Kendrick's Wedding Blog

Day 6 – Wednesday

kendrickwedding — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:09:26 +0000

Hey Guys – We are just sending a quick e-mail as it has been a long day and we are looking at a longer day tomorrow. This morning we were up and on the ferry for 7:30am. It was cloudy and windy with sun peaking through. Got to the Cancun side and met our ‘represenative’ for the vacation club (not a time share) t was a bit of a zoo as they all want to take you places and sell you things. He wisked us away to his ‘van’ which was a hailed taxi around the corner. So much for his ’2010 Mercardes air conditioned van’ hahaha Oh Mexico! How we love it! We are catching on to their tricks and the language! So he took us to this BEAUTIFUL place – oh my god it was amazing! Obviously we can’t afford it and we knew that going in – we just wanted our free stuff. The guy promised us stuff but once we got to the presentation we didn’t qualify because we spend too little on travel (we are budget travellers) we enjoyed a really nice breakfast with our sales lady Susy. She was very interested in weight watchers and David explained the program to her. She gave us her personal e-mail address for us to pass on more info to her. Her husband is a computer engineer and if he does what David needs – it would be a great connection. She secretly tried to sucker us in to paying for a hot breakfast – but Melissa stuck to the FREE aspect of this journy and we had yogurt with fixings, fruit and fruit juice. Susy enjoyed a hot breakfast while we chatted. She showed us around – got us to jump on the king size bed and took ‘honeymoon’ pictures – gotta love being a honeymooner here in Mexico. We finally told her we weren’t buying anything and we thanked her for her time. Some other dude tried to sell us again but we stuck to our guns. We waited about a half hour for our ‘free’ alcohol and appeared out of no where was a 1L bottle of tequilla and a 1L bottle of Kaluah. The rain started and it came down like never before. The van picked us up to take us back to the ferry. The streets were flooded – looking out the windows looked like we were in a boat. Taxi cars had water over the bottom of their doors. A mess. We got to the ferry dock just as the ferry was leaving. We didn’t want to wait in the rain so they stopped the ferry and we ran. (Ran like we’ve never run before) in the pouring rain – down slippery rock. Melissa is pretty sure it would have been the funniest thing to watch her – running similar to a penguin – legs locked to prevent slipping. What an adventure. We got on the ferry and were soaked from head to toe. Couldn’t even wipe our glasses off becuase everything was wet. Got to Isla and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Headed for lunch and enjoyed a torta loca. Mmm. David chocked on the bun as it decintigrated into powder dust in his mouth. Once we got past that it was tasty. Caught a cab back to the apartment to change into dry clothes. It continued to rain so David watched his (scary) shows on t.v and Melissa took another anti-histamine and slept. The bug bites have multiplied. Melissa’s legs look like something out of a jungle in africa with bites. We taxied back into town and went to North Beach to watch our first sun-set. Which was really nothing special as it was very cloudy. Walked along the beach from Avalon to in front of the Vistal Mar. Checked in with our ‘representative’ to get our other ‘free’ promised items. A problem – beause we didnt qualify for the free stuff today – he would still honour it – but we would have to wait until Friday as that is his pay day. And because he promised it to us – he has to give it to us – but he made no money on us going, as we didn’t qualify. Knowing David and I we felt bad – so here is the outcome. We are going to another ‘time share crap thing’ tomorrow morning. Today our 90 minutes turned into 3.5 hours. We met some people that said – they do this all the time and after 90 minutes they get up and leave. That is our plan for tomorrow. After 90 minutes we’re done. We get more free stuff for going to this one. We are to be on the 7am ferry, to Cancun at 7:30. At the resort by 8am and out of there by 9:30am. We get a ‘free’ rental car with gas for 24hours, we have 2 trips to Chichen Itza (our representative is off tomorrow) so he will come with us and drive. Show us around and guide where ever we want him to. We have a few places other than Chichen Itza we want to visit tomorrow. We also get free snorkling at 3 reefs with lunch included. We will do this on Sat morning. We will then catch the ferry to the hotel zone and then a bus to another place where David will drive a speed boat (with me as a passenger) through the lagoon and mangroves to do more snorkling. We then catch the bus again and head to the Captain Hook Dinner Cruise for dinner. David ordered surf and turf (lobster and steak) and Melissa ordered steak. This also comes with all you can drink and buffet. Should be a good day. We will hopefully take the golf cart on Monday to tour the island. We are having a blast! So much to share – and not enough time – It’s 10:00pm and if we need to be on the 7am ferry we need to be up at 6am at the latest. We will shower tonight. We ate at the French Bistro tonight. David ordered garlic shrimp that came with rice, veggies and baked potato. Melissa ordered 4 cheese ravioli. We shared a french onion soup, coca cola and water. The rain isn’t stopping so we must just keep going! This isn’t the Mexico honeymoon weather that we dreamed of but we are having a blast! Miss everyone! Hope everyone is doing great! Miss Dreya dog TONS! David and Melissa

