Day Two on Isla

Thanks to Isla Gringo's suggesion, I have a little less generic title to my blog...especially since my "adventures" won't only include Isla.

Day two was a beach day, so I didn’t take that many photos. Gotta get that initial tan going, so I made my way to Playa Sol. First stop was M&J’s for a casuela. I had never been there before, and they looked so delicious in the photos I’ve seen, so I had to try one.


It was delicious, but I’ll have to admit that I like huevos motulenos better. Can’t beat the view, though.

I really had to force myself to keep from picking something up at the “K-Mart” deal next to my table…
I then headed down the new walkway north. Some of it still needs some work, but it’s come a long way.
They had these tile inlays in several places which were pointing the way north. They were kind of neat.
They have new posts along the ledge now…

…and just plopped the old ones off the side of the ledge. I kind of like the aged, turquoise color...and the pyramid-like shape. I felt kind of sorry for the little guys that they were just tossed off like yesterday’s garbage. So I took it upon myself to find them.


…dead and buried…

…dead in the water…

…in pieces.

Okay, enough of that.

Did a little tour of the town to walk off breakfast before heading to the beach.

Kind of liked the graffiti on the pastel wall…

Wasn't crazy about the new 69 condos…
The condos by Jax do not bode well for the little cemetery. It certainly takes away from its charm…but I guess that’s “progress.” Do you think the angels are telling the workers to shush?

Walked by this little artisan’s shop…interesting choice of subject. I took a close look, and he actually is very talented. I’m just thinking, “Who’s going to want to put that on their coffee table or mantel??”

“So, how do you like the huge alien gargoyle legs I picked up on Isla Mujeres??” Well, I’m sure there’s a buyer out there somewhere.

Pretty lady selling her wares. It always amazes me that I’m sweating buckets wearing a tank top and shorts and these women are all bundled up and carrying tons of purses, jewelry, etc. I have to hand it to them. I would be dead of a heat stroke.

I seem to always catch this little guy in interesting poses. He looks like one of the healthier felines on the island.

This was a new fruit/veggie lady I had never seen before. She’s close to the cemetery on one of the side streets…can’t remember which one.

I know there are a lot of laundry pics on the island, but I particularly liked this one because of the white contrast against the orange wall…definitely makes those whites pop!

This little guy was running around in front of me laughing and shooting his water gun. I asked if he would smile for a picture. This is what I got. He looks like the saddest kid on the face of the earth.

I’ve seen lots of these since I’ve been here, which has been somewhat of a shock.

I’ve never seen one on (or above) Isla before. Since I saw the first one, I found out that el presidente de Mexico is going to be on Isla on June 1st and I can tell everyone is very excited about it. In fact, there are clean-up crews and “sprucer-uppers” all around making everything look pretty. I saw that they were painting the curbs white or yellow.

Oopsies…someone didn’t stay in the lines…

I’ll bet no one knows that the condos by Jax are already being occupied!

This guy lives on the second-to-top floor…

And these guys all have penthouse apartments…

In addition, I believe I will send these next photos to OSHA…I think we could take a few pointers from these guys in construction safety!

Ah…finally made it to the beach. Nice view of the northwest corner of the island…

I just don’t like the look of the island with that ugly crane looming overhead…


So *poof* it’s gone. Thank God for Photoshop…now we can all just pretend it’s not there.

Later on, a beer at Minino’s and a bit of a sunset…and I’m toast after sitting in the sun. Ah, well, life is good on Isla.

Tomorrow is my day for exploring my new neighborhood. Lots of pictures of that to come.

Finally! Day one...

Hey! No one told me these blog thingies would be so time-consuming. I told everyone I was going to do a blog on my first solo trip to Isla and here I am on my third day and I hadn't even started the first! Oh, well, please bear with me...I'm new at this. And it has taken me a couple days to get into the Isla groove...especially since I'm staying the Colonias this time instead of North Beach. It is DEFINITELY different...and I'm right there with the Islenos. I had to buy something at the neighborhood tienda today to get change for my cab ride and we didn't know what the hell each of us was saying. But we worked it out...I just had to buy more because she didn't have change for my 100 pesos when I wanted to buy just a Coke. No big deal. We just shook our heads and smiled. I'm sure she thought I was just another idiot gringo trying to fit in with the natives. And you know what? She's right!

Okay, so I'll start at the beginning. My flight was on time and uneventful. Towards the end we had a couple of those air pockets where you leave your stomach about 10,000 feet above where you currently are. Everyone muttered expletives while the woman next to me made the sign of the across her chest. Immigration was empty, so I sailed through and got the green light. I only had carry-on luggage, so it was off to find Best Day for my transportation to the ferry. No problems there. She had me wait until my ride came along with this friendly group.


ALL the Best Day people were scrambling to get this big party transported to Cancun. I'm sure things were very organized, however, considering their state of the art administrative and filing system:



If those papers shifted a quarter inch to the left, they would have been trash. And God only knows if someone had wanted to use that phone!

So I ended up being the only passenger in a big van to Gran Puerto. Yay! My first time with Best Day and so far, so good. I arranged for a return trip and they told me when to be at the ferry, so we'll see how that goes.

I didn't even recognize Gran Puerto when we got there because of the huge structure being built behind it. You can't drive right up to it anymore. So I went to the ATM, got some pesos, and bought a round trip ticket to/from Isla. No time to buy any beer...it's leaving NOW!

This is the structure being built at the end of a long pier from Gran Puerto.

Okay, now this part was different. I was looking forward to a leisurely ride on top of the ferry, but no such luck. All of a sudden this guy appeared putting up a microphone in the front. What the heck??

Then he was joined by, presumably, his wife, who was on "instrumentals."

And their kids were there for support!

It wouldn't have been so bad, but the music was kind of obnoxious, the wind is blowing like a hurricane, the boat is tossing back and forth...just let me enjoy nature for God's sake...don't make me listen to this! Unfortunately, the only seat left was in the front row, center. Now I think there was a reason for that. Then, to make matters worse, the woman passes the (whatever instrument she was playing) to the passengers for money. Talk about a captive audience! I know these people need to make money, but I'd really rather have a nice quiet ride to the island.

This was not a welcome view as we approached the island. It was nice when the lighthouse was the main subject of that view. Now it seems insignificant.

First stop...luggage and all...was Picus. Just had to get my toes in the sand and see that view. Here we go with shrimp cocktail.

And the view...

This guy was playing really nice, soft samba-type music. He started out with "The Girl from Ipanema," which seemed appropriate. But when he ended up with the theme song to the Godfather, I decided it was time to go.

Got some cute pics of some of the other patrons, first.

So, here's my new home in the Colonias...Casa Laguna. It sits at the end of the laguna in a colorful neighborhood. (Like anything ISN'T colorful on Isla??)

These are some of the wild birds at the laguna. Some beaks, huh?

And this place is right around the corner.

As is this:

And this place is right across the main road. I had never known where this is, so I just kind of stumbled across it in my wanderings.


Along with the shoreline.

I eventually wandered over to North Beach to see what had changed and noticed a lot more chairs in front of Sergio's than I'd ever seen before.

These guys were playing music there.

I had never noticed this place on Medina before.

Here's the construction across from Jax. (More on that at a later date.)

And a final bar/sunset shot from Bujo's.

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that this was a lame first attempt at a blog. But I had some adjusting to do. I have taken lots more pics since the first day, done more exploring and am getting my feet wet...so better reports will be coming in the future. (I hope.) I'm thinking I'll be a permanent fixture in the evening at Jax for the next week.