Oh Cancun, You Treated Us So Well!
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Firstly, I want to declare that I married up. WAY up. So far up that it scares me to think where I would be without her brains and guidance. Yes, I kiss up to her daily!
My wife, Shelly, won a “President’s Club” trip because she is a marvel of sales, knowledge, and ability in the mortgage business. I am always in awe of her prowess. We found out that she won, and they sent us a packet of information about a BEAUTIFUL resort in Cancun, Mexico. I was very proud and astonished at how well her bank treated us and I was very grateful.
So, off we go to Mexico, flying to Cancun, via Houston from Phoenix. We had everything we needed, tickets, passports, and extra money, in case of emergency. We got to Cancun, got out of customs, and into a bus, then on to our hotel/resort. Arrival at “Melia Turquesa” resort was very uneventful, a beautiful property, with all the best amenities, great restaurants, etc.
My wife and I explored the property and decided to get some sleep, waiting for the excursions and activities that were planned for the winners of the trip. The next day was mainly meetings, rah-rah sessions, (motivational speeches), etc. I hung around, watched the meetings, even though I wasn’t part of the company, We had some great food there, went shopping nearby, relaxed and enjoyed.
The next full day was planned to go to the Mayan ruins of Tulum, and snorkeling at a lagoon called Shel-Ha. We were to take a bus ride there, and back. That was an eye-opener, the bus went top speed down a two-lane “highway”, about a foot from the oncoming traffic, mainly tour buses like ours. It was totally hair-raising!
Thirty minutes into the ride, my wife looked at me and said, “Did you close and lock the room safe”? I said, “no, I thought you did”. Have any of you done this before, when leaving the house? Of course, you have, we all have. Depending on your spouse, or significant other, is normal and reasonable.
When we both said no to the question, we stressed over it until we decided that we hadn’t closed the door or locked it. This made it a real problem for us. We had left our wedding rings, as we were going to be snorkeling, we wouldn’t need jewelry. We also left our passports, extra money, driver’s licenses, etc. We didn’t need most of those things, because the company paid for the excursions, food, etc. All we had to pay for was trinkets and such. So as we stressed out, we tried to figure out how to get back fast, not possible, how to contact the hotel, no way to do that. We finally realized that we just had to hold on till we got back. Not good for us, as the passports, licenses, money, etc. would be needed to get back to the United States. If we were without the papers we needed, we would be stuck in Mexico. If we had no money, there was no staying past the trip’s expected time. I even had a treasured Mont Blanc pen that was a gift, in that safe in our room.
So, as we got went to the Tulum ruins, saw the attraction, vendors, etc, but were afraid the whole time, that we lost everything and would be stuck in Cancun. (could be worse, but without money, it would be bad). We visited a place called Shel-Ha, a natural lagoon that is right off the Gulf of Mexico, and had an amazing time looking at the multitude of tropical saltwater fish, with all the colors of the rainbow, including a pair of barracudas! Those were a bit disconcerting, as they had huge teeth, and are fast as lightning. Never had a problem, saw amazing fish, were amazed at how wonderful it was. However, we were stressed and worried about our valuables, and such.
We got on the bus to go back to Cancun, chattering to ourselves over and over about what to do when we found that we lost everything. Arriving back at the Melia Turquesa, we got out of the bus, and with great apprehension, went to our room.
In the room, we tried our room key cards, (both of them, over and over), and found our room locked. We could not even get into the room to check and see if our stuff was there or not! So we went to the front desk and asked about our keys. The desk clerk called the Concierge, who asked our names. When we told him, he said, “Oh, yes, room 4375, we had to lock the room down. The maid went into the room to clean and make it up, noticed the safe unlocked and backed out, and notified security.” He then asked us to identify ourselves, and we could not. He went in, got our licenses, compared our pictures, and asked us to verify that everything was in the safe that we left there. It was, we told him so, celebrated a bit, tried to tip the concierge, security officer, and the maid, but they all declined, said it was their jobs, and went away to leave us scratching our heads. We were so grateful!!!
Our fear of being out of our own country, not trusting staff, just being paranoid, all melted away, thanks to the amazing staff of the Melia Turquesa Resort!
If you like this story, come listen to me on SKY 7 digital radio. I’m on The Rock of Arizona channel, playing Classic Rock 7 days a week from Noon to 3pm Arizona time. Listen in, you may hear some of my “Dean-isms.”
Dean Benson
“The Dean of Rock and Roll”
