Los Angeles. Day 3. Such a Lovely Place.
“There she stood in the doorway
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
’This could be Heaven or this could be Hell’”
Well, I woke up at 4am, and I couldn’t even tell you why. It was before the kids even got up. The kids didn’t get up until 6, 630.
We got ready to go and weren’t sure what to do for breakfast so we ended up going downstairs to one of the quick service places. The kids got fruit loops. Hallie had to buy two boxes of fruit loops because one wasn’t enough and obviously, she opened both and didn’t finish either. Robyn, Tzvi and I got a weird avocado toast thing that was on bagel crisps with avocado cream and eggs and everything bagel spice. It was weird, but edible. [Tzvi: it ended up making me so nauseous.] Hallie wanted to sit outside because she didn’t like the smell in the restaurant, but we ended up next to a garbage which also kind of smelled.
When we were done we headed to California Adventure. What's so great about this hotel is that you can walk right into California Adventure from the hotel – there’s basically no line and you’re right in the middle of the park. A huge huge benefit.
The first thing we did, because it was right there, was go on the Little Mermaid ride. Hallie was scared of Ursula, but once we got on the ride, she was fine. Madeleine loved it. Fun for the whole family.
Then we headed over to Cars Land and got a lightening lane for Radiator Springs Racers. It was so fun. I think the left side always wins, because I went twice and both times the left side won. Hallie was a little scared but she had fun.
While Robyn and I rode Radiator Springs, Tzvi took the girls on the Tow-Mater spin ride, which they loved.
We then did Guardians of the Galaxy – first me and Tzvi, and then me and Robyn. Also awesome. The first time I went I lost my sunglasses, and they had to send a person to go get them, but I got them back.
After that, Tzvi started to crap out. [Tzvi: I was so nauseous from that avocado cream toast, and riding the Cars rides and Guardians (which is an up and down free-fall ride) just destroyed my stomach. While Steph and Robyn rode Guardians I just laid down on a bench and hoped the kids didn’t wander away.]
We ended up walking and stumbling on Princess Anna, so the kids were excited to meet her and take pictures. It was cute, but I still think our local Anna is better.
For lunch we went to Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta. I got some salad but it was drenched in dressing, so it was a little too much.
After lunch Madeleine took a nap and Hallie and I did a bunch of rides – the Golden Zephyr, the swings, the jellyfish jumps. She had such a good time. We were on the swings and she was like, ’I’ve never flown before.’ It was just so cute and so nice to see her enjoying it, especially because I had Madeleine who was whiny and Tzvi who was complaining, so it was nice to have some positivity out of Hallie and someone actually enjoying themselves.
From there we went to the bread bakery, which is always fun, and bought a loaf of bread. Then we went to Ghirardelli, which usually gives out free samples, but it seems they’ve stopped that, so that was depressing.
Then we headed over to Pixar Pier, where Robyn and I rode the Incredicoaster, which is great. Eventually Madeleine woke up, so we did Jessie’s Critter Carousel and Toy Story, which were both fun. I didn’t win because I was incapacitated – my arm was already sore from holding Madeleine the last day and a half, and I had Madeleine on my lap, and I was actually beating Tzvi until the last round when Madeleine started crying and pushing away the controller, so I will take the loss, but I will not say it is a fair loss and I don’t believe Tzvi won fair and square.
Then we went to the Ferris Wheel and saw that the line was only 10 minutes, so we said great and got on line, but it ended up being a full half hour, and what was so annoying was the whole time we kept seeing people walking on and skipping the line by presenting a little yellow slip of paper. When we finally got to the front of the line we asked what the yellow passes were and they said it was a disability pass. I didn’t really get it though, because there’s no reason you can’t sit in a wheel chair or scooter and wait on this line, unless it was like a mental disability like anxiety, in which case I should’ve skipped every line because I had to deal with Tzvi. Anyway, we got on the Ferris Wheel; I was really glad we did it and it was really fun.
Finally, we got ice cream which Hallie had been whining to get for a while, and Madeleine got an ice pop. Then we headed over to Soarin’, which Madeleine couldn’t do, so we left her with Robyn to go look for a Woody doll. Whenever we wait on line for Soarin’ we always hear the music from the American President, so we got to listen to Tzvi recite all of the lines from the end of the movie, which was lovely. Soarin’ is a simulated plane ride around the world over several monuments, and as we flew over the Great Wall of China we explained to Hallie what it was, and she said, ‘I hope we don’t get Corona virus.’
We did a little bit of shopping and bought the girls lollipops. I also got a popcorn and ate it all myself. That was nauseating. Finally Robyn and Madeleine came back with two Jessie dolls – one for each girl.
Then Tzvi ushered me out and I was sad. [Tzvi: It was 5:15pm by then. It had been a full day.]
We walked back into the hotel, got all of our luggage from the bellhop and called an Uber. We got a black Chevy Suburban, which thankfully fit all of our stuff. The ride to LA was actually pretty easy and took less than an hour and a half – not bad for mid-day traffic. The girls were quiet and watched their tablets, and Tzvi and I watched the Mets.
Finally we made it to West Hollywood and checked into our hotel, the London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills. I still have no idea what that name means. West Hollywood and Beverly Hills are two separate cities in Los Angeles adjacent to each other. We stayed at this hotel back in 2019 when we came for Austin and Rachel’s wedding. So basically I come in and I’m just remembering that the last time I was here I had to leave because I had a kidney stone, so that’s stressful. Maybe this will be my do-over. The hotel is an ”all-suite” hotel, but that just means the rooms are huge, not that they’re actually multi-room suites.
We had ordered dinner from Lenny’s Casita on Pico, a kosher Mexican place that’s opened since we were last here. Sherry and Mark picked it up and then came to eat it in the hotel with us. The food was great, but we ordered way too much. Tzvi and I both got crunch wraps, but that was a mistake because they were massive and we could’ve shared one. We also had the corn ribs, which were kind of weird. Mark got a churro waffle for dessert, which was actually delicious.