Day 5 – Tuesday

kendrickwedding — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:25:03 +0000

Day 5 – Tuesday
Melissa woke up early this morning. She couldn’t stop scratching her bug bite on her foot. She really is
trying not to scratch as she knows if she breaks the skin it’s a whole new ball game – that is no fun for
vacation. We enjoyed our breakfast of strawberry yogurt, banana, granola, toast with peanut butter and
apple juice on the roof top patio. The weather this morning was humid, hot and sunny with little
breeze. We got ready and headed to the North Beach by 11am. This is the earliest we’ve been up and
anywhere this whole trip! It’s been great! Before we left we put a ton of salt at the door where the ants
are coming in from. We were sad when we got back and realized that it didn’t't seem to work – until – a
few hours later. We did some research online and it said black pepper worked well. We sprinkled that at
the door and … not to jinkx anything – but we seem to have fixed the problem, for now! Yay – Ant free
for the moment!
We are still in the cat pee room, although with air freshner, fans, our suntan lotion and a breeze it
seems to be less stinky. We have changed our minds on what the stink is though, the people we are
staying with have a mini Tucker dog. Mexico is all concrete, thus the dog goes to the bathroom up here
on the roof. They pick up the solids and rinse (with a water hose) the urine away – but it has no where
to go. So the water evaporates and the stink stays. Oh the life living in a rented apartment in the
Colonias. We sat at Chi Chi Charles today for a few hours. We finally made it into the ocean. What a cool
down! We ordered chicken fajitas for lunch and they took about an hour and a half to get. They were
really yummy! Worth the wait. We had 2 for one drinks. David enjoying some beer and Melissa having
strawberry daiquiris. This was all fun and games until an angry storm blew in quickly. Cancun
disapeared from the distance and black clouds replaced it. It poured! Once the rain slowed we walked
into town and got a phone card. We tried calling home tonight about 9pm but no answers! We got
stopped by a time share gentleman who sold us the idea of visiting a time share presentation
tomorrow morning – with the promise of free stuff that we were wanting to do anyways. Here is what
we have lined up. We need to be at the ferry dock and on the 7:30am ferry (how we will do it is beyond
me – but we will find a way) we will then be met on the Cancun side by the guy who signed us up today
to take us to the condos. We will be ‘treated’ to breakfast, stay 1.5 hours at this place and then back to
the ferry, back to Isla. We are promised we will be at the Cancun ferry at 9:45am. Here is to hoping! We
are promised 2 day tours to Chichen Itza which includes an english speaking guide and lunch. We also
get a golf cart for the day here on the island. And just because he’s a nice guy – he is giving David a
bottle of tequilla and Melissa a bottle of Kaluah. Fingers and toes crossed this all works out. We told
him we have no money and couldn’t buy one even if it was our dream place – he said go and enjoy the
freebees. We will report on this situation tomorrow. We came back to the apartment early afternoon
and had a siesta! Got ready and caught a cab to La Lomita Resturant. We were the only people in the
place and the food was fantastic. The waiter is still ‘undecided’. We ordered the bean soup, it was
delicious. We also ordered the rice soup – but it came as a plate of rice. Not sure if we misunderstood
or they did – regardless, it was wonderful rice. David enjoyed his garlic butter fish with rice. His meal
came, he ate and was ready to go before mine came. Melissa ordered some beef, tomato and onion
concoction with rice. Also very good. We got a little show as the waiter pumped some spanish music
and proceeded to dance and sing, like nobody was watching. Hilarious. We toured into town to see
Javier on his birthday. We caught him just in the last few songs. He looks so tired. What a party last
night. Most of his band members were also at the party so we chatted with them for a bit about how
much fun we had. Javier had to work all day, played at Bamboo from 7-9 and then was off to play at a
wedding tonight on the island. He works SO hard. We tried calling home, but now answer. We picked up
a few groceries. Cookies (oreo – triple chocolate, some plain chips, pizza doritos, apple juice and
yogurt). Outside the grocery store, at the town square, there was a cart selling chiros (like at the resort
- those deep fried sugar goodness things). We bought a bag for 20 pesos and caught a cab. The cab
already had a mom and her 6-8month old baby boy in the front seat. He sure was cute! Full of smiles.
Studied David up and down and gave him the cutest baby smiles and coos. We shared our Chiros with
the taxi driver and mom in the front seat! They were so greatful! We are just sending a few e-mails
now before we head to bed as tomorrow will be an early morning. The weather forcast for tomorrow is
thundershowers. We thought if we were going to waste time going to a time share presentation,
tomorrow was the day to do it!
Hope everyone is doing well! We miss Dreya TONS!
Enjoy our posts!
David and Melissa

