Hola!
We are sorry that we haven't been posting! In case you
missed it, WE GOT MARRIED! Yes, we are now Mr. and Mrs. Sterling Shanks, and we
love it. August 16, 2014 was a perfect day, but for the purposes of this blog,
we will be talking about August 17-22 at our new favorite place—EXCELLENCE
PLAYA MUJERES!
For anyone going on a honeymoon or any romantic getaway for
that matter, this place was absolute perfection. The pools, the beach, the
amazing staff…sorry I am getting ahead of myself J
Once we arrived at the Cancun airport, we met our transfer
shuttle to take us to the resort. We passed through two security checkpoints,
so we felt very safe. When we arrived, we were met with drinks and a cold
towel. As we walked through the huge doors, we were seated until we were ready
to check in.
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| We are honeymooners! |
After checking in, we were taken to our room. When we arrived
we saw this sign in front of our door (I might have squealed and jumped up and
down). Our room was beautiful with a huge closet and bed and a patio with a
gorgeous view.
After we took a tour around the resort, we got ready for dinner at Agave. The resort has many restaurants, and in an effort that we get the full effect of the resort, Sterling and I implemented a tradition we like to call "second dinner." We would go to dinner early then go again later that night. We only didn't make it to 2 restaurants! Now second dinner isn't for the faint of heart, but it was totally worth it.
Monday morning came, and we had our appointment we had set at the spa. When we arrived, we were taken to the wellness spa where we spent time in the sauna, steam room and hydrotherapy treatment circuit. After our wellness treatment, we went upstairs for our couples massage. It was everything we had hoped for and more! Sterling and I sat up after our massage, looked at each other and without speaking, agreed we were in heaven.
After the spa, we spent the rest of the day by the pool and the beach. Everyday we went to the pool or beach, we never struggled for finding a great spot. That night we went to dinner at Chez Isabel, the French restaurant, another great choice! This was our first night of second dinner, and we went to Flavor Market, this wasn't our favorite place, but was still a fun experience with all the tapas. We went to bed early this night, because we had to wake up early the next morning.
7:15 am was an early wake up call for these honeymooners, but we were excited for our day at Xplor, a park where we spent our day swimming, zip lining, rafting and driving off road vehicles. We didn't get back to the resort until 6:15, but it was an incredible day. Sterling and I really felt like we got the most "bang for our buck" at Xplor.
When we got back, we went to dinner at Spice, the Asian restaurant {this was of course Sterling's favorite}, but I had to agree that my fried rice was amazing. Second dinner that night was at Barcelona, the Mediterranean restaurant, which was delicious as well.
Wednesday we headed out for our other excursion, snorkeling in Puerto Morales. We saw sea turtles, squid, stingrays, sea urchins, barracudas and eels, not to mention all the fun fish. Sterling and I had a great time swimming in the ocean and having a more relaxing excursion the day. We made it back to the resort early, so we spent the rest of the day lounging out by the pool. It was after the pool that we realized how sunburnt we were.
Sterling and I went to dinner at Toscana, the Italian restaurant and then were hurting so badly that we had room service for second dinner. Aloe vera was our new best friend for the next couple of days.
Thursday was our last full day at the resort, and we wanted to soak it all in. We started the morning at the beach with a nap and some reading, and then headed to the pool for the same. We were lucky enough to snag a bed by the pool, and we camped out there until it was time for dinner. Since Thursday was our last night, we decided to have our special honeymoon dinner at Toscana. When we arrived, they had rose petals all over our table, and we were given a special dessert :) That night was the Michael Jackson show, and we LOVED it! I will not boast about all the shows, because we'll be honest...we only like the Michael Jackson show and the Circus show.
Friday was hard to say goodbye, but we were so thankful for the week of relaxation and this wonderful wedding gift from Sterling's parents. We have already started looking at when we can go again {I am actually serious, we looked today.}
