The sombrero diaries-Cozumel

So many things are discussed about Mexico. Bad water, tequila, sun, beaches, poverty, crime, sombreros, etc., etc... My God-Daughter will tell you emphatically NOT to drink the water. This wasn't my first rodeo when it came to travelling abroad so that was not a problem. My mind run that course easily. No water, no ice, no frozen delights that could be made with tainted water, don't rinse your mouth with tap water, don't wash your hands and put them in your mouth until fully dry. Paranoid? Well guess who never had Montezuma's Revenge? This guy! Tequila? I don't really like the stuff. However there is always an exception to the rule and Cozumel I found it!

So we crossed the brow from the ship and we were in Mexico! After the obligatory pictures and shop browsing we ended at a cab stand where the haggling began again in earnest. After a span of roundy round with the drivers we hopped a van and headed to the beach.via a tequila distillery. Well sort of. It was a very nice Hacienda that was converted to show how tequila is made at the actual distillery a few hundred miles away. However, free samples of everything were provided so that makes it a non-issue!! So as I said tequila and me are not friends. No story there, I am just not a fan. That is until I tried a tamarind flavored tequila. This stuff was FUN. So we buy a bottle with the express idea that we are taking it to the beach and sharing it and having a good time. You know what? That is exactly what we did too. No drama. No punch line. After the Hacienda we all went to this beautiful beach and drank tequila and sunned and swam and had some food that my wife labeled "gorgeous". You know what? It was gorgeous too, from the octopus to the nachos it was just gorgeous. Like so many other nice things in life they all come to an end though. 

After far too few hours we headed back to town and did a little more window shopping, and that is when we saw him. My wife actually spied his younger brother and pointed him out to me, but. that was when I saw Poncho. How anyone could miss Poncho I don't know! He was covered in dark green felt and white sequins. He was majestic. He was all that was, and is, Mexico to me. The Cisco Kid and Zorro rolled all up into one.A BIG GREEN SHINY SOMBRERO!! So after some time alone talking to Poncho and weighing the options of getting him on the ship, off the ship, on the planes, off the planes I decided to do the smart thing and say sorry Poncho you have to stay. At which point my wife asks me why I don't have a sombrero on my head. I explain the logistical nightmare of a 2.5 foot sombrero and air travel. Which she promptly poo poo's and tells me to go buy a sombrero. So I go back and hem and haw..and buy myself the coolest sombrero ever! Sure I got strange looks but who cares? They're all just jealous. 
So shortly after that, on the ship we went and out to sea we go! Next stop Texas!