Day 4 (Monday)

kendrickwedding — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:23:15 +0000

Slept in. Melissa got a bite on her foot during dinner on Sunday night. It has a hard centre, about the size of a penny, and has a small trail up her foot. (p.s. Mom – I checked with a nurse we have met – and she said that it looks ‘ok’ I need to keep taking the anti-histamines and ice it. Which I was doing on my own. and to watch that it doesn’t keep ‘moving’ up my foot. which it hasn’t) Melissa took an anti-histamine as she couldn’t stop scratching and her food was sore, swollen, hot and red. About a half hour after taking the anti-histamine Melissa was in bed for the afternoon. It really knocked her out . David was happy to sit on the roof top patio. He read his book, listened to music and took a dip in the pool. David woke Melissa up about 2:30 pm when it was time to get ready to go to Javier’s birthday party. We walked to the cheap beer store and bought more beer and snacks for the party. It is hard to choose snacks in Mexico as they are all spicy! We chose sol with lime (david wouldn’t buy this again – his first drink he said “now that’s lime beer”), chili lime corn chips, fanta, and some tortilla chips. Javiers friend Martin picked us up in the golf cart. We then stopped to pick up his girlfriend Gladys, who lives a few houses down from Javier’s parents place. We made many stops along the way to the Fiesta. Some road side vegetable stands and a few corner stores. After collecting all the stuff needed to the party, we were off. We partied at Javiers friends place, Joel and Katie. What a beautiful place. It’s on the South end of the island looking out onto the Carribean. The food was endless. Steak, cevice, tortillas, sauteed spinach and peperoni, salsa, chips, grilled asperagus, sausage, and so much more! The food was amazing! The party was great! The people were awesome! We really enjoyed ourselves. David enjoyed the many tequilla shots that came around with Melissa only being brave enough for one. No training wheels though! We caught a ride home with the owner of the wedding planning company here, Tiffany. She gave us some good suggestions of places to eat. She recommended a place that is BETTER than baseball tacos, we are going to have to test this out! We are having a blast. Wondering aimlessly in the streets of Isla Mujeres. Staying safe! We hope to make it to the ocean today, as we have not yet dipped our toes in or gone snorkling.

Hope you are enjoying our trip reports!

David and Melissa

Day 3 (Sunday)

kendrickwedding — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:08:26 +0000

