CRAZY CHICKEN LADY GOES ON A CRUISE
PART TWO
Well here we are in Progreso, Mexico!
Progreso
Yucatn
Progreso is a port city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, located on the Gulf of Mexico in the north-west of the state some 30 minutes north of state capital Mérida by highway. As of the Mexican census of 2010, Progreso had an official population of 37,369 inhabitants, the sixth largest community in the state in population.
It's only four of us on this trip. We all went different ways today.
Some stayed on the ship and others just went to a beach.
But we decided to go to this place!
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But first we must get there!!!
We leave the ship and board a bus with our tour guide, Jose!
We were so excited and lucky because Jose said we were the
first bus to leave and we would be the first to get there
and it would not be so crowded.
yay!!! We all cheered!!
But little did my bus mates know that they had let a
little lady on the bus named Lisa.
And very soon our bus started spitting and sputtering...
and before you could say "the Lisa factor"
we were sitting on the side of the road watching
allllll of the other tour buses passing us by.
Why did I sit so close to the engine?
Jose then jumps off of the bus and hails another bus and away he went!
Wha???
What do we do now?
It wasn't long however before Jose was back and they tinkered
with the bus and we were back on the road.
Hooray!!
What I really loved about Progreso was it was not some tourist attraction.
Jose kept telling us it was the "real" Mexico.
We just saw real towns, and houses and people going about
their work.
I thought it was great! Although I never saw a chicken?
We finally made it to the Mayan ruins and I will tell you
it was hot, people!!
And we went in February!!
I don't think you could stand to listen (although it was interesting but a little too long) to the history of this place during
the hotter months.
It was really neat and I'm glad we went but the best part
was this natural grotto or cenote is what they called it.
Cenote Xlakah is a beautiful freshwater pool located to the side of the main plaza. It was the city’s freshwater source and perhaps the main reason the Maya chose this location to build their settlement. Water from Cenote Xlakah would have been perfect for residential drinking water and irrigation of their fields. Under the surface, Cenote Xlakah reaches depths of 44 meters (144 feet). According to the plaque near the water’s edge, Xlakah means “old town” in Maya. The cenote was first explored from 1957-59 when thousands of pottery shards and urns were found in the water along with wood, stone and bone artifacts. The earthenware dates to the Late Classic Periods of 600-1000 A.D -
We loved it and the little fish would give you a pedicure.
We walked back to the entrance of the ruins and they have this outdoor eating area.
I don't know if we were just hungry but it was the best, authentic
Mexican food that we had the entire trip!!
After we ate Jose loaded us all up and took us to a beach!
We were so excited and lucky because Jose said we were the
first bus to leave and we would be the first to get there
and it would not be so crowded.
yay!!! We all cheered!!
But little did my bus mates know that they had let a
And very soon our bus started spitting and sputtering...
and before you could say "the Lisa factor"
we were sitting on the side of the road watching
allllll of the other tour buses passing us by.
Why did I sit so close to the engine?
Jose then jumps off of the bus and hails another bus and away he went!
Wha???
What do we do now?
It wasn't long however before Jose was back and they tinkered
with the bus and we were back on the road.
Hooray!!
What I really loved about Progreso was it was not some tourist attraction.
Jose kept telling us it was the "real" Mexico.
We just saw real towns, and houses and people going about
their work.
I thought it was great! Although I never saw a chicken?
We finally made it to the Mayan ruins and I will tell you
it was hot, people!!
And we went in February!!
I don't think you could stand to listen (although it was interesting but a little too long) to the history of this place during
the hotter months.
It was really neat and I'm glad we went but the best part
was this natural grotto or cenote is what they called it.
Cenote Xlakah is a beautiful freshwater pool located to the side of the main plaza. It was the city’s freshwater source and perhaps the main reason the Maya chose this location to build their settlement. Water from Cenote Xlakah would have been perfect for residential drinking water and irrigation of their fields. Under the surface, Cenote Xlakah reaches depths of 44 meters (144 feet). According to the plaque near the water’s edge, Xlakah means “old town” in Maya. The cenote was first explored from 1957-59 when thousands of pottery shards and urns were found in the water along with wood, stone and bone artifacts. The earthenware dates to the Late Classic Periods of 600-1000 A.D -
We loved it and the little fish would give you a pedicure.
We walked back to the entrance of the ruins and they have this outdoor eating area.
I don't know if we were just hungry but it was the best, authentic
Mexican food that we had the entire trip!!
After we ate Jose loaded us all up and took us to a beach!
It was pretty touristy...is that a word?
I mean that there were a lot of people there and so many
trying to sell you something.
What??? Did you say homemade marange bites?
How fast can we get our money out?
And then we spotted it!!