After dinner we got the girls to bed. We were exhausted and our feet were killing us.
Good day.
Los Angeles. Day 2. My, oh, my, what a wonderful day.
“Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh, my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!”
Well, the night was something. I’m pretty sure the girls got up around 5. We brought them in our room and tried to keep them quiet.
It didn’t really work but what are you going to do? We started getting up at some point, maybe 615, I don’t even know. Always nice to see the sun rise over Disney.
We got dressed and headed to our character breakfast, which was downstairs in Storyteller’s Café and features Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale. It was so great. The girls had the best time. When Madeleine saw Minnie she was so so happy, as was Hallie. And now we don’t need to deal with any characters in the park. So, mission accomplished. Also, breakfast was good, but the best thing was the Mickey waffle as usual. I don’t know, it’s just always the best.
Finally it was time to head into the park. We went into Disneyland and were engulfed in magic. The first thing we actually did was get a picture in front of the castle. We have Genie + which is where you pay extra to be able to book the fast passes to skip lines for rides, which used to be free. At least in Disneyland you also get all of your professional photos with Genie +, which is nice, because in Disney World you don’t. Pro tip – whenever you take photos you need to show your QR code from the Disney app so the photographer can scan it. There’s no Disney app for Apple Watch, but in about 30 seconds Tzvi managed to screenshot the QR code and turn it into a watch face, so every time we took photos they just scanned my watch. Cool.
We rode a lot of rides. We started with the Carousel, which Madeleine enjoyed. Then we went on Mr. Toad, which neither Hallie nor Madeleine enjoyed; Hallie cried and Madeleine was just scared, though to be fair it is a literal drive through hell. Next we did Small World which both girls loved. I like the Small World here because it has characters from all the Disney movies sprinkled around in each land, so like China has Mulan and Hawaii has Stitch. It’s cute.
For lunch we couldn’t decide what we were going to eat and finally got on line at the Alien Pizza Planet restaurant where we got pizza and pasta with impossible Bolognese, which was actually pretty good. Hallie didn’t like the small round kids pizza and wanted to eat Tzvi’s regular slice, so she took off all of the cheese and ate half of it, then said she was done, which killed Tzvi. Madeleine napped through all of this.
After lunch we rode Buzz Lightyear. With Madeleine on my lap I managed to score only 3100, which was not that much worse than Tzvi’s 4100. [Tzvi: There must’ve been something wrong with mine.] Robyn scored the highest at 40,000, but to be fair, she’s the only one with real weapons training.
After that it was time for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. We had to pay $20 to get the Lightening Lane on that one (it’s not included in the regular Genie +), but it was totally worth it. Such a phenomenal ride. It’s the same as Disney World, and they’ve really recreated Galaxy’s Edge the same as Disney World as well. We found another photo pass photographer and he started asking us to do all these different poses and it ended up basically as a whole photo shoot. I should have brought outfit changes. It felt kind of like we were on a cruise ship.
We met back up with the girls and did the teacups ride, then mobile ordered a dole whip, said hi to Alice (in Wonderland), rode Winnie the Pooh, and finished off with Splash Mountain. Hallie was excited to go on Splash Mountain but then we got on and there are a bunch of little drops and Tzvi kept saying ‘this is the big one’ and she kept getting scared, and by the end she was just crying, so she didn’t really enjoy it. Its like he doesn’t even follow Big Little Feelings (which he does, and should know better.) And also we got soaking wet, probably the wettest in years. So Hallie wasn’t thrilled, but then when Robyn asked her how it was, she said it was good. Anyway, I walked around the rest of the night in wet denim. It was pleasant.
For dinner we had scheduled Blue Bayou, but our reservation wasn’t until 7pm and we weren’t going to last until then. So we went at 5pm and they ended up taking us pretty quickly. We shared a salad and we both had the seared tuna, which was delicious. There was nothing for Hallie so she ate strawberries, but she did have some tuna and liked it, which is a win. Madeleine had pasta with broccoli and liked it. For dessert we had crème brulé and chocolate cake, neither of which were that good, but I still love the Blue Bayou. Hallie and Tzvi were having an argument the whole time about whether the restaurant was inside or outside. (Blue Bayou is designed to look like you’re outside after dark on the porch of a house in New Orleans.) The restaurant just recently reopened after a months-long refurbishment, but the only thing different since the last time we were there is that they’ve gotten rid of the salmon.
After dinner we all rode Autopia, which was actually very fun. Hallie liked it because she got to drive the car. Then we walked on Main Street and did some shopping. Then Robyn and I rode Space Mountain, which was great as usual. From there I took the girls back to the hotel while Robyn and Tzvi did one last ride – Indiana Jones, because we had a ‘return anytime’ lightening lane pass.
After that Tzvi came back to the room and we got the girls to bed. Hallie was in that mode where she was just so tired she was complaining about being tired and cold and everything. Also, Madeleine has a cold now. We got into bed and passed out.
Hopefully they sleep better tonight.
Great day.
Los Angeles. Day 1. California, Here We Come.
“Pedal to the floor,
Thinking of the roar,
Gotta get us to the show.
California here we come.
Right back where we started from.”
We got up Sunday morning. Our flight was at 930 so we booked two Ubers (because we have too much stuff for one) for 745 am, which is too early for my liking but it is what it is. Already in the morning Tzvi was all stressed out.
It used to be cute like “oh, lets get to the airport, I really need to make sure we have overheard space and aren’t the last ones on the plane” but now it’s like “we need to be the first ones on the plane so I can put my little backpack up in the overhead bin because God forbid there is something at my feet and I can’t stretch out my size 13 feet under the seat in front of me without obstruction, so you all must heave ho.”
