Above: Liz got a bunch of photos of me looking bad…so she obliged me by providing a weird one of herself!

Above: Liz and the gift she made me.