Sunday, 24 December 2017: Celestun

Justin's Christmas message to all:

It's beginning to look enough like Christmas--all along the beach--la la--la la la la--la la

White sand and a poinsettia, highs in the low to mid 80's, lows in the mid to high 60's, seafood and refreshing adult beverages on the beach is working for us.

We moved from our little beach hotel in town to a guest house a little north. Instead of a five minute walk to our favorite beach restaurant it's now about 12 minutes, and the barking dogs and fireworks from town are barely noticeable from here. It's pretty typical for the beach to be as deserted as it is in the photo.

Our place is a hacienda with five large en suite rooms, a lobby, and a public kitchen. There is also a large owner's quarters that will probably be a restaurant one day soon. All the interior space is arranged in a "U" with large open terraces on the inside of the U and a large, lush courtyard in the center of all that. It's on a hectare of land--about 2 1/2 acres--and other than the area from the front gate to the entrance and the courtyard, most of the grounds have been allowed to go back to the same native state as the preserve that surrounds all of Celestun.

Though it has a lobby, rooms that would be ideal for the purpose, and is furnished as such, it's never been used as a hotel. It was built by a German lady 20 years ago and it is a remarkable stone and masonry structure. All the rooms were for friends and family to use when they visited, and for the staff she kept to run the place. She passed away last May.

We became friends with Peter, the Swiss guy that has been serving as caretaker, last year when we were here. He has a little restaurant downstairs in the hotel where we stayed last year and in the beginning of this year's stay. He had been friends with Maria, the lady that built the place, and became friends with her son, who visited from Germany at least once a year. When we stopped to see Peter this year he told us about the place and asked if we would like to see it. And here we are.

We moved in three days after we first saw it and didn't even know how much we would be paying. He had been looking for someone to stay and keep an eye on the place. We said we would do that and I said I would work with the staff a little here and there to get the grounds in shape. Peter said to pay whatever we think it's worth. I didn't know what to offer. The little hotel where we stayed last year is now $30/night and this is a MUCH nicer accommodation with a location we found preferable. Similar places in the area are going for as much as $100/night. I hemmed and hawed a bit and he said, "Look, I need someone in there so what about 2000 Pesos per month?" PER MONTH! That's about a hundred bucks so we said, "Yes!" 

That's most of it, or at least enough for now. The Packer season is over, kids and grandkids are good, and we're living on a shoestring in paradise--making each other's dreams come true. 

We hope everybody is having a good holiday season, enjoying friends and family, and being good to yourselves and each other. Be in touch--our cells work just like in the states and there's no extra charge for anybody just because we're here. Think about coming to see us if you have the interest and flexibility. We'll figure out accommodations and the Merida airport is just a little over an hour away. 

Happy Holidays,

Justin and Paula

Justin and I decided a good while ago that we should spend our money of experiences rather than things.  This year however, Santa brought us a new mattress.  No, we do not yet own a house here.  I told Justin it was rather like  buying the shoes before you buy the dress ... and we know I've never done that!  We bought the mattress today about 3pm and they delivered it at 4pm.  We don't have a bed frame or headboard yet, but we aren't letting that stop us from enjoying a good night's sleep.  Ishmael, who owns the store ("Claudia") also runs flamingo tours and has a fishing boat.  What do you bet he and Justin become fast and furious compadres?

Dinner tonight at La Playita. 

One large grilled fish.  Simple and delicious!

Thursday, 21 December 2017: Celestun

The last few days have been filled with swims in the gulf and walks along the beach. Justin has been planting and I've been cooking a bit. Our peaceful routine was jolted a bit today when Justin got stung by a scorpion. We learned very fast to wash with soap and water then apply ice to slow the spreading of the venom. Thankfully, Justin was a cooperative patient and he seemed to have no ill effect within a few hours.