Slept in again Hung our at the apartment. We enjoyed time in the pool as well as sitting in the sun reading, listening to music and the sounds of Mexico. There sure are a lot of them! There are men on bikes that start at 7am and go until dark. They honk a horn non-stop. They sell fresh corn tortillas. So when you hear the horn, if you want to buy some fresh tortillas you come out of your house onto the street and wave the bike down. David and I couldn’t figure out what they sold – it looks like how we get beef from the butcher, wrapped in brown paper. Sitting in the sun, reapplying sunscreen, we both got a little burnt. We got organized and caught a cab into town. We wanted to go to LoLaMita for dinner but they were closed. We went to Brisa grill on the main street. It was fantastic food. David and Melissa both had open flame, street bbq’d rib eye steaks. Dinner came with a baked potato with cheese, the best ever steamed veggies and some grilled tomato and jalepeno. Who knew the jalepeno would be hot?! Just as I was going to have a taste, we do all the time at Olive Garden, David beat me to it. Within seconds of swallowing it he was drinking down the lime margarita on the rocks like water. When that was done he called over the waiter and asked for a bottle of water. No sooner did the water hit the table and the bottle was gone! HOT HOT HOT! The waiter asked to take Melissa’s plate as soon as she took her last bite. She then had to try to explain why she was cutting up the ‘garbage’ on her plate. Melissa was cutting up the scraps for the stray dogs. That margarita that we wrote about was free. It seems to be the thing now. If you walk past a restaurant they hand you a voucher for a free drink. Anything to get business I guess. David and I had never had a lime margarita on the rocks, rimmed with salt. After our first sip we looked at each other and said “People actually like this?” Yuck! We walked down the street to where the old crepe place was and it is now a homemade ice cream shop. 100 pesos for the 2 ice cream cones. They were really good, but we thought it was expensive. We caught a ride with Javier and his dad home to our apartment. Javi took us to a little store in our neighborhood that sells cheap beer. Bought some beer and snacks and went back to the apartment. While Melissa was putting the beers in the fridge, one slipped out and smashed on the floor. Glass and beer everywhere. It took us a while to clean that up, worrying that our ant problem would be WAY worse by the morning. Apparently ants don’t care about beer. The ant problem is steady. We are using dish soap to try to stop them from coming in but they find new ways. Time for bed!

Day 2 (Saturday)

kendrickwedding — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:19:10 +0000

Day 2
After a delicious breakfast of toast with peanut butter, strawberry yogurt, bananas and apple juice we got ready and headed for the beach. We don’t know where Sergio’s is – we ended up in the same place as we remember Sergios but it was called Cheeky Charlies or something similar. We got 2 beach chairs and an umbrella as well as 2 mojitos. Just as we finished setting up a huge storm blew in. Umbrellas were turning inside out, pulling out of the sand and flailing across the beach. We paid our 120 peso bill (yes – 120 pesos for 2 mojitos) and left the North Beach. David and Melissa came to the conclusion that while sitting on a beach chair is nice – the cost of drinks is too much. If we drink there during the day we have no money for food. We took a cab from our place to the 7 11. Melissa thought the walk to North Beach was shorter than it was. We ate at the old flea market for lunch (at 4pm). It was great food. We shared chicken empanadas and nachos. Yes – Melissa ate lime, cilantro and tomatoes today – a first for sure! We decided that due to the weather we should pick up some groceries and then head back to the apartment before we headed back in for dinner and to celebrate Javier’s birthday. We got lost walking back from the grocery store and when we got a cab we were only a few streets from ‘home.’ Today at the grocery store we bought some more apple juice, bananas, eggs (that are not refrigerated), a tomato, some shredded cheese, napkins and some granola. We had tacos for dinner and then headed across the street to Bamboo to see Javier and his band play. We enjoyed beverages and Mexican music. They sure make strong margaritas there! When Javier was done playing at Bamboo we moved across the street to Faines where he plays for another couple of hours with a different group. Javier was defiantly having a good birthday celebration. Anyone who bought him tequila shots – he generously handed those over to David. After Javi was done playing for the night he wanted tacos – so Javier, Marla, David and Melissa went back to the taco place we ate for dinner and had more tacos ☺ We shared a cab with Javier and Marla back to our apartment and they carried on to their condo. Javier was hilarious. Imitating Ray speaking gibberish. WAY TOO MANY LAUGHS! Imagine a Spanish-speaking drunk Mexican speaking gibberish – yes – laugh out loud! As soon as we got back to the apartment we went to bed. Not sure what time this was but it was defiantly late. Our landlords were getting up for the day. We really need to stop the sleeping in thing as we got up this morning at 8:45am but crawled back into bed and slept until noon. The weather today is sunny with clouds but pretty windy. Not sure what our plans are – do we head to the beach for some rays, do we chill by the pool up on our roof, or do we go to the vet and drop off our supplies? Decisions decisions …

