The trip to Cozumel was absolutely perfect! 
On Wednesday February 7th I traveled from KC to Iowa City to pick up my other BFF, Jennifer. I stayed overnight at her place that night and we left for Waterloo the next morning. We went out for dinner and a pedicure that evening, then retired for the night - it wasn't easy falling asleep! We stayed Thursday night at Gretchen's house and got up early Friday and met the caravan of people at Trista and Bryan's house! We all drove to the Minneapolis airport where we left Friday afternoon for beautiful, sunny Cozumel! We killed time in the airport by going to Chile's for lunch and helping support the airport bar.
On Wednesday February 7th I traveled from KC to Iowa City to pick up my other BFF, Jennifer. I stayed overnight at her place that night and we left for Waterloo the next morning. We went out for dinner and a pedicure that evening, then retired for the night - it wasn't easy falling asleep! We stayed Thursday night at Gretchen's house and got up early Friday and met the caravan of people at Trista and Bryan's house! We all drove to the Minneapolis airport where we left Friday afternoon for beautiful, sunny Cozumel! We killed time in the airport by going to Chile's for lunch and helping support the airport bar.
The plane ride was pretty uneventful, but loooong! Jen and I made the time pass by having a beverage, reading some magazines, giggling and listening to some tunes! We arrived in Cozumel on Friday evening and finally settled into our hotel after a kind of scary drive through "boogietown" Cozumel in the rain! I was thrilled when we arrived at the hotel and it was a lot different than the houses we had passed!
Friday 2.9: Our first night we went to the hotel bar and stayed there until we were pooped and couldn't take it no mo'! Jen sang Nancy Sinatra "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" karaoke, we took full advantage of the open bar and Jen met her Mexican loverboy "Paco"! 
Saturday 2.10: Our first day we spent a lot of time just laying around the pool! Kim and I, sans children!, really enjoyed the peace and quiet and not having anything more to worry about than when we'd need our next drink refill! Througout the day we checked out the entire hotel and all the ammenities it offered: pool, open bar, open restaurant, free snorkeling, free entertainment as well as some of the activities offered in the area.
Our first night OUT we took cabs to the hot spot, Senor Frogs! It was one of the funnest nights of my life! We drank, we danced, we drank and we danced some more! The entertainment at the bar was off the charts! The waitstaff danced and mingled with the crowd. And every so often they offered free shots of Tequila to all who participated in a Locomotion-esque dance around the bar! By far though ... the best entertainment of the evening was when the DJ asked for couple volunteers to come to the stage. We were all floored when Trista grabbed Bryan's hand and marched on stage (Trista is very, very reserved and had NO IDEA what was coming he way!). The couples on stage were challenged with how many positions they could do "IT" in, in 15 seconds! Trista's face said it all: oh crap! Although they didn't win the contest, they were winners in our book! One of the more intereseting things about Senor Frogs was the restroom experience. They had waitresses in the bathroom who pumped the soap for you, provided the hand towels for you, offered Tootsie Pops, etc! It was quite the treatment!
On the cab ride home, all the girls piled into one car and sang LOUD, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!" Poor Angie (Bryan's sister, the one who looks like she's been kidnapped) looks a little uncomfortable, but she was singing just as enthusiastically as everyone else!Once we returned to the hotel (about 2 am) we still had some energy left so we convinced the front desk clerks to let us use the pool. They made a few calls to make sure the "boss" was gone and went ahead and let us! After about 30 minutes - and after Bryan broke the water fountain! - we dried off and went to our rooms where we went to sleep .... anxious to start the next day!
Sunday 2.11: Remember Trista's excitement to get on stage with Bryan!?!? Well, that all was fueled by a certain amount of alcohol, which ended up hurting her (and Bryan) the next day! Poor Trista and Bryan had hang overs for most of the day! Kyle (Trista's brother) was no where to be seen ALL day due to some sort of flu .... yah, right! Luckily, Jen, Kim and I felt 100% a-o-kay! That's Jen in the purple and Kim in the red - two of my BFFs!
While everyone was trying recuperate from the crazy night before, some of the crew went shopping at the square. Jen and I went for a stroll and along the way of shopping stopped in at a local restaurant and had a beverage. 
Monday 2.10: The big day - Trista and Bryan were getting married! The day started out very gloomy. This posed a problem as the wedding ceremony was scheduled to take place outdoors! However, by late afternoon the sun was out and no worries were in the air. We relaxed by the pool until just a couple hours before the wedding. How many brides get to say they did that?!?? Trista was so relaxed and at ease ... it was perfect! I did Trista and the girls' hair while Jen (Trista's personal attendant) helped the girls with their nails. 