We received a quite positive response from Bijan regarding our interest in Casa Maria. We wanted to talk to Peter again to share our news and ask a dozen more questions. I started my research and reading on how to run a hotel and now I feel the need to establish a business plan. We knew from talking to Dan Wood that foreigners can't own land within 35 kilometers of a border (including the shore) so one must obtain a fideo comisio where, basically the bank owns the property. Well, now we've learned that the second option is that the property belong to a corporation and foreigners can own that. Justin and I have talked a lot about not actually running this as a hotel but more of a guest house. I was entertaining the idea of not having a business at all but instead, running this as an Air BnB from our "home." Now, I'm seeing that I'll be up to my gills in not only static vs dynamic pricing of inventory (aka: rooms) and staff wages and benefits but also Mexican tax law and insurance. Hmmm... The spin I'm putting on this is that I'll look at this as going back to work. We could do this and this place could be dynamite. I need to continue to research into other properties around this area to learn of the competition. We need to find our niche and then we'll be a bit closer to determining our price point for rentals.

 We met Cindy on the beach a few days ago. Actually she was in her kayak. Cindy, artist, was an AirForce brat, and while so goes to California when she goes to the states, she calls Celestun home as she has been coming here for 28 years. She told us all about salsa classes. She met me at 5:45 and off we went. The instructor, Sandra, is Cuban. She and her husband Peter own a small hotel down the beach just a few hundred yards. She also teaches Pilates and as much as I think I might like to try that out, the classes are M-F at 8:30am. Even though I might be awake, that is still a bit too early for me. The class was definitely an exercise class but with salsa moves.

Two of Cindy's pieces.  She sent these photos through What's App

I told Sandra at the end of class that white girls just didn't move that way. It was a great workout and I added the T/ Th, 6:00pm appointment to my calendar. Justin, who needs to avoid scorpions, prepared a pasta dish for dinner while I was counting dance steps.

Monday, 18 December 2017: Celestun

Justin and I went down toward the port in search of shrimp this morning.  We wove our way through a quite disreputable part of town and e never did find shrimp but we did find David who said he'd bring 1 kilo of shrimp to our house in about an hour.   We've learned that the shrimp in Celestun are the tiny cocktail shrimp so I did need to change my menu plans a bit, but delivery?  Wow! 

While we were out, we also stopped by the Cultural center near the mouth of the river at the Celestun Bridge.  While we were there I got to watch the local raccoons interacting with a French family.  

Sunday, 17 December 2017: Merida

Into Merida for breakfast on the Paseo Montejo; this could easily be a ritual for us.  We found a fun little Italian place with great music. This is a great place to walk and rent bikes, but it was a bit warm today and we had an agenda:  On to Boston's to watch the game. Aaron Rodgers was back but that wasn't enough. Packer playoff options faded away.

A quick stop at Home Depot and to the grocery store and one quick trip to Walmart before we set the GPS for our return to Celestun.

Even Gemma gave up toward the end of the game

Blue Bell ice cream at the grocery store in Merida!

Saturday, 16 December 2107: Celestun

Justin and I went into Celestun today for basic marketing and to check out a new meat market.  It is quite upscale for our little beach town.  I found a recipe for a chorizo and poblano pepper cornbread dressing that I think Ill make for Christmas dinner.  Instead of dealing with a large turkey though, I'll just buy a large chicken from this market.  
Walking around town we saw a local lady selling a corn and chicken casserole/pie from her little bicycle cart. It was hot, flavorful, greasy and delicious!  We sat in the small centro with the town's Christmas tree and sad little crèche while we enjoyed our local street food.  

Later in the afternoon, we were happy to settle at Las Palamos for a delicious dinner after yet another amazing sunset.

Grilled fish stuffed with shrimp and crab

Friday, 15 December 2017: Celestun

Justin sent an email to Bijon expressing our interest in Casa Maria.  Now we wait...

Justin has been spending at least two to three hours (and sometimes five or six hours) everyday working in the gardens.  The question on the table is just how long does he need to keep doing this if the property will not be ours?  Abraham and Feli work like Trojans too.  We have crossed the line where any potential buyers will see all the improvements as will Bijon when he returns in March.

And of course, Dan Wood's house is still on the table.  We slow down each time we drive by and we often sit on the beach when we are walking by.  The beach is fabulous throughout Celestun.  All summer, each time we talked about buying property here, I insisted that beachfront was a non-negotiable.  And, now, of course, it is up for negotiation.  Hmmm...