Not even to Mexico yet, and the adventures have begun. First, our Wednesday night packing fiasco. After booking this expensive (at least to us) trip, Kelly and I had decided to be frugal and share a checked bag. We knew this would take some serous cutting down since we both seem to be closet hoarders when it comes to trips and tend to overpack! So, the plan was to each take up half of a checked bag, each take a carry on size suitcase (as large as possible) and each have a "personal item" in the form of a huge bookbag packed as full as possible! Well - late Thursday night we decided this wasn't going to work out due to weight issues, neither of us being able to part with one of our 5 bathing suits, and most importantly, the need for space in the suitcase in order to bring tequila home with us! (I mean, the theme of our trip is "Trading turkey for tequila".) Anyways, Kelly has a much funnier and more detailed rendition of our packing fiasco on her blog at bigkellaybigplaces.blogspot.com - check out it!
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| Matching travel outfits...oops! |
 
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The fun began in security! We didn't have to take off shoes or anything for this security check, just send our bags through the X-ray belt. Well, Kelly's bag got stopped to get searched! Already in trouble and not even 10 minutes into our trip! She couldn't figure out what that had seen to stop her bag, but upon security opening it she saw it! The 1 lb. tub of lotion she needed to bring - she had mistakenly put it in her carry on that morning instead of her checked bag! Uhh ohh! Well, a little advice for anyone stopped at security with an issue like this: if you can quickly come up with a medical reason for taking with you whatever it is you have - aka like a skin condition that you need a pound of lotion for - then they will let you take it. So, security check passed, whewww!
We made our flight from RDU to CLT and landed in Charlotte around 8:30, with our flight to Cancun scheduled for 9:30. As we were exiting the first plane, the flight attendant said "you girls don't get in too much trouble down there", and of course we responded with the basic "we won't". She must have known us too well just from our chats during the 45 minute flight (or she did actually see up pouring Bacardi limon into our diet cokes at 7am) because she said "yes you will, but have fun"! We sure will!
The Charlotte airport was our last chance to have internet and use our phone for a while, so of course all we wanted to do during that hour was have a technology binge session. We found a Starbucks, found our gate, and sat down to check Facebook, call our family, and text everyone we knew for the next 30 minutes. Then, we hear the gate attendants announcing last names from our flight that will be moved to a different flight, praying that our names weren't called, then, the dreaded happened - "Fitzwater, Folger....report to gate D3" - NOOOOOOO! We walked down to gate D3 with what seemed like about 30 other people, cursing the whole time and swearing that WE WILL NOT TAKE A LATER FLIGHT! The flight we were being assigned to was a mere 30 minutes later for take off, but that was 30 minutes we wouldn't be on the beach. Waiting in line to figure out what was going on, we swore up and down we wouldn't take this later flight unless we were given some sort of voucher. We got to the front - said nothing about a voucher - took our new boarding pass, and walked away, deciding from now on we were on "island time" (even though Mexico definitely isn't an island)! This gave us 30 extra minutes of internet time, and once on the plane, we found out it also gave us the room to spread out on the plane and take naps - something no doubt worth the trade for 30 minutes of beach time!
We arrived in Mexico around 1pm local time, went through immigration, baggage claim, and customs without any issues, and headed to our Apple Vacations bus that would be taking us from Cancun to our hotel in Playa del Carmen. Upon exiting the airport, there is a Margaritaville right outside of the door, which was very tempting, but we decided we would wait for our free drinks at the hotel. We boarded the bus assigned to our hotel, with about 20 other people of all ages, heading to the same place. To our surprise, one of the guys across from us left the bus to head over to the Margarita stand, and returned with a margarita for Kelly and I to share! So nice of him - everyone here was on island time and in great moods! On the bus ride to the hotel, our apple vacations guide gave us lots of information, but what I remember most is "forgot about your boss, forget about anything going on to stress you, forget about work!" I plan on doing just that!
Here we go Mexico, let's make it a good ride!
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