General Chat (Non-Music-Related)

Wife and I are in early stages of planning a Cancun vacation for late February. Anyone here been there?

Mike ... my wife has been there and has relatives there. I will ask her about it when i see her this afternoon and tell you what she has to say about it. I have been down as far as Salina cruz but always have tended to stay away from the "tourista" areas. Here I encounter many who have been there relatively recently and they all have good things to say about it.

More later ... Vampier

Mike this is Amanda (Vamp's wife),
Cheap is not, but you can always back pack it and there will be plenty of cheap hotel/motels a few streets from Playa del Carmen Malecon, I prefer to be at this town, since I find it a bit cheaper than Cancun, or Cozumel, and you are right there where you can take the ferry to go to Cozumel and it is close to Isla Mujeres (which is a great shopping place). If you are thinking on going on a bit more luxurious trip, you can stay in the main street of Playa del Carmen, or try finding packages for resorts with all included either in cozumel or cancun. Try to go to Ixcaret, it is very cool and the turtles reserve/sanctuary. Dangerous is not, specially if you stick to the touristic areas. and to make things easier, you will find that there are a lot of things in English, plenty of people who are bilingual.
Have a safe trip

The closest i've come to Mexico is Mexico, MO. And no......i do NOT recommend it as a vacation destination.

I have never been to Mexico, Mo. why do you not recommend it as a destination ... did you have a bad experience there.

Of course I know you are referring to the country of Mexico. You do realise that every year thousands of Americans from the USA travel to Mexico and have been returning year after year for quite a long time. Also this applies to thousands of people from other countries as well. They all would recommend Mexico as a wonderful holiday destination with it's thousands of miles of coastline, rich and varied culture and history, diverse geographic s and wildlife.

I merely point out that most critical thinkers would listen to those who have actually been there and returned repeated times over years rather than give any credence to someone who has never been and bases their "free" opinion on nothing real or relevant ... only force-fed propoganda ... even if they are a decent Jazz Musician.

Mexico is "playing" an ever-increasing role in the USA, it's economics, it's politics, it's shaky future and it's probable demise. But these are only the demented thoughts of a Vampiric Musician who does not really like Jazz very much although he respects those who play it well. I wonder who will play the more major role on the board in the destruction of the USA ...Mexico or the Middle East.

I grew up vacationing in Mexico yearly (mostly Puerto Penasco/ Rocky Point). I've been all over the place, down to Guadalajara, Mexico City and Mazatlan on a Boy Scout trip. Also to border towns Tijuana, Juarez, Nogales. I won't be returning for the foreseeable future, due to political and ideological differences with that place.

I merely point out that most critical thinkers would listen to those who have actually been there and returned repeated times over years rather than give any credence to someone who has never been and bases their "free" opinion on nothing real or relevant ... only force-fed propoganda ... even if they are a decent Jazz Musician.

as jimmy correctly pointed out to you.... i was referring to MEXICO MISSOURI.

a place that as stated, i have "actually been", thus making my opinion of Mexico MO quite "real".... if not necessarily "relevant" to the discussion of Cancun.

i suppose being called a "decent jazz musician" is a compliment of sorts and so, i'll say thank you. however, i should point out that although i've played many jazz gigs ......they probably account for maybe 25% of the gigs i've played.... and continue to play. gigs playing rock, blues, bluegrass, and country far exceed my work as a "jazz musician".

should you still find it convenient to put me in that box, knock yourself and have at it. i've been called worse.

what does all this have to do with cancun? very little.

Billy I agree that Real Jazz is not easy to play and appreciate your own admission to ineptitude regarding this. Planet Guy is a good musician as are many others on here. Your quasi-clever ploy to distract my Post's point with your College Kid award, though commendable , demonstrates possibly yet another of your ineptitudes. But I digress. I am sorry but I fail to see how any of your Post has anything to do with the Thread or my point in that there are indeed many, many people returning time and time again to the vibrant country of Mexico. And I believe a great many of them to be Jazz Musicians.

Planet guy and i differ somewhat in many respects but still we have reached an understanding with one another in that we do not attack the other but if one disagrees we merely state this in clear terms and that is that. We have somehow gotten past the funding thing and recognise one another as who and what we are .. accepting this as much as can be done without compromising our "characters". Of course this is only my take but we each endure the odd little poke from one another without magnifying it into something it is not.

It is my hope that you and i may reach this stage through our little jabs as well. I do appreciate the humour of the "Award" however. I believe a very dark time is coming and that as such we must all learn to band together if you will pardon the pun. No single isolated individual will be able on their own to survive and endure the shite that comes down the tube which is the anus of government, not only in the USA but in the entire world.

I wish you good luck in all this as well as everyone else ... even the bad Jazz musicians.

Live Well Die Well

Back on point perhaps?
We have spent a lot of time in Mex over the last 30 years and had some of our most, and least pleasant experiences there. Been to Cancun, Cozumel, Playa Del Carmen and visited many of the ancient Mayan cities. We were on a diving expedition one year and explored several cenotes (underwater caverns) along with some of the finest reef diving on earth. Cancun is similar to Waikiki, South Beach, Ft Lauderdale in that it is very busy and populous with sensory overload. We have friends who spend Christmas holiday there every year and love it. We go for the diving and prefer quieter Cozumel or Playa Del Carmen. Follow safe travel practices and Cancun is probably safer than the streets of LA. Get drunk and stupid, or go off into the Yucatan on your own and your margin of safety decreases rapidly.

We've got a condo in the 'Hotel Zone' booked for a week through Air BnB. Will do a couple of day tours to the Mayan sites - Chichen Itza and Tulum, 2 days on the local sites (museums, local ruins) and a day over on isla De Mujeres. We're not 'super party people' or we'd do the all-inclusive places. We live less than a half hour form the ocean anyway, so sitting ont h ebeach sand all day getting shitfaced is not our idea of a vacation. I don't touch hard liquor these days, and can't get drunk from beer alone (I get full before getting drunk, then spend too much time pissing it out).

Chchen is commercialized (and busy), Tulum is less so, that's why we're doing both. The Chichen tour we've picked gets back in mid-afternoon, so stilll time do do some other things later that day. We've got 5 full days, and when we go on vacation we see as much as we can because the chances are we won't be back any time soon. Too many places on the bucket list and not enough time/money.