Anyway, the airport was extremely crowded and there was a huge line for curbside. Thankfully we saw the sign that said Mosaic check-in and walked right into a special check-in counter for Mint and Mosaic members! Who knew? Probably everyone but us. We checked in right away – no line. It was amazing. We must’ve saved I don’t even know how long and it would’ve been really difficult to even schlep our bags and check in at the regular counter. Now we know for the future, and it’s worth all that credit card spending to be a Mosaic member.
We went through security pretty quickly. The airport was so packed the Dunkin line was insane, the Starbucks line was crazy, but I mobile ordered Starbucks and picked up my drink all within 10 minutes. It was fantastic. I’m doing great today with lines. Of course Tzvi doubted my mobile order abilities and was like “are you REALLY going to get there in time.”
We got the girls some snacks and cereals and Tzvi was rushing to get to the gate because he wanted to board first and take advantage of that Mosaic status (read: stretch feet out). Seems to me that a real benefit would be you get to board last and you’re guaranteed overhead space right above your seat. After we got the snacks I went to get my coffee and by the time he called me to yell at me asking where I was I had already picked up my coffee, so ha.
We boarded and settled into our Even More Space seats (another perk of Mosaic – upgraded seats are free). We saw two people on the flight that we knew – Avi Buchman, who we went to college with and who lives in LA, and Morah Miriam, who was Madeleine’s teacher at the JCC last year. That was fun.
The flight was long. It was five hours and 14 minutes but we took off 40 minutes late, and then once we got to LA we taxied for a long time and spent a while looking for parking (welcome to LA). The kids did pretty well, though it wasn’t super easy. Madeleine only slept for about an hour and Hallie has probably lost too many brain cells to count from watching five straight hours of Bluey episodes. Toward the end of the flight the woman sitting behind us told us that we seemed like really good parents and our children seemed really grounded. Thank you ma’am.
We got off the plane and found the Coffee Bean right next to our gate. It must’ve been fate, so we each got an ice blended before walking to baggage claim.
We got our bags pretty quickly and then waited for the van that we had pre-booked through Disney, except they didn’t tell us that we should've called earlier, so we had to wait about a half hour. Thankfully everyone and everything fit and we were off. The ride wasn’t too bad – about 40 minutes and the girls watched their tablets… again. At some point during the drive I realized that I had left my shoulder bag on the plane. Thankfully it only had my airpods in it, but unfortunately it had my airpods in it. Also, it was the perfect bag and now I had nothing to carry on this trip.
We finally pulled up to the Grand Californian Hotel at Disneyland. Yay! The hotel was super crowded. We checked in around 2:55, but our room wasn’t ready. I asked, ‘isn’t check in at 3?’ The woman checking-us in said ‘yes, but that means the rooms are ready between 3 and 4.’ That makes no sense – you don’t have check in at 3 if the rooms aren’t ready at 3. Immediately I knew we were at Disneyland and not Disney World.
We had some time so we walked around to see what the hotel had to offer. Everyone was getting cranky, Tzvi especially, so we sat down at the lobby restaurant to order pizza number 1 of the trip. At this point it was around 315. It took about 8 years to get a waiter to come over, and then an eternity for the food to arrive. In the meantime, Sherry and Mark arrived and joined us. They had driven from LA to meet us for the evening, so they sat and ate some pizza. The girls were very happy to see them.
After that we still hadn’t gotten a text about our room but it was already 415 so we just got on line at “Key Pickup” and by the time we got to the front of the line the room was ready. Actually, only one was ready, but they gave us all of the keys anyway. There was only one person manning the key line and it moved very slowly, so Tzvi went up to another person at Registration who was doing nothing and asked if she would give us the keys. She said no and that we had to go to the key line. Tzvi said, ‘but there’s only one person manning the key line.’ She said “yes” and smiled. Again, Disneyland not World.
The rooms are nice and spacious. A little dated, but still very nice. Only problem is that Tzvi and I don’t have a king bed – both rooms have two queens (at check in they said that even though we’d booked a king connecting to two queens they had no availability, to which Tzvi said ‘but we booked a king several months ago’ and the woman just said “yes” and smiled). At least we’ve got a bathtub for the girls and connecting rooms, and an [obstructed] view of the ferris wheel.
We showered and changed quickly and headed downstairs to Downtown Disney, which is much smaller than Disney World’s Disney Springs, but still very nice. I had to carry my stuff in a plastic bag because I didn’t have my shoulder bag. At least the bag check at security appreciated that. Anyway, we walked around a bit and saw the Lego store where they have a massive Lego Aladdin magic carpet with Aladdin and Genie and Jasmine, and Madeleine was freaking out because she loves Aladdin so much.
Then we headed to dinner at Catal. I’m not really sure what kind of restaurant it was – they had kind of an eclectic menu. I’m always underwhelmed by the restaurants in Downtown Disney, especially when Disney Springs has some really good ones. Dinner was good though. We started with a Caesar salad, which came as three large pieces of romaine, and pan con tomate, which I didn’t like but Tzvi said was ok. Tzvi and I shared the grilled salmon and the vegan jambalaya, which was actually delicious and was made with fideo noodles (basically cut up spaghetti) instead of rice. Hallie actually ate some of my salmon. For dessert we had cornbread Madeleines, which we felt obliged to order and were actually very good. The girls did very well and we didn’t need their tablets until the end. At one point Tzvi made some joke about something Sherry said and Hallie whispered to Tzvi, ‘Dad, you should be nicer to grandma.’
After dinner we walked over to Black Tap for milkshakes. (Black Tap is a restaurant that started in NYC and is known for over-the-top milkshakes.). I got a cookie shake, which was massive and crazy. Tzvi got a simple coffee milkshake, Mark got vanilla and sherry got vegan. All were delicious.
As we were waiting for the milkshakes Hallie asked if we could take a walk alone because she needed to talk to me about something. She said, ‘Daddy is acting very hard and it doesn’t make me feel good. Why is daddy so stressed?’ I told her that sometimes Tzvi gets stressed; at first, we were flying so he was stressed about that, and then all of the travel, and then his parents. Hallie’s so intuitive and smart.