Day 1 (Friday) of Kendrick Honeymoon- Isla Mujeres Mexico

kendrickwedding — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:09:31 +0000

Day 1
We went to bed just after midnight and had to be up at 4am. We got up and showered and packed last minute toiletries. Carley slept over Thursday night to give us a ride to the airport on Friday morning. Thanks Car! We left the house about 5am and stopped by a McDonalds on the way to the airport. Gotta have a breakfast with protein in it for such a long travel day. We had web-checked in the following day so the airport was a breeze. We showed up, scanned our printed boarding passes, put our bags on the carousel and we were checked in. The lady at the WestJet counter tried to tell us that the carry on bag, that we have used EVERY time we’ve flown, was too big and heavy and we weren’t going to be able to bring it on the plane. Melissa mumbled a few words under her breath – moved some items around between bags – and continued on – with the bag that was supposed to be too big. The security line was the shortest we’ve ever seen. This darn ‘carry on’ bag seemed to be a problem again. They pulled Melissa aside and swabbed her bag for explosives. The guy then opened it and very slowly and carefully unpacked it and then said – you are good to go – all these camera chargers and electronics and cords looked suspicious. Who knew? Getting onto the plane went smoothly and once seated – David pointed out to Melissa that almost every carry on bag that we could see in the over head compartments was in fact larger than what the lady at the check in counter said was too big. The flight was great – we had the back of the headrest TV’s and they made the trip so much shorted. With sleeping here and there, the snack and drink cart and the TV’s, it was the shortest air flight to Mexico we can remember. Immigration and Customs were also very easy to get through. I think it might have been our flight and maybe one other trying to get through immigration and security so it was speedy. We had not booked a transfer from the airport to the ferry because the price that was quoted to us was too high. We knew we could get a better deal with a specific company. We couldn’t find that company and were sucked into paying double what we wanted to. The ride to the ferry was typical Mexican style with Melissa grabbing for the side handles often when a crash seemed imminent. Once at the ferry the driver now told us we were quoted $70 US and we had pesos for him. He exchanged the money for us and charged is 860 pesos. What were we to do? David pulled out his IPod and checked the exchange rate to confirm we were not being ripped off. Melissa now loves his IPod as it acted like ‘big brother’ for us. Some guy took our luggage towards the ferry while we grabbed a bite to eat at McDonalds at the ferry dock. Ordering in Spanish (when you don’t speak Spanish) at McDonalds was very interesting. I just kept saying to David – I hope it’s not fish. It took longer than a McDonalds in Winnipeg to get our food and just as we got it they started boarding the ferry. We were in the ‘locals only’ ferry line until corrected. We couldn’t tell – there were many American looking folk in the line as well. The weather when we arrived in Cancun was warm with a cool wind and very grey. The humidity must have been 100%. We boarded the ferry and headed out. Melissa was hopeful it wouldn’t be another ‘deep-sea’ fishing boat ride. It was MUCH less windy and wavy than deep-sea fishing. Although with very little sleep, very little food and a rocky boat there were times Melissa looked for the bathroom. The McDonalds was pretty standard McDonalds. And no, Melissa didn’t get fish. Jim and Lori Coats greeted us at the ferry, the people we are renting an apartment from during our stay on Isla Mujeres. They immediately offered drinks of the alcoholic type. David enjoyed a few beers while we waited for Javier to pick us up. He had to work a little late. When Javier showed up he took our bags, him and us in his golf cart to our apartment. We walked in and thought, “What a great little place” until Melissa had to use the washroom. The floor was all wet but she thought maybe its condensation on the tile floor. Once in the washroom and a closer inspection by David and Javier we came to the conclusion that the water problem was much more severe. There was water everywhere, especially in the bathroom. It has been very rainy here on Isla over the past few days. The roof must have sprung a leak, as the toilet paper on top of the toilet was soaked and unusable. We looked around and found that the other apartment on the second floor also had the keys in the door and was open. Checked the room and it was water free so we moved our stuff to the second room. It has a strong cat pee stink but we sprayed some air freshener and away we went. We knocked on the owners door to let them know of the situation but they were still at the ferry dock bar enjoying drinks with friends. Javier showed us a few things on the island and then to his condo, which he shares with his girlfriend Marla. What a beautiful place! Their view is looking right out onto the ocean looking towards Cancun. It’s a super dreamy location. We sent some quick e-mails to family to let them know we made it here safe then Javier then brought us back to the apartment, as he needed to get ready and go and play downtown. Melissa had a siesta while David rested watching TV. We caught a cab into town and walked around a bit before we had dinner. There is a new Senior Frogs store right across from the ferry opposite to 7-11. We have not looked around too much as we were tired and just needed a bite to eat and a few groceries. We had dinner at Bamboo watching Javier and his dad play music. David enjoyed his Soup a de Lima and bamboo chicken kabobs with beers. Melissa ordered chicken tacos which left a little to be desired. 3 flour tortillas, grilled chicken and lettuce with Pica de Guio and Mexican sour cream on the side. Melissa opted to just have the tortilla and chicken. We walked, in a light the rain, to the grocery store and picked up 3 bananas, some light strawberry yogurt, a loaf of bread and some apple juice for breakfast. Javier sent Melissa a text message on her phone to show the taxi driver so we could get back to our apartment, as we have no idea how to explain where we are staying. It is the street to the left over from Javier’s parents place and one lot south. While putting away the groceries David noticed a ‘little buddy’ in the kitchen. A gecko. Melissa attempted not to freak and continued putting stuff away. It was to sleep for Melissa. David enjoyed some quiet time watching TV. We didn’t even have to use the air conditioner as it is not hot enough and with the ceiling fan the humidity is manageable. David and Melissa both woke up early to the sounds of Mexico. If it wasn’t the rooster calling it was the stray cat in heat meowing and the birds chirping. We went back to sleep and slept in until 10:30am. We needed the sleep. We are now ready to party and enjoy our honeymoon. David spoke with the owners of the property this morning about the water in the other unit and he will get it cleaned up. David also mentioned that the cat pee smell in here was too much and if we could move back into the other apartment once cleaned we would appreciate it. Judging by the response we got, we think might be stuck in the cat pee unit. Only time will tell! We are going to have some breakfast by the pool and think about what are plans are for today. So far this morning its looking like a beach day. Can’t wait to be in the clear blue ocean with the white sand beach on our toes! Viva La Mexico!

