We have two winners!

Gil and MD in Texas...Puerto Morelos it is! I will be sending you both $1,000 when I get back home. Well, maybe in Monopoly money! Haha! One of the reasons I chose it is because it's only a half hour away from Cancun so it doesn't involve a lot of travel time once you land at the airport. And Gil was right on another count...I am staying at the Posada el Moro. It's a great little hotel and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's going to Puerto Morelos.

This is the junior suite...

There's a TV in that cabinet above the fridge...

Bathroom...

Toilet/shower area. No hi-tech shower jets to blast me, but it had great water pressure and heated up much faster than any hotel I've ever stayed at in Mexico.

Walk-in closet...

I'm on the third floor...

The free continental breakfast (which included toast)...

This is right across the street which comes highly recommended, so I will be trying it before I leave...

I did try this place on Sunday for lunch...

They must know I like to watch old black and white Mexican movies which I can't understand a word of...

I got the tostadas. Pretty bland...not much flavor at all. An no cervesas for cryin' out loud!!!!

Caught this license plate as I was walking around. And I thought I was a long way from home!

They have some pretty strange vehicles around here...

And a whole lot of dive shops...

I think they're trying to dress up the town a little and have this new market area across from the town square. Some of the little shops are actually very nice and have some different things that I haven't seen on Isla or even Playa del Carmen.

Here's the town square. They have a really nice playground for little kids on the other side of the square.

And the main church across the street...

Inside...I could have moved the bucket and mop, but thought it made a statement. Haha!

And here's what the circular stained glass looks like from the inside...a lot more impressive than from the outside!

Crooked pier...

Sign over crooked pier...

And more shore pics...

Pretty flowers...

I tried a new place that was run by Europeans...don't know the nationality. I think they were trying to make the place seem real gourmet, but it just didn't cut it...especially for the price. They didn't take the shells off the shrimp when they cooked them on the skewers, so it was hard to take them off after the fact. They could have left the tails on, but it was a real mess. And the salad was nothing impressive, either. They only have a few things on the menu so I don't think I'll try them again.

So I stopped by this place on the way home later that evening because dinner just didn't fill me up. The guy who owned this was French.

It was okay...a little on the doughy side.

So, if you've ever been to Puerto Morelos, you'll know this is their landmark...

I will save my official "review" of Puerto Morelos until the end of my trip...or when I get back. I like to give a place a few days to feel comfortable, so I'm adding up the pros and cons as the week goes by. I did, however, take a day trip to Tulum today, so I will post more on that in the next couple of days. Tomorrow will be taken up by another reason I opted for Puerto Morelos...something muy different which should make a fun post.

On another note, this is the only time I've been to Mexico where I haven't broken a sweat...even traipsing around at the ruins in Tulum. I spent some time in the sun yesterday and overdid it because it didn't feel hot...stupid me!! And the evenings are VERY cool...so much so that you can't sit out in open-air restaurants because it's too breezy and you get cold very quickly. I've been getting a lot of use out of the hoodie I bought on the first day!