I hadn't been telling people about our planned trip to Mexico for a couple of reasons.
- The trip was to an all-inclusive Hard Rock Resort. We try to do trips where we actually see the place we are visiting rather than isolating ourselves with a bunch of Americans. Plus: the Hard Rock?
- Fyre Festival. Need I say more?
- I don't like to announce when my house might be vacant.
I thought beforehand, "I can trust Wilco, right? They're good, down-to-earth guys." (What's the phrase for when you delusionally feel like you have a bona fide relationship with celebrities?) The company that Wilco partnered with did an amazing job of making sure that we all felt pampered and like we were attending summer camp for adults. The planning was excellent. I would go to other things they organize.
And, we've been home for a little over a week, so here we go...
We left in the aftermath of a snowstorm, and were delayed because only half of the MSP runways were open and some serious de-icing had to occur before we could take off.
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| You aren't supposed to take photos in the customs line, I read after taking this photo. I liked that the area to fill out forms was called the "filling station." Fill 'er up. |
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| On the bus, on the way from the airport to the hotel, I couldn't resist comparing the weather we left to the weather we were encountering. |
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| The bus ride was kind of like the bus to the start of the MS150 bike ride! Someone handed me a beer to kick off the weekend, and I drank it. |
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| I don't think it is less environmentally friendly for the Hard Rock to give you a wrist band that works as a key compared to the credit card-sized keys that people surely lose in the ocean and the pool. I confess it was sad to cut off the Wilco Sky Blue Sky festival wrist band when I got home. |
After taking the event shuttle from the airport (they had our flight info, so they were waiting for us) to the hotel, we checked into the hotel and into the event, and stood on one of the two balconies for our room, in short-sleeved shirts - peering at the ocean in the distance.
We had breakfast, and then went to go read on a resort beach. The beaches were pretty crowded, so we made the unintentionally fantastic decision to sit in a little shaded hut that happened to be a bar, overlooking the ocean and overlooking the swimming beach where Calexico would be playing later in the day. We were able to read, drink some yummy beverages, eat some snacks, and hear the music perfectly! In comfortable chairs and without having to worry about sunscreen.
At night, we went and saw Sharon Van Etten and Wilco. We skipped the late-night, post-show activities again. There were a bunch of activities we skipped during the day, too, like making musical instruments, learning about rhythm, and competing in guacamole-making and lip syncing contests.
The next morning, I ran around the grounds, halfway on and halfway off the running trail. (It wasn't well marked.) I jumped in the ocean in my running clothes like a very unfit version of Brandi Chastain and swam for a little bit. We had breakfast, snagged some seats in the shady hut bar, caught the Jeff Tweedy solo set, and left early to make sure that we got to the mezcal tasting event with two of the Wilco band members.
We had a really great dinner that night with super service, and went to check out Kamasi Washington. We skipped Dr. Dogg and.... someone else, deciding to sit on our balcony instead, enjoying a cocktail in the warm, quiet air.
The next day we went to Tulum and saw some Mayan ruins. It didn't feel right, to be at ruins without my dad and Beth - who we traveled with to Peru/Macchu Picchu in 2006 and Egypt in 2009. To make myself feel slightly consoled, I texted Beth about having fond memories of our "ruinous trips." Dan made me laugh by commenting on how we had better cell coverage in Mexico than we have in Wisconsin.
Back at the resort, we watched the Autumn Defense (John Stirrat and Pat Sansone from Wilco) from our bar hut. We ate dinner on the plaza at the yummy food stands (I accidentally kept on getting in the same line as one of Jeff Tweedy's kids and was worried that he thought I was stalking him) by the main stage and saw a fantastic show by Yo La Tengo (why haven't I seen them before?!?) and, of course, Wilco, again.
We retreated to our now-dark bar hut thing on the ocean and listened to a DJ set by Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen. I walked up to the bar and the bartender said, "mezcalita?" Sadly, but awesomely, he remembered that I'd been drinking (slowly; I was never tipsy the whole trip, which I'd say is good for an all-inclusive resort!) margaritas made with mezcal. Instead, he gave me a sample of the tequila that he thinks is the best. Dan and I took a long time sipping our straight-up alcohol by the ocean (and Dan had to drink the final sip of mine) before we felt we could go to sleep before heading back to Minnesota the next day.
All in all, a total success: great music, great food, no worries, a total vacation. We booked the trip somewhat on a whim despite reservations about the cost. It was all paid off by the time we arrived in Mexico. I remember the last time I saw my dad, in May, I was telling him, Beth, and my aunt and uncle that we'd just booked the trip and were somewhat mortified. Who knew what all would happen between May and January - losing my dad, having to put our dog to sleep, and navigating the emotional stress of another family member's illness (their story to tell, not mine; and yes, "their" is a legit singular pronoun - who knew it would come in handy in this circumstance!). The trip is a good reminder that it is good sometimes to just be spontaneous and take the plunge!
So, we're back. I realized that I have to start thinking about stuff related to my BikeMS rides and captaining my team. Now that we're shifting to February, it seems about right. One cannot simply take aqua bike classes in a pool next to the ocean every day!
We had a great dinner at one of the resort restaurants, and then headed over for the first two shows of the weekend: Courtney Barnett and Wilco. We skipped the after-show events so that we could rest up for the remainder of the trip. The next morning, I did an aqua spin class - - a spinning class, in a pool, overlooking the ocean. And then I swam in the ocean. Life is rough, my friends.