We are home safe in Winnipeg

kendrickwedding — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:26:28 +0000

We will be updating this blog with some photos soon – please check back soon to see what an amazing time we had!
David and Melissa KENDRICK

01.26.10

kendrickwedding — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:57:31 +0000

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! At 2pm David and Melissa will be getting married on the beach – the wedding of their dreams!
We have been so busy having fun that we don’t have much time to check into e-mail and make posts! We will post more info on Thursday! We will give you an up to date look at our time in Mexico!
Thanks for the comments people – it’s nice to know people check this site!
Melissa Walklett & David Kendrick

We are in paradise! :)

kendrickwedding — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:43:54 +0000

We made it to Mexico! Our flight was slightly delayed due to the weather in Winnipeg before we left. It took a while to de-ice the plane but after that we were up up and away! The pilot flew that plane like a space shuttle! I’m sure we went straight up! There were some minor turbulance but nothing major. The flight felt extra long this time. We are sure it had something to do with the excitment of getting here, the earl morning flight and the fact that SkyService seats are the smallest a plane can have!
Shuttle was there to pick us up at the airport. After a short stop at 711 to get beer we were on our way to the resort. David and Melissa have the nicest room! The story is that the manager of the hotel used to live in this room!
We met with the wedding planning staff and everything is good to go!
Tuesday January 26th 2010 at 2:00pm!
There is so much more to tell you – but our eyes are having trouble staying awake! We promise to share more details soon!

We are up and getting ready to go to the airport!

kendrickwedding — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:34:35 +0000

Weather is freezing rain/ice pellets, windy, etc. Pure ugly!
We feel like we have sandpaper in our eyes – this will all get better once we are in Mexico!
We are hoping there are no delays and we are in Mexico shortly before 11am