Surfin' it Up!

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Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream. ~

We REALLY relaxed yesterday, almost as laid back as that frog on my blog 😊 I know, I know...what the hell else would we be doing but relaxing on vacation. Not like we're working in the coal mines....

Though I have to say I am doing work here too for Playa Beach Getaways. When you work from a laptop you can do it anywhere, including paradise.

We almost needed to hire a crane to get our lazy butts out of bed by 8:30 am Friday morning. Al opened our bedroom balcony the night before & hearing the gentle laps of the ocean is like taking a sleeping pill! It is THE most soothing sound that nature offers, next to a soft rain or the rustle of trees. It's been very quiet at the condo this visit; there were 2 kids who screamed around the pool as if they were constantly being poked by sticks. They seemed to be the 2 most miserable kids we've ever laid eyes on. What kid doesn't like a beach & a pool?

We started our day off (Fri) with a coffee as previously mentioned, then took the kids to get a muffin, then we were on our way to MEGA grocery store to get groceries.

Well we WERE on our way to get groceries, but we were waylaid by a side street bar with bar stools, so for the heck of it we asked if they made "mimosas". No they did not, but the lively bartender Omar offered to make us the best margarita in Playa. Well given it was slightly before noon, we hesitated (for a nano second heh heh heh). I told him we'd had so many margaritas in Playa that we couldn't count em, some great, some good & some that were head-shaking awful. But he was determined to make us the best ever. The margarita wasn't our favorite we've had here but I will say, our conversation with Omar was. We chatted about life in Playa & at home, where he was from (Mexico City), and it just fun & very interesting. We have noticed here, some bartenders like to fool around with a genuine margarita and add in a squeeze of orange. The heck with the orange; if you use Cointreau, or Triple Sec (Cointreau is better), you get a kick of orange. The key is not too much ice, a good quality Tequila (blanco for our tastes) real limes squeezed & a lightly salted rim) Anyhow, we'll keep test tasting and tell you how it all works out. You are welcome that we keep test tasting margaritas so we can tell you where to go if you come to Playa 😊

At one point a young couple sauntered up to get a drink for their trip to the airport. Omar was busy so another bartender took over, & from there it went downhill. It seemed to take him some time to mix vodka, orange juice & club soda. On top of it, when given the drinks the total was $21 US. A) they weren't happy about the price of the drinks (highway robbery) & b) they asked the bartender for their change in US dollars & not pesos given they were leaving the country & the bartender was just not willing to co-operate. Normally when you pay for something here whether in US, Canadian or Euros, your change is in pesos. Anyhow, we started to chat with the couple & Al & I quickly agreed this was way over the top price-wise for 2 drinks. So then the owner came over to see what the fuss was about, I piped up and said it was totally inappropriate to charge them that amount of freakin' money for the 2 drinks for god sakes. I know Playa and HELLO, I spend half my time while I'm here taking notes, and I darn well know the price of drinks in this area & $21 dollars? Are you pulling my leg and if you are, damnit, stop right now cause you're annoying me.

The owner asked for our take on it all, so I told her what happened, and they were wrong for charging them that & it was not handled well at all. I asked for our bill because we were irked by it all and were going to split that Popsicle stand. Playa has hundreds of restaurants all competing for your business, and these guys (at this restaurant) are overcharging people & throwing business away. I also told her "it takes ONE, just ONE bad review on Trip Advisor and your ass is grass". Nobody remembers the good reviews on Trip Advisor, they zero in on the bad reviews. And they kept this couple hanging around for 25 minutes, possibly making them late for their flight while they dicked around on price & change...

Well then the owner realized what we were saying, she agreed it left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. That the price should've been discussed first as the couple had asked for 2 ounce drinks. So to win back our favor she bought us a round on the house. Further, because she thought we had our finger on the pulse of Playa, she asked if we would look at her current drink menu & give her our honest opinion on how her prices compared to other restaurants. She claimed her restaurant was one of the oldest restaurants here and I told her Blue Parrot on the beach was established in 1984 (maybe La Terraya on the beach has been around since then too). By the time we were done talking she was asking advice on how to sell her ocean front condo and did I have any contacts, and frankly I do know of the leading sales agent in the area, so I gave her the info. So now we're invited back for dinner on the house with a mariachi band. (Oh life is always interesting for us...)

Given she was asking for pointers, we told her that to increase business due to the foot traffic going by was:

a)Start making mimosas in the morning for the tourists, and have one poured on display on their bar. Trust me folks, Playa is a spot where people are out on their loungers at 8am and Coronas are flowing by 9am. So a cute street side spot like theirs with a street side bar would do very very well if they were going after business.

b)ADVERTISING,ADVERTISING, etc. Put up signs for their daily food & drink specials

c)They have a mariachi band at night, but no sign to say they do, so they need to do advertise that.

d) Their drink menu should indicate how many ounces of alcohol you get for the price listed.

She said she needed to do all those things & thanked us for the heads up. Heck I may have to split my time working for Playa Beach Getaways & go around to every restaurant & bar and tell them what they need to do to earn the average tourist's business (and hello, we ain't average 😊 Frankly all the tips I gave them today I should've gotten a heck of a lot more margs on the house.

That being said, we had fun in the end when all that nonsense was over at that restaurant, and they were truly sorry for the mix up we witnessed.

We got to MEGA, got our groceries, and ended up back at the condo enjoying fresh roasted BBQ chickek on panini buns, with chicken wings, ribs, deli meats and cheese, all for a fantastic price from MEGA.

For those of you spending some time here next month be sure to check out MEGA; it's way better than Walmart. Oh and maybe I can get a job advertising Mega too!

Otherwise we all had a pleasant night last night, took a walk to hear the music, and have a drink at an old stomping ground. Drinks were on the house again! I swear it was just getting better and better as the day worn on!

Sat we are off to Isla Mujeres. I am going to race mom on a golf cart...YEE HAW.

May the force be with you.

Coffee on the balcony is calling my name.

Hugs to all...

The Dining Queen

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