Day 6 - Cozumel

This winter, as we all gathered at my parent's to decide what excursions (onshore activities) we'd be signing up for, we all decided that today would be the day that we do something as a group with my parents. After all, they were paying for everything, and neither of them were planning on the snorkeling/caving/speedboating activities. So we decided to take in a Mexican folklore show, and then just kick back and check out the shopping and eating and everything else we might find.

Of course, that all changed when we wake up on this morning and find that Mom caught the bug, and would have to stay behind. So Dad stayed too. But she wanted to be damned sure that we got off the boat and had fun, so we did. Besides, Felix had told us about the great bar where girls are topless by mid-afternoon. How could we pass that up?

The most striking thing about Cozumel right now is the hurricane damage, and seeing what's been repaired and what hasn't. Cozumel is actually on a small island just off the coast of Mexico, and bore the brunt of last season's storms. At first, much of the island looked like old photos of post-war Europe, with only the skeletal remains of buildings standing. We found, as we got closer, that there was a great deal of construction going on trying to refurbish these large buildings (you'll need to click them to full-size).



I don't know if these buildings were apartments, offices or hotels. But they were a beehive of activity.
This is another ship that was actually docked at the pier (only one ship could dock). Note the chunk of pier that is missing in the middle. We asked one of our taxi drivers if that was from boats/debris running into it. Apparently not. All the concrete damage we saw was caused directly from the winds or the waters!

To get to the Mexican folklore show, we had to take a taxi about 3 miles along the coastline. This is where we saw how things were rebuilding. Almost anything that had to do with the tourist industry was either repaired, or being renovated. But if you owned Pepe's Auto Repair, then your old building just sat in ruins, because you don't have the money to rebuild. Of course, the modern air-conditioned jewelry stores stood out! We had some time to kill, so the girls shopped, and the guys found someplace to have a beer (notice the recurring theme???). The place looked like a decent nightclub, but it was mid-morning, so it was nice and relaxing. The show took place on the same floor, so we drank right up to the point that they were closing their doors.

We decided to walk to Carlos'n Charlie's, the place that Felix told us to check out. On the way we found that the touristy things were all rebuilt fairly well. Cozumel is home to the smallest Hard Rock Cafe in the world. And there were other signs of American "Civilization" to be found.




We avoid the tourist trap things, and find ourselves in front of Carlos'n Charlie's. At 2:30 in the afternoon, the place is packed. We find a table in the very back of the place, which will give us a good view of the activities. The first thing you notice as you walk in is that you're walking on a dirt floor. The whole place is dirt floor! And the thump-thump-thump of techno/hip-hop music. And the dance floor full of people in their shorts and t-shirts and flip-flops. Sort of an open-air space, with no real front walls. This could be good. Waiting for us at the table were two buckets of popcorn. We order a round of beers, which lasted for all of about 5 minutes. The barmaids appeared to be American college-aged students. Carrying bottles of something orange (we determined later that they were bottles of Sex On The Beach). These girls went from table to table offering shots. Complete with a routine! As the girl is pouring a shot for you, she's blowing an obnoxious whistle, indicating that she's about to molest a new patron. She pours the shot down your throat (then stuffs the shot glass down between your boobs, if your a girl--guys apparently don't get the shot glass). Then to make sure the booze goes down OK, she rubs your head, squeezes your cheeks (face), rubs your shoulders, tweaks your nipples (unless you're a girl, in which case she squeezes and bobbles your boobs), rubs your back, then rubs/squeezes your ass, and then asks for a high-five. We watched her do this to dozens of customers. All I could think of was, where do I sign up for THIS gig?? All of a sudden I hear the whistle in my ear behind me. I turn around, and find a shot glass being poured down my mouth. God bless my BILs! Liked it so much, I got it again later on! (**NOTE--Shumpy was there a week later and put some pics up too. Go check out his post from 5/9/06 to see them. He's got a couple that show exactly what I just wrote about. And the barmaid you see is one of the same ones that molested me!!!)




We could have stayed there people-watching all day/night, but we had to stagger back to the ship. On the taxi ride back to the pier, we were able to get some more pics of the devestation between the renovation. I would imagine that in 3-4 years, you'd never know there was any destruction in the area. Just in time for the next hurricane.




Once back to the ship, the effects of the afternoon's drinking caught up with us. With Mom being quarantined, and some of us in dire need of a quick nap, only half of us went to dinner, opting to hit the buffet later in the night. Still, we managed to meet again up at Dizzy's and recap the day. We had passed the halfway point of the trip. The next day would bring us to Grand Cayman Island and snorkeling with the stingrays. Maybe...