We had breakfast, and then went to go read on a resort beach. The beaches were pretty crowded, so we made the unintentionally fantastic decision to sit in a little shaded hut that happened to be a bar, overlooking the ocean and overlooking the swimming beach where Calexico would be playing later in the day. We were able to read, drink some yummy beverages, eat some snacks, and hear the music perfectly! In comfortable chairs and without having to worry about sunscreen.
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| Waiting for Calexico, who were great. We sat here every day, actually. |
At night, we went and saw Sharon Van Etten and Wilco. We skipped the late-night, post-show activities again. There were a bunch of activities we skipped during the day, too, like making musical instruments, learning about rhythm, and competing in guacamole-making and lip syncing contests.
The next morning, I ran around the grounds, halfway on and halfway off the running trail. (It wasn't well marked.) I jumped in the ocean in my running clothes like a very unfit version of Brandi Chastain and swam for a little bit. We had breakfast, snagged some seats in the shady hut bar, caught the Jeff Tweedy solo set, and left early to make sure that we got to the mezcal tasting event with two of the Wilco band members.
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| The mariachi band kicked things off. You'll note that the guy singing has red smartphone in his breast pocket. For some reason, this made me laugh. |
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| Nels Cline comparing the mezcal he was drinking to music. I'd love to have him come to a party. Although I'd have to make sure to invite really smart people. He's on a different level. |
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| John Stirrat, the nice guy you'd imagine, trying to engage the audience. |
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| I'm in the official event photos, holding my final sample of mezcal after I embarrassingly said publicly, into a microphone, that the previous sample was "pedestrian." Oh, what a snob! |
We had a really great dinner that night with super service, and went to check out Kamasi Washington. We skipped Dr. Dogg and.... someone else, deciding to sit on our balcony instead, enjoying a cocktail in the warm, quiet air.
The next day we went to Tulum and saw some Mayan ruins. It didn't feel right, to be at ruins without my dad and Beth - who we traveled with to Peru/Macchu Picchu in 2006 and Egypt in 2009. To make myself feel slightly consoled, I texted Beth about having fond memories of our "ruinous trips." Dan made me laugh by commenting on how we had better cell coverage in Mexico than we have in Wisconsin.
Back at the resort, we watched the Autumn Defense (John Stirrat and Pat Sansone from Wilco) from our bar hut. We ate dinner on the plaza at the yummy food stands (I accidentally kept on getting in the same line as one of Jeff Tweedy's kids and was worried that he thought I was stalking him) by the main stage and saw a fantastic show by Yo La Tengo (why haven't I seen them before?!?) and, of course, Wilco, again.
We retreated to our now-dark bar hut thing on the ocean and listened to a DJ set by Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen. I walked up to the bar and the bartender said, "mezcalita?" Sadly, but awesomely, he remembered that I'd been drinking (slowly; I was never tipsy the whole trip, which I'd say is good for an all-inclusive resort!) margaritas made with mezcal. Instead, he gave me a sample of the tequila that he thinks is the best. Dan and I took a long time sipping our straight-up alcohol by the ocean (and Dan had to drink the final sip of mine) before we felt we could go to sleep before heading back to Minnesota the next day.
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| This guy was my favorite bartender. Dan had whiskey; I had some good tequila. I think he gave me a fancy glass because I'm a lady. |
All in all, a total success: great music, great food, no worries, a total vacation. We booked the trip somewhat on a whim despite reservations about the cost. It was all paid off by the time we arrived in Mexico. I remember the last time I saw my dad, in May, I was telling him, Beth, and my aunt and uncle that we'd just booked the trip and were somewhat mortified. Who knew what all would happen between May and January - losing my dad, having to put our dog to sleep, and navigating the emotional stress of another family member's illness (their story to tell, not mine; and yes, "their" is a legit singular pronoun - who knew it would come in handy in this circumstance!). The trip is a good reminder that it is good sometimes to just be spontaneous and take the plunge!
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| Photos of the shows we saw. Upper left quadrant = night one: Courtney Barnett and Wilco. Upper right quadrant = day two: Calexico, Sharon Van Etten, Wilco. Lower left quadrant = Tweedy and Kamasi Washington with a close up of the woman who sings with Kamasi Washington and can rock a pantsuit like no one else. Lower right quadrant: The Autumn Defense, Yo La Tengo, Wilco. |
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| In addition to seeing HUGE iguanas and cute coatis, we saw cute little agoutis near the nature-y part surrounding the resort's small fitness trail. |
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| At Xmas, I took a photo of myself in a tube like this in the snow in Wisconsin. I couldn't resist climbing in this one, too, and demanding that my image be captured. |
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| Tulum |
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| Hard to see it here, but... |
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| This is the face in the corner. I think it is like a Hoyle playing card. |
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| I told Dan that it was mandatory that we take one photo together on the trip. Who knew he'd hide his face in the shade of a cap? |
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Back at the resort. This made me laugh. Mexico has lawyers, too, I see. |
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| Is the sign really made out of sand? It looked like it. |
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| The plaza area by the main stage (and, frankly, tons of stuff at the resort) had event signage. It was cool. |
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| That's me, on the first night. It's hard to see. |
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| The empty stage. I liked looking at the artwork. During the shows, you could see stars in the sky at night. Except the one night when it rained lightly, which was actually kind of nice |
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| One could grow accustomed to this. |
So, we're back. I realized that I have to start thinking about stuff related to my BikeMS rides and captaining my team. Now that we're shifting to February, it seems about right. One cannot simply take aqua bike classes in a pool next to the ocean every day!
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