The Nana Second

We got off to a great start on the beach Friday morning and then there were a couple of showers. We ended up having drinks with Maryann and Miguel in Kuku’s Jacuzzi Bar

for a while and afterward they joined us for lunch at the Pina Colada Restaurant where Enrique, our waiter for the past couple of days there, suggested and served us something special for an entree’. Then, for dessert, he presented us with a full plate of mangoes from his own tree! Now that is real service!

There was not much time after that to play on the beach as we had 4pm appointments at the spa for massages.


So we hurried up to the room to clean up and got to the spa just in time.

After a relaxing massage, we were back in the room to relax and get our things packed up and also get ready for dinner downstairs.

On Thursday, when we had dinner at DaVinci’s we were too full for dessert.

So, Jorge, being the great host that he is, agreed to let us come back on Friday night for dessert and champagne, which is just what we did. Here is how they presented our dessert to us.

Maryann and Miguel were also in the restaurant and they had the same dessert.

In fact, it was they who suggested this particular dessert several nights before. It is a very rich dark warm chocolate with vanilla ice cream and delicious.
We visited with them for a while, listened to the harpist and watched the wind blow and rain continue to come down. When it let up, we decided it was time to head back to the room.

The wind howled all night long and this is how it looked out from our balcony this morning.

My morning started off with a very early massage on the beach - a first for me. It was so windy . The sound of the ocean was beautiful. Too bad I had to go to the room and get dressed for the flight back home. Next time I will plan to have the massage so I can just stay on the beach and take a nap - now that’s planning! I’m still learning… It was relaxing nevertheless.

So…now it is back to reality. I suppose that I am ready. One can be a beach bum for just so long. Just a couple of more pictures…

Owen really had the most relaxing week of reading and doing nothing. He loves the beach and listening to the ocean and watching the waves is something that he truly enjoys. Below is where we spent everyday. This is the Pina Colada Restaurant. Our cabana was always the first one in the back. Great spot!

That’s all from Cancun until next year. We are thankful to have gone and thankful to be back home safe and sound. If you haven’t been to the beach in a while, check this one out www.omnihotels.com.

We got off to a great start on the beach Friday morning and then there were a couple of showers. We ended up having drinks with Maryann and Miguel in Kuku’s Jacuzzi Bar for a while and afterward they joined us for lunch at the Pina Colada Restaurant where Enrique, our waiter for the past couple of days there, suggested and served us something special for an entree’ - a platter of grilled shrimp, steak & chicken fajitas, guacamole’, etc. Then, for dessert, he presented us with a full plate of mangoes from his own tree! Now that is real service!

There was not much time after that to play on the beach as we had 4pm appointments at the spa for massages.


So we hurried up to the room to clean up and got to the spa just in time.

After a relaxing massage, we were back in the room to relax and get our things packed up and also get ready for dinner downstairs.

On Thursday, when we had dinner at DaVinci’s we were too full for dessert.

So, Jorge, being the great host that he is, agreed to let us come back on Friday night for dessert and champagne, which is just what we did. Here is how they presented our dessert to us.

Maryann and Miguel were also in the restaurant and they had the same dessert.

In fact, it was they who suggested this particular dessert several nights before. It is a very rich dark warm chocolate with vanilla ice cream and delicious.
We visited with them for a while, listened to the harpist and watched the wind blow and rain continue to come down. When it let up, we decided it was time to head back to the room.

The wind howled all night long and this is how it looked out from our balcony this morning.

My morning started off with a very early massage on the beach - a first for me. It was so windy . The sound of the ocean was beautiful. Too bad I had to go to the room and get dressed for the flight back home. Next time I will plan to have the massage so I can just stay on the beach and take a nap - now that’s planning! I’m still learning… It was relaxing nevertheless.

So…now it is back to reality. I suppose that I am ready. One can be a beach bum for just so long. Just a couple of more pictures…

Owen really had the most relaxing week of reading and doing nothing. He loves the beach and listening to the ocean and watching the waves is something that he truly enjoys. Below is where we spent everyday. This is the Pina Colada Restaurant. Our cabana was always the first one in the back. Great spot!

