Besides just attending our wedding, I truly want you guys to indulge in Isla Mujeres and celebrate it's beauty. Mayan history, delicious food and the philosophy of the locals all make it a very special place. Maybe you'll fall in love with this 5 miles of paradise like I did.
First, here is a map to show you Isla Mujeres in relation to Mexico and Estados Unidos:
The island is just off the coast of Cancun. In it's early days, Isla Mujeres was used as a sanctuary for Mayan goddess Ixchel--goddess of fertility, happiness and the moon. There are still remains left of her temple and statues which you may want to add to your "To-do" list while you're visiting. Decades later, a Spanish expedition discovered the island with all of its female statues and tributes to this goddess thus naming it Isla Mujeres, translated to Island of the Women. For many many years the island remained uninhabited. Fishermen and pirates would occasionally drop their women and children off for "safekeeping" while offshore. Eventually the island evolved into a small fishermen's community. Because of it's location it was often referred to as Fishermen's Paradise. These days, it is still relatively untouched by major tourism. The atmosphere of Isla Mujeres is nothing like Cancun or Cabo San Lucas. In fact, the island pretty much shuts down by 10:00 pm.
Clearly, Isla Mujeres is gorgeous. White sand and blue water breaking over enormous rocks is easy on the eye. Add some amazing food to that and you have a damn good vacation. Authentic Italian, traditional Cuban, and, of course, the best Mexican food ever. You can "dress up" (ie. put on flip flops and clothes over your swimsuit) to take a stroll through the downtown area for a nice dinner or walk out over the water and eat the freshest seafood you could ever imagine. I'm kind of obsessed with pictures of food so here's some personal photos of my own dining experiences on Isla:
And since I mention breathtaking views of water breaking over cliffs:
Aside from all of this amazing-ness, my favorite part of Isla Mujeres is honestly the laid back atmosphere of the Mexican culture combined with island lifestyle. If you don't already know, my parents own a house in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and spend a significant amount of time down there. What they've really taught me to appreciate is the slow pace, friendly demeanor and non-existent time constraint of the culture. You may read awful things about Mexico but in reality, the places I've explored are tremendously safer than living in Houston, Texas. I was once lying out on the beach in Isla when a man walked by selling hand-woven baskets and bags. I had my eye on one in particular and told myself if he came back by, I'd pursue it. Sure enough, he walked back a little later and I waved him over. I noticed the bag I originally saw was no longer with him. I mentioned it and he immediately responded with "Un momento, un momento senorita..." and took off running across the beach. He was gone for a long time. I started to doubt him but knowing the culture, I knew he wasn't bailing out on me so I waited. Finally, after about an hour, he returned with another bag like the one I had asked him about. I actually ended up buying a different bag from him which, in hindsight, sounds really rude. The lesson here though is that they will do absolutely anything to satisfy a visitor, especially if its going to earn them a few pesos. My parents and I joked later that he probably ran home to add embroidery to another basket just like the one I liked.
So, why Isla Mujeres? As I was touring wedding venues in and around Houston I thought they were all absolutely beautiful. The wedding business is insanely successful these days. They are spot on in creating this capturing image of a once-in-a-lifetime fairy tale day. They just couldn't capture me. I didn't want to get married in a city neither of us had any true ties to. I didn't want our day to be stressful, scheduled, full of vendors for this, vendors for that... is this person here? Is that set up? It's time for this. It's time to be here. That sounds absolutely repulsive. I envision waking up the morning of our wedding day and wondering what I'm even going to spend my morning doing. The answer will probably be "the beach". If there's any place for a stress-free, heck-of-a-good-time wedding it has got to be this place and I can't WAIT to see you there!
As always, remember you can email with any questions you may be having about the travel: Kimberly.kahanek@yahoo.com
As always, remember you can email with any questions you may be having about the travel: Kimberly.kahanek@yahoo.com