From there we said goodbye to Sherry and Mark and walked to World of Disney to do some shopping. On the way we passed a floral display that said “Shalom” and it said it was part of the Disney company celebrating the Jewish community. Thanks Disneyland.
At World of Disney Madeleine wanted to buy an adult Ursula sweatshirt, which didn’t work out for her because she’s not an adult. Somehow, we managed to buy a ton of stuff even though we haven’t stepped foot in a park yet. I also bought a Disney fanny pack, because you’re not a Disney mom until you have a fanny pack. Actually, I bought it so I’d have something to carry in the park, since I don’t have my shoulder bag that I lost on the plane.
After that we headed upstairs and got the girls to bed. Everyone was so so tired they went to sleep pretty quickly.
It was about 10pm, which was really 1am New York time, and we had a full park day scheduled for tomorrow, so it was obviously time for us all to go to sleep. So, Tzvi and I headed out of the hotel and walked through Downtown Disney over to the Disneyland Hotel to Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar. The bar is decorated like a traditional tiki bar, but filled with memorabilia from Disney rides and movies. Also, ordering certain drinks triggered certain things to happen in the bar. Tzvi ordered a gin drink called the Tangaroa Cooler, and I had the Shipwreck on the Rocks, which caused lightening sounds to play and the ship in the bottle behind the bar to sink. The drinks were good and came in souvenir mugs. It was kind of like being on a ride that serves alcohol. It was fun, but the lack of sleep is not going to be.
Good day.
Mexico 2022. Day 5. Goodbye... For now.
We woke up this morning for our last breakfast. Today was different as it was Sunday brunch!
To start, there was live music, which was a nice touch. There were pastries, but a different assortment. There was also a ceviche station which I didn’t touch, and then I think there was a whole egg and burger station, but we skipped that as well. The a la carte menu was also different, but we still both ordered avocado eggs. We also got the French Toast, which was different. And we (sadly) had our last green juice. At one point they also came around with little cups of churros.
We spoke to Chef Jorge again today. I asked him how to make the tomato garlic dip that was so delicious. He explained, and then we got to talking… Chef Jorge is the sous chef of the hotel, meaning he’s second in command to Juan Pablo in overseeing the whole hotel. He’s only been there for a month and has his own restaurant in Mexico City, and also had a TV show.
Over breakfast we looked at the Rosewood website to see if we could book a trip for next August (2023) to bring the kids, but for some reason the one week we want shows as unavailable.
After breakfast we went to the front desk to check out, and were also assured that if I called reservations I’d be able to book the week as “we always try to accommodate our repeat guests” (spoiler: the week is open, but I still need to book it).
We then went back to the room to finish packing up. Our butler arrived at 10:45 with a bellman and we were on our way! We left in the same kind of car that we arrived in, but opted to skip the beer this time. (It was a little early.) In order to mitigate the depression of leaving, I called Disneyland during the drive to finalize payment for our August trip. While driving we also saw policemen on the road stopping cars. Our driver said they do that on Sunday mornings to check for drunk drivers, but I think they’re really looking for trafficked girls.
Goodbye Mayakoba
We made it to the airport and were met by a guide who took us to check in and all the way to security. I will say this time was so much faster than last time and the airport was pretty empty. Maybe we were just early for the flight, who knows. We got through security and walked around duty free. We bought some Mexican spice (tajin) and some chocolate. Then we headed to the gate where we had time to spare.
When it was finally boarding time we lined up, but unfortunately weren’t first on the plane. We did, however, have the same seats. As we saw people boarding the plane I saw none other than pees-during-landing woman from our first flight! I told Tzvi that I hoped this time she plans better. Overall the flight was pretty easy except once again our TV’s didn’t work. This time it was the entire system, not just the actual live television. Oh well.
It was a smooth landing and we sped through customs, only to sit and wait for our bags. Tzvi calculated that it was about an hour from landing to when we left the airport. We Ubered home, but the kids and my parents were still at dinner. Finally, they arrived, and the first thing Madeleine said was “I vomit!” A warm welcome back for sure.
Great trip.
By the way, if you haven’t yet seen Tzvi’s Instagram reel of our welcome home (which has now been viewed over 750,000 times), you can view it here.
Mexico 2022. Day 4. Table for 11.
Today we got up and headed to breakfast. Same great breakfast as usual.
We were seated amongst a bunch of families. It’s really nice here for families; have I said that enough? They have a kid camp and everything. There is also babysitting for $25 an hour. It seems that everyone loves the babysitters. I think we’re going to need to bring the kids here eventually.
At breakfast Chef Jorge came over to say hello. He was the chef who had presented the menu at the La Ceiba dinner, and we had spoken to him at breakfast on Thursday. This morning we chatted a bit and asked him how to make the avocado eggs, because I definitely want to make those at home. He explained the process step by step. Nice man.
We went to the pool and had the same seats as yesterday. We basically spent the entire day sitting by the pool and reading. I got through the new Daniel Silva book and Tunde Oyeneyin’s book (also a Peloton instructor). Amazing what you can do when you can’t use your phone. I would have started my third book but Tzvi had convinced me I didn’t need to bring it to the beach because was I really going to finish 2 books?
At the pool we played the ‘what do they do’ game where we took turns guessing what other guests do for a living. Tzvi was pretty sure that everyone was in the cartel.
We ordered lunch and as soon as the food was ready it started to rain, so they set up our food at a table under the covered area. We sat there for a while reading and eating. Today I had salmon tacos for lunch. It was three small tacos and one was fishy but the other two were delicious. Odd.
It was getting a little gloomy out, so we decided to spend some time at the spa. We didn’t have treatments booked, but we were able to go in and use the spa facilities. I was given a locker and a towel and told to have a nice time. Tzvi had a very different experience.
