First day at Aventura Cove, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Not only is this a great FAMILY resort we are next door to Aventura SPA which is for adults.  This is an affordable health spa resort!! An affordable, yet quality health spa resort is hard to find.  It is among the Palace Resorts family so they know how to do this and do it well!  But let me back up...we are 1 full day and a half into this "aventura" and I got excited and ahead of myself. LOL!

The boys 17 and 7 are in heaven with room service (at no cost to parents as it was paid through the nose already a.k.a. an all-inclusive resort), TV, Xbox and swimming virtually any time they want any of it.  Parents have a room with a mini-bar including 5 different types of alcohol, cervezas, pop, juice or water, a whirlpool tub for 2, a deck with a hammock and peace of mind because the kids are next door in their OWN room of 2 double beds and the rest of the amenities afore-mentioned.  Paradise ala carte for all involved!  Moving out into the resort (Family side), you have three different types of restaurant options not including two bars one being a pool bar which provides 5 different types of pizza (made to order on the spot in a home-made brick oven) and nachos (toppings including: nacho cheese, pico de gallo, gaucamole, sour cream and salsa). Yumm!

 We ate at La Hacienda last night our second night in Mexico.  This place is one of the three options on the FAMILY side of the resorts.  I had chicken enchiladas with mole sauce, Jon had fajitas and we all had fresh fruit custard tarts for desert.  The Mexican food here is amazing.  I don't mind the buffets or non-traditional foods but I am preferring Mexican fare most of the time.  We didn't try the guacamole but saw the dish being served and its worth noting.  The server brings out huge tray full of numerous little bowls with spoons (different toppings like salsa, sour cream, etc.) a bowl of chips and makes up a plate for each person at the table.  The interesting part is the "guac" he or she makes it right there on the spot gutting the avocados and everything right before the diners' eyes.  Not only that but when the server makes the guac they use a shot of tequila that they light on fire and pour over the guacamole! It's a sight and we've decided to go back just to get it.

After dinner we went to the resort lobby where a Mexican Fiesta was the entertainment of the evening.  There was a mechanical bull and a Mariachi band.  It was entertaining to watch the band perform as their trumpeter was quite good, holding notes for a long periods of time and the MC continued to be quite entertaining through the night calling up random people from the audience to pretend to be machismo Mexican hat dancers or to do the Macharena with him.  The bull was our focus as my son wanted to do it but wanted me to go first.  So we scoped it out for quite awhile watching young and old alike ride the mechanical bull.  The operator obviously made it tougher for dads, semi-tough for moms and quite easy for kids.  I tried my hand at it. I can see why people get thrown, after awhile your legs (particularly the thigh region) get very tired after a while on the "bull" and you just want to be thrown off to make the pain stop!  However, I stood my ground, rather, sat my ground and was never "thrown."  My son did try it but let's just say, he's not going to make a living in the rodeo. 

My husband and I topped the evening off with a chair by the ocean under the starry sky and the kind of conversation that endears you to your life partner all the more reminding you of why you said "yes" all those years ago. ;-)  However, rain clouds and lightning broke that party up a good several hours into the conversation so we felt glad we got the relaxing time by the surf that we did.