As we walked toward the gazebo where the ceremony was to take place the wedding party did a shot of Jose Cuervo, to help ease nerves! When the big moment came ... a shock came as well: the entire wedding ceremony was in Spanish! The only words we understood were "Bryan Elory Benham" - which caused more than a few chuckles! This served to be a blessing as we all knew that Bryan would be a crying blubbering romantic if he would have understood what the minister was saying! The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way!
After the ceremony we had a reception in the dining hall, complete with Mexican wedding cake. It was during the wedding reception that Kalli made a very special announcement: she wanted to call Bryan "Dad".
After we wrapped the celebration up at the reception, we headed over to the Entertainment center and watched the hotel staff perform. After the performances we went to the hotel bar where we participated in more karaoke, more drinking and more fun!
Tuesday 2.13: We all went on a catamaran for a day-long cruise around Cozumel. 
We went snorkeling in two different spots, visited a beach where we had lunch and played sand volley ball and returned to our hotel later that evening. We attended another show presented by the hotel staff - another good one! That night we just stayed in and went to hotel bar after the show!
Wednesday 2.14: Three groups of us rented Jeeps for the day and toured Cozumel. It proved to be somewhat (very!) frightening as we drove through downtown Cozumel. Everyone just drives crazy and walks in the road and drives sooooooooo close! Outside of downtown, it was much better! Me, Jen, Kim and Kyle (Trista's bro) all rode in a Jeep together and cruised the coast, stopped at a few flea markets and 
restaurants and eventually settled into a nice beach for a few hours. One of the restaurants we visited was featured in a magazine with the "Wish You Were Here" award
(see pic below)! 
(see pic below)! 
The reefs were beautiful!
After returning to the hotel and having dinner, we enjoyed another show put on by the hotel staff. .... and the open bar! After the show, Jen, Trista and I went to Senor Frogs for the evening. 
We left Frogs a little after 1am and were starving hungry - we were craving Taco Bell. Needless to say, there aren't Taco Bell's in Cozumel! We asked our cab driver to drop us off at a good place to eat and pick us up in an hour. He knew just the spot and we were NOT disappointed! The food was great! However, it didn't take an hour for us to eat our food so we started to walk back (bad idea in hindsight!). Lucky for us, our cabbie knew an hour would be too long so he headed back to the restaurant early and found us walking. : ) That night, Kim violated Mary - the entry way greeter. She was never seen again ...
We left Frogs a little after 1am and were starving hungry - we were craving Taco Bell. Needless to say, there aren't Taco Bell's in Cozumel! We asked our cab driver to drop us off at a good place to eat and pick us up in an hour. He knew just the spot and we were NOT disappointed! The food was great! However, it didn't take an hour for us to eat our food so we started to walk back (bad idea in hindsight!). Lucky for us, our cabbie knew an hour would be too long so he headed back to the restaurant early and found us walking. : ) That night, Kim violated Mary - the entry way greeter. She was never seen again ...
Thursday 2.15: The day started with a few hours by the pool eating and drinking and napping and swimming and eating and drinking and swimming ... ahh ... good times, good times. The crew played water volley ball and worked on warding off the stalker from Iowa. 
Our last night in Cozumel proved to be a wild one. After dinner we went to the entertainment show and participated in the limbo and did lots of last-minute shots of Jose Cuervo. Jen said her goodbyes to Paco ... we all said good bye to Francisco, our favorite staff person and Bryan and Dave and Steph smoked their Cuban cigars. 
We took the party to the indoor hotel bar and the craziness continued ... 
more (unnecessary) shots of 
Cuervo, table dancing by Kim and karaoke by Bryan and Dave.
Friday 2.16: This was a hard day - we had to pack our stuff and all while suffering a hang over. Luckily not the worst we had ever suffered, but bad enough that we didn't exactly want to be working! After checking out of our rooms at noon, we went back to the shopping square and did some last minute shopping and then returned to the hotel to nap by the pool until it was time to take the shuttle back to the airport.
Saturday 2.17: We left Minneapolis around noon on Saturday and drove back to Waterloo. It was a harsh welcome back - very cold!
This was a great trip and I am so grateful to have great friends to have shared these memories with!
Some of our greatest memories:
* Miami Vice Drinks * Chips * Pico de Gallo * Guacamole * Open bar and restaurant
* Not caring about how I looked in a swim suit! * Cheap shops * Dancing at Senor Frogs * Poolside naps
. . . can't wait to return!