[Tzvi: After receiving my locker and towel, Alex, the spa attendant, proceeded to follow me around and walk me through the spa process. First he sent me into the steam room with a bowl of coarse scrub and a cold towel. My skin felt great after that. Then he had me use the rain shower, then brought me into the sauna. He had me lay down on one of the pre-arranged towels with a. towel pillow, then he placed a cold eye mask on me, then covered that with a cold washcloth, and then proceeded to spray me with a cool misting spray. After that I went for a quick plunge in the cold pool, followed by some time in the hot tub. When I was done with that I sipped some red hibiscus drink. Great experience.]
I got none of that. I went in and saw our British friends in the hot tub, so I joined them. They decided to go in the cold pool and when they came back they said I had to do it. I succumbed to the peer pressure and made it for the 5 seconds I had to.
After the spa we came back to the room. We stood on the edge of our boat dock and watched the turtles in the lagoon. We saw so many turtles, but got twice as many bug bites. Then we spent time in our plunge pool and read some more. I probably made it about halfway through my third book.
Finally shabbat ended and we headed to dinner at the Zepote Bar. There were about twenty seconds of fireworks somewhere over the beach, so that was nice.
When we got to the bar we gave our name and they said, “Table for 11?” I guess someone made a mistake when they made the reservation, so we had to wait a bit for a table since the only open one was an 11-seater. That was fine because Tzvi was on the phone with Jet Blue anyway dealing with our check-in for tomorrow. Eventually a table opened up right in front of the band playing live music, so we had a front row seat for dinner. They were actually very good and played a mix of Mexican and jazz/pop music.
The food at Zapote Bar is mostly a Mexican/Mediterranean fusion. To start we had a trio of dips – guacahini, humus with barbacoa chickpeas and an eggplant and labneh thing – which came with pickled vegetables and an assortment of breads. Tzvi also had the Boquerones, small pickled fish filets with a gremolata on top. He said they were delicious and ate all six himself. Next we had felafel and roasted smoked cauliflower, except Tzvi didn’t read the menu closely enough and both came sitting on a base of labne (cheese), so I kind of had to pick through that to avoid the labne, but it was fine because I was already so full.
For dessert we shared a chocolate lava cake and a rice pudding with dried fruits and a tahini ice cream, both of which were delicious.
When we finished dinner we stopped to say goodbye to our British friends who were having a post-dinner drink at the bar. They invited us to sit and have drinks with them. So nice of them to let us intrude on their family time. We sat for an hour and a half chatting about everything from Donald Trump to Johnny Depp. They also told us about the “Wagatha Christie” trial, another trial going on in England between two wives of “football” players, where one wife was posting fake Instagram stories on her private Instagram and blocked all her friends except for the other wife who was leaking those stories to the tabloids. I think we totally missed that trial in the US, but it’s pretty funny. Anyway, it was so generous of them to treat us to drinks and it was great talking to them and getting to know them.
It was after midnight when we got back to our room and passed out. Great day. Sad that we have to leave tomorrow.
Mexico 2022. Day 3. Watch Out For the Bats.
We got up, dressed, and headed to breakfast.
It was pretty much the same. They keep trying to seat us outside but it’s so hot. I am not built to sit outside in the heat while eating. I got avocado eggs and today we shared the pancakes, which were extra fluffy.
After breakfast we decided once again to ride down to the beach area and got seats at the adult pool. It’s weird because the resort is pretty full but the pool was empty at 10am and nothing seems crowded. Though I guess we aren’t going to the family pool which is probably more crowded. Anyway, I guess that’s one of the good things about this place.
After getting set up I decided that I was going to go to the Pueblito today! Tzvi didn’t want to come with me so he stayed at the pool and read. The Pueblito is the little village within Mayakoba (so you need to leave the hotel, but not the larger complex that has the four hotels). I rode my bike to the front of the hotel and got a (fancier) golf cart to take me to the Pueblito. We drove out of the resort and about one minute into the ride we turned around and went back to the hotel because another family wanted to go to the Pueblito, but then they decided to bike so that was five minutes lost. Anyway, off we went. On the ride the driver asked if I had visited the Cenote – an underground cave next to the Pubelito - and I told him I hadn’t. I decided to go there first. A guide took me down and showed me the clear water that is full of minerals and then a ton of bats. Before we went down he asked me if I was okay with the bats and I was like ‘well, are they ok with me?’ It was very cool.
I came up and went to the Pueblito. I stepped into the first store and then it started to pour. That worked out because I was able to miss the downpour while I shopped. I bought some gifts for the girls and then hit the bakery. I got some orange liquor cookie and a chocolate chip cookie and then headed back to the Rosewood. That was as much exploring as I needed to do this trip.
[Tzvi: While Steph was gone I sat at the pool and watched the clouds coming in and the sky turning darker and darker. It was also getting windier and the pool attendants started closing all of the umbrellas and taking away the pillows. Eventually everyone abandoned their seats and went to sit under the covered area behind the pool. I laid on a swing for twenty minutes reading while it rained. Then the rain cleared and everyone went back their seats.
We sat at the pool, had lunch, got drinks. I had a mudslide that was basically a milkshake with vodka, and Tzvi had a frozen margarita that came in tin bucket filled with ice. We spent a lot of time reading in the pool. The water was so nice and it was so hot out, I think we were in the pool for hours.
For lunch I had a Caesar salad with hazelnuts and Tzvi had the fish burrito. It smelled fishy but Tzvi really liked it.
Our Michigan friends were at the pool again. He has a tattoo of Michigan on the bottom of his foot. I asked him if it was painful and he didn’t seem to think so. I can’t even deal with it when they touch the bottom of my foot during a pedicure. He must really love Michigan (the state, not the college, because he specifically said he went to Michigan State and doesn’t care for the University of Michigan).
Late in the afternoon we ordered some pre-shabbat guac, because God forbid a day should go by without guac.