That’s all from Cancun until next year. We are thankful to have gone and thankful to be back home safe and sound. If you haven’t been to the beach in a while, check this one out www.omnihotels.com.

I seemed to have gotten lost somewhere in the past few days since arriving at our beautiful tropical destination - lost in conversation with Owen, lost in conversation with others here with whom I have become acquainted, lost in a book, lost in a dream because I drifted off to sleep reading my book, lost in my thoughts…. And the days have zipped by. Didn’t we just arrive and hurry down to the beach to feel the ocean on our feet and open that first bottle of sunscreen that in itself relaxes you before you secure the chaise lounge under the cabana? Tomorrow is already Friday and I’m not ready for it to be the last full day on the beach, but I will make the most of it and again on Saturday morning before we leave.

Since we have not left the Omni complex this trip, we have really been able to just relax and not worry about running here and there and meet a schedule of anyone’s but our own - as we chose. We did choose to make appointments at the spa downstairs and enjoyed that tremendously and we have another appointment tomorrow. We have met some really nice people while down here this time, including Natalie’s friend and colleague, Mary Ann and her husband Miguel. They just happen to be here on vacation also and Maryann saw us in the restaurant one evening and we ended up having coffee with them. They are a fun and delightful young couple. The staff had set up for a wedding today on one section of the beach. I walked down to take a look and happened to see Maryann and Miguel and asked them to pose for a picture. So, here they are… It rained about 30 seconds later and continued for quite a while. We came on up to the room after it stopped. I am assuming that the wedding went on as planned. However, they would have had to redo everything for them. As you can see, the flowers are just beautiful.

Here is something else that the Omni has added to the beach - what I call “bed cabanas”. You can rent them for $25 per day and they come with fresh sheets and pillows and you have them for the entire day. We thought about this, but decided that we would pass this time, but would definitely try it out when we come back next year. It just has to be more comfortable than a chaise lounge.

I mentioned some of the nice people we have met… one of them being Gerardo. He is just adorable and will do anything for you. He insisted that he give me a volcanic mud mask. I was game… so here I am. Now, washing it off was another story. After I got that off, he smeared honey all over my face! I told him that something was surely to come after me.

And the days wouldn’t be the same without a mango daiquiri…or two? These are just yummy and I KNOW that mangoes are good for me because my mother just loves them and look at her. LOL Besides that, anything in a glass that pretty has to be good for you!

The red flag (DO NOT SWIM) has been displayed since we arrived, but that has not deterred a number of brave souls who just couldn’t resist the water. The danger is the rocks that have surfaced since Hurricane Wilma came through here in 2005 and eroded a lot of the beach away. They have pumped lots of sand back in, but the rocks appear again. I have seen several people knocked down by the waves and come out the water with large scrapes on their backs and legs - not a pretty site. I just creep along the edge.

If I could only figure out how to get the video of the harpist uploaded to the blog - she was great…

Owen had the Osso Bucco. I had the lamb… Wonderful!

It’s difficult to keep your eyes off the water because it is so clear and the color such a unique blue. Parasailing, as you see in the background goes on all day long. However, we have not partaken of that adventure! I’m just a little afraid of heights and I’m not that trusting of someone pulling me in a boat either. LOL

We have 9pm dinner reservations tonight and Owen is using these extra couple of hours to take a nice nap in the room instead of on the beach. I think I might go and do the same. Surely, one more nap won’t hurt me.

Hey, what more could a “girl” ask for? Here I am in beautiful Cancun, Mexico with all three of the above. Owen and I arrived yesterday and are already feeling this relaxing atmosphere and culture melt the cares of the world away. The most we could manage today was to get ourselves down to the closest restaurant for a light breakfast of fruit, cold cuts, cheeses, breakfast breads, juice and coffee. Then, it was straight down to the beach with our books and camera, where we set up under our cabana just next to another Omni restaurant right on the beach. Whatever we wanted was a step or a wave away. We did get up and go inside the restaurant to eat a delectable lunch of seafood soup and shrimp shish kabob for me and seafood cocktail and shrimp shish kabob for Owen. Yummmmm!! Then, it was back to the chaise lounge for more reading and sleeping and relaxing and eventually a little walk down the beach before coming back up to the room.

