Growing older, but not up
Scott Kern is a South Jersey-based writer, husband and father to an awesome daughter, Lauren. He and his wife Marie have lived in Moorestown, NJ for over 20 years. He loves the Flyers, Phillies, music, sports, photography and all things native to the Delaware Valley and the Jersey Shore. So far in Life, in the words of Jimmy Buffett, he has enjoyed growing older but not up!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
It was the fall of 1989 when Marie and I had stumbled upon this special vacation package Apple Vacations was promoting in the Philadelphia Inquirer to this faraway land known as Cancun Mexico . We had only been married for a few years, still in our twenties and so excited at the prospect of traveling outside the US for the first time! I still laugh at the thought that we were so concerned about the harsh rays of the Mexican sun, we invested in a week’s worth of sessions at the tanning salon in the local strip shopping center. We rationalized that we needed a “base” tan before we traveled to the land of tacos and tequila.
Our vacation was booked for early March 1990 at the Hyatt Cancun Caribe. We then promptly ran out to the Bambergers in the Cherry Hill Mall the very next weekend and upgraded our (non-existent) summer wardrobes with OP bathing suits, Izod tennis shirts and Sperry topsiders. We felt so sophisticated! And since we had plans to check out some of the discos on The Point, I purchased a knock-off Sonny Crockett (aka Don Johnson) white linen sports coat and a few pastel shirts to wear underneath.
I vividly remember arriving at Philly International Airport that morning wearing jeans and a sweatshirt since there was approximately four inches of snow on the ground at takeoff. Three hours later we were in Mexico ……changing into our t-shirts and bathing suits in the airport bathroom, converting US dollars to Mexican pesos and drinking mucho Dos Equis!
Our first real vacation!
For one week, we frolicked in the sun like only kids in their twenties can. We rented mopeds and toured the island. We snorkeled for the first time (first at Xel-Ha) and later in the week on Cozumel . We dined at our first Hard Rock Cafe in Old Cancun, toured the ruins at Chichen Itza and locally at El Rey. Everywhere we went on the Island we heard the new Fine Young Cannibals album on this new media format called a compact disc. Still to this day, I cannot hear any of these songs and not immediately flashback to this specific vacation.
We were young and in love and traveling abroad!
All these thoughts and more came rushing back to me as I booked our recent Cancun vacation over nine months ago. Lauren and her college roommate Meagen would be joining us. Ever since Lauren was a young child, we have always had her invite a girl friend along to make the vacation more enjoyable for everyone concerned. This has been extremely important through the years, especially for some of the family vacations taken during her teen years. I’m sure all you parents out there know what I mean by that!
As I am known to do, within months of the actual trip, I had scheduled out a detailed daily itinerary of tours, events and meals. However, since Marie and I are quite different travelers, I followed our primary rule of alternating beach days and tour days. This criteria is mission critical to the overall trip being enjoyable for all parties concerned. If there is an oversight in this planning phase, please refer to the Fine Young Cannibals song – “She Drives Me Crazy” for a subtle reminder!
Listen up everyone – Fun is allowed, as long as we follow my itinerary!
Day #2 – Sunday 6/26 called for our excursion to Isla Mujeres (“The Island of Women”) with my group of three lovely ladies in tow. We had never made it to this island in 1990. They now have a wonderful natural reef at Garrafon Park with snorkleling, zip-lining, kayaking, biking and hiking activities. It was a home run idea! Next to soaking up rays and sleeping, Marie loves kayaking and snorkeling.
The morning sun greeted us sleepy tourists at the bustling ferry launch in Playa Linda. The overhead skies looked incredible and the day was filled with nothing but high expectations. However, within a mere couple of hours of landing at Avenida Rueda Medina and after a short taxi ride to Garrafon Park, the first rain drops of the day fell on the blue Caribbean seas and our day’s planned itinerary. No problemo….just a Florida rain, right?
Not quite. A wicked storm was passing through. While we would get a chance to zipline high over the Caribbean when there was a short hour break in the storm just before lunch….that would be the only time we would venture outside in the elements all day. With heavy rains forecasted for the next two days on the mainland, I really thought we could by-pass this inclement weather being on Isla Mujeres. Besides, this weather was clearly not in my personal vacation itinerary! I was none too happy!
Meanwhile, the girls had found a small cove with a secluded view of the Caribbean . By the time I found them, they were one round into the drink of the day – “Welcome to the Jungle”! I pulled up a stray chair and ordered the same orange colored cocktail. It was just us, along with Carlos and Manuel, our two new best Mexican friends.
They both chatted with us freely as we waited for our lunch to arrive. Very quickly, the conversation turned to tequila and in a New York minute we had quite a few local varieties to sample. I looked at Marie. She looked at me.
{Editors Note – While the drinking age in Mexico is eighteen, Marie and I had previously agreed that the girls (nearly 20 years old) would be allowed to consume a poolside cocktail and possibly one more with dinner each night. Additionally, this rule was duly cleared by Marie in conversations with Meagen’s mother in the week leading up to the trip. In other words, the girls were not to charge beach-side drinks to our room while I was on the golf course or Marie was lounging by the pool – Capice!}
However, when on Isla Mujeres with torrential rains showing no signs of stopping (any time soon) and no rain checks are being issued to grumpy tourists….rules made back in the States were quickly about to become null and void! In fact, the “Scott” – I Don’t Know and I Don’t Care rule was invoked!