Towards the end of the day we saw a bunch of the staff members heading down to the beach, and a bunch of them were in matching shirts. Then we heard cheering, so we went to check it out. Turns out they were having a staff volleyball game so we sat and watched. It was Executives and Food and Beverage vs. Butlers and Lobby/Front staff. It was fun to watch. I’m not sure who won.
Then we headed back to the room and made some phone calls.
From there went to the gym. [Tzvi: After some moderate workout I decided that a day full of drinking tequila and mezcal and eating guac wasn’t the best lead-up to a core workout, so I decided to take advantage of my bicycle and my surroundings and got my exercise outdoors. I biked all over the resort and ended up going through the area where the residences are. They’re basically gorgeous massive houses that look like the modern places going up all over Los Angeles.]
We got back to the room and got ready for Shabbat and dinner. Dinner tonight was at Agave Azul, the sushi restaurant. We were a little late. I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. The food is really excellent, but the experience is just like eating in a great restautant. Usually there would be nothing wrong with a meal in a great restaurant, but at this hotel there are so many grand dining experiences (see, e.g., our last two nights), that having a great meal in a great restaurant was a bit of a letdown. I have no idea how we’re ever going to go back to regular life after this trip.
We sat outside (most of the restaurant is outside), but it was really hot and I think the humidity really got to me here. Next time we eat inside. Also, the table was wooden with slats all throughout the surface so Tzvi kept dropping food through onto his pants, but that’s probably more of a ‘Tzvi is a slob problem’ than a restaurant problem.
The food was delicious and we ate the exact same thing we had last time. Edamame, cauliflower, sushi rolls, and dessert that looks like sushi. We also had the same waiter we had last time, who was very nice but because the shape of the outdoor space is kind of awkward we could never find him. At the table across from us there was a young couple. They also couldn’t get the server so he just went to another table to get soy sauce. At some point he asked ‘have y’all eaten here before?’ He said it was so good he needs to find Mexican sushi back home. Turns out ‘back home’ was New York (despite the “y’all”). They told us they were from Texas but had moved recently to New York. She just finished her first year at New York Medical College and he’s a lawyer with a big New York firm. They just got married and are moving to the Upper East Side. It was so funny because they are SO Texas but they are excited about New York. They don’t think they’ll be there long term though. He was also talking about work and mentioned that his supervising partner works remotely from Israel! SO random.
After dinner we walked to Zapote just to see what was happening. We found Juan Pablo eating outside with his wife and said hello.
Then we came back to our room where our butler had drawn us a lovely bath with rose petals! The bathtub is so big that it takes 45 minutes to fill it, so we asked the butler to do it for us, but the rose petals were a surprise. It was so nice.
Good day.
Mexico 2022. Day 2. I'll Stay Here.
I think I woke up this morning at 6:46, but thankfully fell back asleep until 8:45. We got dressed and headed to our first breakfast!
Breakfast was definitely more elaborate than last time and I guess that is because last time we were dealing with COVID restrictions. There were pastries (puff pastry, blueberry muffins, croissants, chocolate croissants, donuts, cinnamon pastries and more). There was a whole table of cheeses and lox, granolas, fruits, yogurt. There was this grilled bread with a ton of oils and dips that were out of this world. There was also the cutest kids station with kiddie foods, cereals, cookies, yogurts etc. THEN you have the entire à la carte menu to choose from. We ordered the avocado eggs, which is eggs scrambled with avocado, serrano chiles, cilantro, and tortillas. Chef Juan Pablo said this was his favorite dish. Apparently he had been eating it every day and then at some point said ‘why don’t we just put it on the on the menu.’ Tzvi got the special of the day, which was basically a fried tortilla with eggs and salsa and a layer of fried cheese. Of course we also shared an order of French Toast, which was a thick brioche with a berry compote and a maple ice cream. I wanted to get it today because I knew I’d be too full to get it on the last day (which happened last time). We saw our British friends from last night and they asked, “how’s Harry? He looks a little fragile.” They all looked pretty good and the women had even done floating yoga that morning. There is something I don’t need to try.
As some of you loyal readers may recall, the way to get around this hotel is on bikes (and golf carts). So, we took our bikes and headed down to the beach. It must have been close to 11 but it was very empty. We got the first row of chairs by the water. By 11:30 we already had cocktails.
The beach is right by the adult pool so we basically went back and forth between the beach and the adult pool. Our new friends from Michigan were there as well. For lunch Tzvi had the fish tacos recommended by Juan Pablo and I had hummus with veggies and chips and guac, except instead of chips they give you a tlayuda, which is basically one massive chip. I also ordered a Diet Coke with Diet Coke ice cubes, which really is the only way one should ever drink Diet Coke.
The water was pretty warm, but there’s tons of sea weed in it. They actually have a team of guys walking up and down the beach raking seaweed out of the ocean. But it was still so nice. At one point they came around and gave out pineapples filled with pineapple juice and rum.
At around 4:15 I headed back to the room and then went to the gym.
Then Tzvi came back from the beach and we got ready for cocktail hour, which apparently happens every Thursday night. The cocktail hour was set up next to the sushi restaurant and there were complimentary cocktails and apps and sushi, and a kids table as well. Hotel staff hangs around and talks with you, which was really nice. We met two people on the Celebrations team and I asked them about Ally Love’s wedding (for those living under a rock, Ally Love is a Peloton instructor). They said planning the week-long affair was a lot of fun and Ally was great to work with. They asked me which event was my favorite which was funny because it was just assumed that I had obviously followed everything on social media (which I had). We also met a nice family from Texas - parents and three teenage kids. Somehow we were talking about what is the first thing you think of when you hear Texas. One of the kids said most people think cowboy boots. I was just like, “GUNS.” Tzvi said he agreed with cowboy boots. Hey, at least I didn’t say abortion. We were talking about what we do and I said something like I work at a non-profit and it raises money to send to Israel and the father piped up and said that his company was working on a project in Kiryat Gat. So random.