After a “committee” meeting (that would be Owen and I…), it has been decided that we are going to make this an annual event. I have always said that I don’t enjoy the beach, but when I get here, I LOVE it! I think I don’t like just any beach. I love THIS beach. It is beautiful. The water is so incredibly gorgeous and the sound of the ocean wonderfully soothing.

We are off to dinner at Da Vinci’s, Omni’s gourmet Italian restaurant here, in just a little while. I am looking forward to this as I remember when we were here before how fabulous it was. I’ll let ;you know if it lives up to my expectations. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from today.

Natalie told the staff that we were celebrating our anniversary early - which is true….

View from our room.

My cute “Cabana Boy”…

Yes, that is diet coke…

The waves have been rough since we arrived.

Are we having fun yet?

Owen thought he ordered a shrimp cocktail, but this is what he got! It was a seafood cocktail, which had squid, octopus, shrimp and all kinds of seafood in it and was delicious. I think I’ll have this for lunch tomorrow. He does look happy about his choice, doesn’t he?

Someone was kind enough to take our picture …

And, last but not least, this was the view of my world from one angle today.

More later in the week.

O.K. just a quick catch-up on what I’ve been doing in the last few weeks. Told you a little about the garden… didn’t say that I have planted over 400 plants - or did I? Anyway, the plants are coming along just fine, but for the past couple of weeks when the weather is cooperating, I have been working on the park benches and chairs we have in the backyard. They were in terrible shape. I had to replace all of the wood and repaint the ironwork. Because that had not been done since we got them 8 or so years ago, that meant that some rust had built up and they had to also be sanded and prepped before the painting occurred. In other words, lots of work. Owen did advise that he would just buy something new, but I just couldn’t see throwing something away that could be fixed for a reasonable amount of money… and time. Well, reasonable amount of time in whose book? After many, many hours, I am closing in on the project. I now have the chairs to put together - just waiting on the paint to dry. It was too wet yesterday to go outside and get any work done. So, here I offer you some before and after pictures of my handiwork.






Not a bad finished product, but now that I’ve proved to myself that I can do this, once is enough!!
Other stuff in the last couple of months…

Finding these fifteen eggs in a nest - along with the hen setting. Something disturbed the nest, got some of the eggs, made the old hen mad and she left - never returned. I really DID want some chickens!

….finding this lemon on our tree that weighed more than a pound and a half and, as you can see was six inches long!

….observing the azaleas in full bloom is always the most beautiful part of Spring.

…working on the little playhouse for Alyssa and Samantha has been so much fun. I haven’t quite finished, but it is close. The blackboard is also magnetic. There will be a border painted around it to finish it off. The little “ice cream parlor” chairs you see are now painted pink. There is a table that goes with them. As I have said to others, this is a process. I don’t have the time to work on this everyday. So I am doing this a little at a time, but any progress is progress.


An unexpected and welcomed visit from our dear friends, Danny and Pat Duplantis, from Morgan City. We knew they would enjoy a trip to the Antique Rose Emporium and they DID!

Richele and the girls joined me for High Tea at the Giddings Mansion the last Sunday of March. What a fun afternoon we shared.

…finding my very first strawberry on the plants I put in the ground last year. Yay

….going to Melissa & Garry’s wedding - really beautiful! They make a wonderful couple. Here’s a pic of me with Natalie and Richele, also.

….Bluebonnet Festival time is always fun. The whole family was here for bluebonnet pictures and to go to the Imms for their festivities. Great Fun! There were
pony rides… and armadillo races…

….and family pictures.

….and Johnny came, too.

We had a really fun day just talking and visiting and eating.

Next came the Bluebonnet Garden Club Home and Garden Tour. This is my flower arrangement, “The Yellow Rose of Texas”. This was not a judged show, so we were able to bend the rules a bit. The show was a great success and lots of fun, too.

…and then dinner with some Chappell Hill friends, Bob and Fran. I can’t for the life of me remember the point Bob was trying to make. He is some kind of character - hails from Mississippi, she from Louisiana! What do you expect?

I think I’m caught up through April. And there was lots more in between these pics, but not to bore you. We have had a very busy Spring.