When Carlos found out that Lauren had never done a shot of tequila, as if on cue, he quickly provided some local brand from behind the counter along with a salt shaker and some cut limes. Like some Rider initiation challenge, she and Meagen quickly indulged. Within mere minutes, Manuel set-up some stereo speakers on the top of the bar and was soon teaching Megan how to pour draft beer from a beer tap! Was someone filming this scene as part of some promotional video to be shown potential tourists from other countries?
The loud reggae music must have captured the attention of some other tourists, as shortly another three small parties joined our little private party. We moved the wet tables and chairs from outside near the water to underneath the awning. Each table soon elected one person after another to chug the tequila shot amidst applause from the other tables of guests. Round and round we went. I’m not sure what anyone else was doing at this exact moment on Isla Mujeres, but we were having a blast. Marie and I exchanged a brief smile which seemed to say “Is this really happening?” “Was this on my itinerary?”
The rain continued to fall. Absolutely nothing was visible on the water. We definitely would not be kayaking today!
It was at this point some random thoughts started to float through my tequila soaked brain:
(1) Would we ever get back to Cancun ?
(2) Are there cots behind the bar?
(3) What was on the itinerary for Monday?
(4) What time does the ferry depart the Island ?
(5) Does the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) has jurisdiction abroad?
(6) Can we move to Isla Mujeres?
We finally said our final goodbyes to Manuel and Carlos. We gathered our belongings and upon leaving high-fived the rest of our new friends. We walked to the entrance, hailed a taxi and found ourselves back at the ferry.
This adventure was far from over!
The scene on the boat was surreal. These four college-aged dudes were pounding tequila shots at the bar standing five feet from where we were sitting. A forty-five minute excursion lay ahead. Suddenly we took bets on which one of the guys would hurl first! The day long storms had made the sea choppy and amid strains of “La Bamba”, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Sweet Home Alabama ” people were singing, getting sick and taking photos of the real-time events all at once. Strangers were singing, clapping and passing trash bags back in forth. We sat in total disbelief our necks and faces hurting from straining and laughing simultaneously. The music never once stopped. Can this thing sink?
Hours later in our hotel room, I tried to make sense of the day that I just witnessed.
How was this activity omitted from my travel book? Was something lost in translation? Should I call the editor from Frommer’s when I get back to the States on Saturday?
WOW - My daughter did her first shot of tequila in Mexico . Taking off my “parent” hat for just a second, I realized that was pretty cool! More importantly she did not get sick. I think I did my first shot of tequila on the campus of the University of Delaware in a cramped dorm room and puked my guts up in the dirty Russell A bathroom shortly after consumption.
What I learned from this unique experience, is sometimes the best adventures in Life are off the map, when we color outside the lines and surrender to the flow of the moment.
This was a day I would not soon forget!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I'm gonna soak up the sun.... now
Lauren and I were stopped at the light on Tilton Road taking the back roads home from the Shore when we heard the beach radio station advertise the upcoming Sheryl Crow concert at the Borgata for early July. Immediately, we looked at each other and said “Mom’s birthday?” “She would love it!” Serendipitously, the moment appeared and suddenly we had a perfect ‘excuse’ for just the three of us to enjoy a rare weekend together in Atlantic City.
Marie and Lauren are two original summer beach girls. While Laur and I have our music and the Flyers that we enjoy together, she and Marie share their love of summer and the beach together as two peas in a pod. It all started when Marie and her girlfriend Tammy would shlep the kids down to Brigantine every Tuesday every summer before the kids entered first grade. Marie would pack up my Grandma Martino’s silver “granny” shopping cart with two beach chairs, blanket, umbrella, cooler, beach bag and be ready to go in a moment’s notice. All these years later, she still keeps a beach bag fully stocked year-round. Lauren is cut from the same beach blanket.
This weekend we shared a wonderful two days together as the nuclear family, before Laur hooked up with her college friend Mary on Saturday night, spending the next few days in Avalon. Like mother, like daughter. That’s okay, I documented our recent adventures on facebook, for when the aliens eventually land and take over this planet, my legacy will remain in tact!
As for me these days, I find myself drawing on my inner bookkeeper child, looking for a more balanced approach to work and play, with decidedly more emphasis on the play part of that equation as each year passes!
I’ve given up trying to second guess thirty years of choices, decisions and non-decisions, content to play the ball where it lies. What I didn’t yet achieve is my fault. What I don’t yet have is on me. I’m still trying to figure out my Plan B. I am very much a work-in-progress. That’s okay. I’m certainly more than content with what I’ve got and who is near by to enjoy these adventures with me. That is the most important thing, right? I have no doubt that I’ll eventually get there. Wherever ‘there’ is……..
For someone who has lived the better part of his life following the conservative principles of accounting……I’m going all in now. Not quite ready to sell everything and move to Hawaii (which Marie really and truly wanted to do after our visit in 2007), I am not going to pass on certain opportunities like this past weekend, with the hope that my eventual retirement will deliver both time and health fully in tact to do these same things in another twenty years.
I’m alive and I love the Now!
So, Sheryl…..forget Snookie. Hit me up the next time you’re in the (609) and I’ll show you the real Jersey Shore. Marie is cool with this as this is part of my ‘new’ Plan B philosophy. In fact, I can show you some sick bike paths in Moorestown, if you’ve truly gotten over that famous former boyfriend?
I’m gonna soak up the sun
I’ve got my iPod on
So that I can rock on!