For dinner we went down to the beach for the Mexican Grill. There was live music and dinner was a buffet consisting of several different stations. When we walked in we were given a cocktail and then shown to our seats at a table in the sand. We were already full from the cocktail hour so we couldn’t move for about a half hour.
Finally we started to make the rounds at the different stations. There was a great salad bar that had salads, ceviche and some veggies. Then there was a Mexican corn station.- I basically had plain corn, but Tzvi got the works with mayo and cheese (ew). Then there was a station where they were just doing grilled veggies and I got a huge chunk of grilled cauliflower and sweet potato. Next was the fish station with grouper and salmon. After that we had quesadillas with grilled veggies (except mine didn’t have cheese, so it was really more of a taco). There was also a ton of great looking meat that we couldn’t eat.
At the fish station, Tzvi filled up a little bowl with green salsa, which he assumed was just a green tomatillo salsa. He then put his fish in a tortilla and smothered it in the salsa. Well, turns out it wasn’t tomatillo, it was habanero. It was the hottest salsa that they had in the resort and Tzvi ate a ton of it. He started panting and drinking water and tortillas to try to calm his mouth, but that didn’t work, so he went to the dessert station and got a bowl of ice cream. Thankfully that helped.
Finally there an awesome dessert bar where they had several different ice cream flavors and then tons of toppings, including churros, taco shells, cinnamon chips, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce, berry compote, dulce de lece, whipped cream, brownies, cinnamon crumble, cheesecake pieces and more. If you were a normal person you would get a bowl with a scoop of ice cream and then cover it with a reasonable amount of toppings, but that was ridiculous because there was no way to fit all the toppings I wanted into a single ice cream bowl. Luckily, I found a solution. I got an extra large plate and filled it up with toppings. It was delicious. Tzvi managed to fit all his toppings in one bowl with vanilla ice cream, but he also got a second bowl so he could try the mango ice cream since that didn’t go with toppings.
We could barely move so we sat for a while watching the live music. When we finally moved it was only about ten feet to sit by a fire pit.
We saw a large Gecko and then went back to the room. Good Day.
Mexico 2022. Day 1. Returning Guests.
Well, the day has finally arrived. The day we return to the slice of paradise I like to call, the town where I currently am.
We got up this morning with the girls and got them out the door (well, let’s be real, Robyn got them out the door) and then drove ourselves over to my parents to give them our car, which they are using while they have the girls. My dad graciously delayed his morning Peloton ride and drove us to the airport. Our flight was at 10:42 and we arrived at the airport at 9:36. When we checked in the computer told us our flight was closing soon. Normally I think we would have been nervous about this timing, but for some reason we really didn’t care. Also, we couldn’t have gotten there any earlier unless we left the house before the girls, and that wasn’t happening. Our entire check in, bag drop, and security took under ten minutes.
We tried to buy some magazines but there was literally nothing and I couldn’t bring myself to spend $15 on the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, which was the only thing that interested me. We bought some waters and a tuna wrap and headed to the gate. When boarding started, they called anyone with disabilities and then Mosaic customers. Well, I guess there wasn’t anyone who needed extra assistance or any other Mosaic members because we were the first ones on the flight. This is Tzvi’s dream. He had all the overhead space he could possibly want. It was a very exciting moment for him. I was very happy for him and did not even complain that now we had to spend extra time on the actual plane. Row 1, seats A and B. Solid.
We took off about 40 minutes late, which I guess is pretty good considering the mess travel is right now. The flight was about 3.5 hours and was fine except there was no live TV and there were zero decent movies or tv shows to watch on JetBlue’s on demand system. Also notable was that during landing (literally like 5 minutes before landing) a woman got up to pee. They told her she had to sit down immediately and she said it was an emergency and she couldn’t hold it. I mean, I get that people have bladder problems and I want to give this woman the benefit of the doubt, but it’s not like I saw her go to the bathroom ‘just in case’ during the few times they announced we’d be landing soon. Anyway, I think she made it out of the bathroom in time (that, or she landed on the toilet).
We were second off the plane (the people across pushed off first) and went to passport control. There were four different lines and some man told us to go to line number 3 for US passports. Ends up line number 3 only had one woman working it while the other lanes had several, and there seemed to be people with US passports on all of the lines. Thankfully we weren’t too far back in line, and it got way longer behind us.
On the plane they had given us a customs form to fill out. I had re-read our blog from last year, so I mentioned to Tzvi that last year he’d apparently not filled out the form correctly, which caused a delay at the airport. Tzvi filled it out but said it was so simple he couldn’t figure out what he could’ve possible done wrong. Well, when we go to the passport line a woman was standing there saying “please make sure you filled out the entire form.” Sure enough, Tzvi hadn’t filled out the entire form. I guess that’s probably what he did wrong last time too. [Tzvi: in my defense, the form was stupid. It had three parts – a top that the passenger fills out, then a middle that says ‘Official Use Only’ and then a bottom that the passenger also fills out. Who reads below the 'Official Use’ line???] Thankfully we realized this before it was actually our turn (as opposed to last year).
Finally, we made it through and hurried to baggage claim, only to wait about 40 minutes for our bags. They made an announcement saying that every bag has to be scanned and that’s why it takes so long, but later we were told they are just short staffed. Tzvi was getting pretty agitated so I let him sit near the carousel to watch nothing happen while I moved on the side. Eventually our bags came out first and someone asked Tzvi who we paid to make that happen. He couldn’t even answer that it was probably our Mosaic status because he was already in a huff racing out of the airport. Well, apparently one of the bomb sniffing dogs thought me suspicious so they pulled me back. Tzvi was like “WHAT NOW?” Yea, go annoy the border patrol agents, that will get you out of the airport faster. The woman emptied my bag and was like “no fruit?” No… but thank you ma’am for checking. Anyway, I think the dog smelled a plastic wrapper that I had wrapped a banana oatmeal muffin in. We walked through the line of people trying to sell you rides and finally made it outside where we were met by our Rosewood representative. Of course by then Tzvi had to pee again. We stood there waiting for a while for Tzvi to come back from the bathroom. I was wondering what was taking so long when he called and asked where we were. We hadn’t moved, he just walked right by us when he left the bathroom.
