In Cozumel, we had the chance to see the touristy beachfronts as well as the backstreets of the Mexican island. Several years ago, my brother had spent a summer there working (even endured a Category 5 Hurricane) and was eager to show us the true side of Cozumel living.
Our kids know very little of what it's like to live outside of the United States, so we felt like it was a good chance to give them the first-hand opportunity to see a third-world country.
We ambled through a local mercado. Surprisingly, the kids hardly discussed or even seemed to notice the extreme differences to their own neighborhood. We tried to point things out and discuss it afterwards, but I think our kids are so young that they are still very colorblind to not only race but socioeconomic status of living. However, I think they did notice differences because the local mercado apparently wasn't as appealing to them as the touristy part of town because nobody asked to buy anything there.
Dave didn't stick out as a tourist, did he?
After shopping around, the big purchase of the day was made, not surprisingly, in the touristy part of town -- a hand-made bracelet for each of the girls that had their names embroidered. Since our kids have uncommon names, the chance to have 'Aubrie,' 'Elliana,' and 'Teyah' on a bracelet was nothing but endearing!
The end results were Mexican treasures that the girls cherished!
For lunch we sought out some true local cuisine at an outdoor restaurant located in the backyard of a small house in town.
The setting was gorgeous and the food was delicious, but the price tag for the kids' quesadilla's was fairly alarming! True to Mexican form, we were a bit taken since we were considered the rich Americans!
After a busy, tiring day on another Caribbean island, we headed back to the ship to prepare for a magical evening.
Arrr.....it was pirate night on the boat!
Everyone on the ship was decked out in their best pirate gear. At dinner, all of the servers were also properly attired and even interupted dinnertime with a pirate mamba line complete with banging pots from the kitchen.
We then headed to a movie theater (this ship had both a full-size broadway stage and movie theater). We watched Beauty and the Beast in 3D.
At about 10 pm, we went to the deck of the boat for a pirate dance party.
Captain Dave and the princess pirate, Elliana had a blast!
We danced and danced under January starlit, warm, moist sky of the Caribbean! It was surreal!
Captain Hook, Pirate Mickey, and many other Disney characters joined us until late into the night.
To conclude the perfect evening, we enjoyed fireworks shot above the boat. Earlier in the night, it had been storming, and we later learned the captain of the ship had turned the boat around to find a quiet area of sea to have our party. This was definitely a treat because this was hands down the best night of the cruise!
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