We spotted on the beach, a tent set up with 4 massage tables
calling our names.
We couldn't get there fast enough.
In my frenzy to get on a table I completely forgot that I was
not wearing a bathing suit under my clothes like my friends were.
(If any men read my blog this would be a good place to stop reading....too much female information coming up.)
Not only was I lying beside the girl in the pink.....scroll back up
one photo.....yep....her.....
I had on capris and a regular top.
I just assumed the massage girl would just do the best she could
outside of my clothes.....but ohhhhhh I was wrong.
These girls are good and quick and you can tell they've done this
hundreds if not thousands of times.
I'm lying with my face mushed down on the (face holder??)
looking at the sand and she starts pulling my shirt up and I'm
thinking well I guess that's okay.
And then she moves my arm and lifts my head and pop!! my shirt is off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am horrified!!
And then I realize that not only am I lying there in my bra
but I am lying there with 2 bras on!!!!!!!
The horror!!!!
(sometimes I wear two for extra support....I know that's just weird but it really works....don't judge!! if you don't have the "big" girl problem then you have no idea the things you will do for support!)
I can't lift up from the table because then I will be totally exposed to everyone outside the tent...the tent is not closed!!
I am dying!! Trisha (the beauty in pink) is dying also...
because she has heard me panic and say I have two bras on and
she can see what is happening from her table and she was
laughing so hard!
And then I could feel the massage girl....unhook, unhook, unhook,
unhook, unhook, unhook,
Oh dear....
and she was speaking to the other massage girls
"mahkd,m dllsejm., shelsk, lkdi , 2bras, hhahahaha"
I die...
"The Lisa Factor" strikes again...
So much for "relaxing" during my massage.
We finally get done and the massage girl is like
hook, hook, hook, sigh.....hook, hook, hook
back on the clothes go.
Isn't that a beautiful group?!!
Each night we would come up the stairs and everyone that was a
little early would have to stand around in the elevator lobby area
and wait on the dining room to open their doors.
We met a lot of very nice people as we all stood around and talked.
One night we are talking to a group and for some reason I don't
do well with crowds, and talking, and I think I get nervous
and just say anything....my words are like vomit....I just
throw them at you. Do you hear a warning coming up?
This man was saying something about his wife getting ready
and he was talking about how nice everyone looked and
before you could say "The Lisa Factor" I am blurting out
"these are pajama pants......and I think I've worn them the whole trip."
Of course no one knew what to say....they just stared.
Why did I say that????
They were black capris, yes they were black capri pajama
pants but no one knew that.....................until I told them..
sigh......
I think we were all ready to head home to some normal sized servings... although this chicken bite and potato bite were good.
I had to go straight to the pizza bar right after dinner...and maybe the ice cream bar.
It was time to head home....
we've had a great time!
And back to the ship we go!! (look, Trisha is still laughing)
Other than the massage debacle I really loved this day!!
We now are back on the ship and the ship starts heading home and we are getting
more delirious by the minute.
I love this photo...:)
(don't worry they will charge it to your visa)
Each night we would come up the stairs and everyone that was a
little early would have to stand around in the elevator lobby area
and wait on the dining room to open their doors.
We met a lot of very nice people as we all stood around and talked.
One night we are talking to a group and for some reason I don't
do well with crowds, and talking, and I think I get nervous
and just say anything....my words are like vomit....I just
throw them at you. Do you hear a warning coming up?
This man was saying something about his wife getting ready
and he was talking about how nice everyone looked and
before you could say "The Lisa Factor" I am blurting out
"these are pajama pants......and I think I've worn them the whole trip."
Of course no one knew what to say....they just stared.
Why did I say that????
They were black capris, yes they were black capri pajama
pants but no one knew that.....................until I told them..
sigh......
I think we were all ready to head home to some normal sized servings... although this chicken bite and potato bite were good.
I had to go straight to the pizza bar right after dinner...and maybe the ice cream bar.
It was time to head home....
we've had a great time!
The wind made for a rough ride home.
One night we were already in bed when we heard a commotion
out in the hall.
We went out and people were talking about
the ice cream machine had fallen over because of the rough seas.
Boy I couldn't get my clothes on fast enough....I needed to
check on the ice cream machine!!
The last day we tried one last time to win this money....
we didn't win...but some lucky people did.
One last sunset....
one last look around the ship...
We are close enough to home that we have internet...
Here's a photo for my face book friends...
And just like that.....we are home....well, New Orleans.
What an excellent, marvelous, wonderful time we had
and I love each and every one of these special ladies
that made it so fun for me!!
A trip of a lifetime with life long friends and
memories we will never forget!!
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(thank you readers for hanging in there....I know this was a long post)