We walked to our car and started our trip. The ride is about 40 minutes. Like last year we rode in a huge white SUV from the hotel. We had Coronitas, some Mexican candy, water, cold towels, and control of the spotify playlist. They also asked if we would like Tequila in our welcome drink. We said yes, but I don’t remember last year being given that choice.
We pulled in to the resort and were so happy to be back. As soon as we stepped out the car there was a woman standing there with a tray of green drinks (with tequila) waiting for us.. We checked in, met our butler Lili and trainee butler Gabby, and together we took our boat ride to our suite!
All along the way through check-in people kept saying “welcome back.” We now have the distinction of being returning guests. It’s really common to speak to someone at this hotel and have them tell you, ‘we come every year’ because it really is the perfect resort. Well, now we get to join those people.
Our suite is the same type of room as last time, but this time I think there is less vanity space because it is a connecting room. The suite has an eating area, a bar, a couch and then a big bathroom with the world’s largest bathtub and a shower, which itself has a door that leads to an outdoor garden with another shower. We have a large outdoor space with a sofa, chairs, a table and a private plunge pool, all secluded and overlooking the lagoon.
We walked into the suite and our butler gave us a tour of the room and made us a Mezcal cocktail. There were also delicious fresh chips and salsa. We decided to go for a quick swim in the plunge pool and then I went to the gym. It’s a nice gym (with Pelotons) but today I opted for a tread bootcamp with Jess Sims. They have a treadmill with slats here so I always like to take advantage of that. I came back and we got ready for dinner.
Dinner tonight was at La Ceiba, which is a dining “experience” to say the least. Last year we opted not to do it because it seemed too expensive if you’re not eating meat (it’s a prix fixe), but then one of Tzvi’s clients, who frequently visits this hotel and got married there told him we had to do it because it’s the best dining experience at the hotel. Well, she was right. Tzvi can explain.
[Tzvi: To start, I’ll explain the setting. The La Ceiba Garden is a huge garden that’s next to the pool, and is actually where they grow a lot of the fresh herbs that they use in all of their restaurants at the hotel. It’s a beautiful setting, and features a huge Ceiba tree (it’s just a type of tree).
When we arrived, we checked in and were handed tequila cocktails. There was a large fire at the entrance, just for drama. Then you walk through the rows of herbs and find two long tables set for dinner. There was a live band and several high tops where people were sitting eating chips and guac. There were people seated at all of the tables. We were torn between being nervous about being social and really wanting the guac, but ultimately the guac won, so we chose the table with the couple that looked youngest and inserted ourselves. They were seated talking to Nacho, who is the Guest Relations Manager of the hotel. They were from Michigan and were very nice.
We ate a lot of guac and then someone announced that it was time to be seated and that everyone should find their seats. We walked over to the long tables and found that every plate had a name on it. We found ours and sat down. Turns out we were seated across from the couple from Michigan. To our right we met a foursome from Texas – two brothers and their wives. On Tzvi’s left the card said “Juan Pablo” and even before he sat down Tzvi knew that was the head chef of the hotel (I think he’s pretty well known in Mexico and often featured on the hotel’s Instagram). To his left was a lovely family from Liverpool – mum and dad, two brothers and their girlfriends, one of whom was an actual model. As the night went on we spoke to everyone. Everyone does something interesting and impressive and are in big industries like steel and oil. And then there’s us.
Anyway, they started dinner by having Nacho give an introduction of the experience and the garden. Then chef Jorge “presented the menu”, which was written on a huge board being held up by two of the hotel staff. He went through each course and explained that corn was the central theme of the evening and would be in every dish. Then the meal started and we went course by course; of course we had a vegetarian version of each dish.
The first dish was a caesar salad with a baby romaine heart. The second course was a striped bass, which Steph actually ate and didn’t hate. The third course was supposed to be steak, but we got a sweet potato and a mushroom thing, which was actually very good. Next they brought a plate of petit fours and then a corn ice cream dish for dessert that was delicious. I have to say everything tasted super fresh and clean and was just delicious.
The whole time they kept refilling our drinks and it was really fun to sit and talk with people, which is something we don’t ever do on vacation. Truthfully we got pretty lucky with the seating.
After the four courses were over they started serving straight tequila. Juan Pablo had us drink his favorite Mezcal, which was a bit much for Steph so she had tequila. We just kept talking and were having a great time; at one point it started raining on us but just never moved. Eventually we looked around and there was no one left in the garden except for us, Juan Pablo and the British family. You’d think the night would be over at that point, but Juan Pablo invited us up to the bar for a nightcap.]
Steph: All of a sudden the chef, Tzvi, and the British guys disappeared into some room behind the bar and we didn’t see them for 20 minutes. So, it was me and the models (because really all three of them could have been models. Tall, thin and gorgeous. Jews just are NOT built that way). We got margaritas and talked at the bar.
[Tzvi: Juan Pablo took us into a small room behind the bar where he keeps his private collection of liquor. We tried mezcal and Mexican rum and talked for a while. The only photo I have from inside that room is of a bottle of mezcal, but I have no idea why I took the photo or what was special about that Mezcal.
Then we rejoined the women at the bar and Juan Pablo told us about the time he went to a Jets-Giants game at Met Life. Apparently, whoever gave him the tickets was well connected because he said he was on the field. It must be so fun meeting all different kinds of people and forming relationships all over the world.]
It was after midnight when we finally said goodnight and headed back to our room. When we walked in we saw that they left a few truffles as a parting gift after dinner. I also found that I had gotten multiple bug bites, including two on my face (is Zika still a thing?), but otherwise I’d say we’re off to a great start!
