Zihuatanejo, Mexico: New Years 2008

What better way to ring in the new year but in a sunny, beach destination with great friends and Mexican food! Well, that's what I did for New Years, 2008. A couple of friends, Carolee and Christina, just turned 30 (old hens ;p) and wanted to celebrate in style which resulted in a trip to Zihuatanejo, Mexico. For those of you that don't know where Zihua is, it's on the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico, about 2/3 of the way down the country. It's a little fishing town that is a vacation destination for Mexican locals and in the native tongue means 'place of woman'. Rightfully so that it was mostly a girls trip! It's also the town that's referenced at the end of the movie, Shawshank Redemption.

The first day was spent just chilling by the beach and enjoying the delicious food, we went to Sirena Gorda for dinner, which translates into the Fat Mermaid. Strange, slightly depressing name but I suppose goes with the meaning of the city name. On the next day we went to Ixtapa to lounge at one of the fancy resorts pools that friends of friends were staying. Life was quite amazing sipping pina coladas by the pool and again...eating good Mexican food! A couple of us also went para sailing which was totally cool. It was really nice to see the city from a different angle. Imagine brown/tan villas tucked away along the mountainside that cascade to the beach front. Fantastic! We spent the evening eating and drinking the night away and preparing for NYE!

First thing in the morning, Giao went to lay out some towels to save a chair for us all. Bless her heart considering she was several months preggers and probably quite tired at 7 in the morn. We arrived to the chairs around 9:30am only to find most of them taken! In addition, the hotel wrote a mean, poorly written sign stating that people couldn't save chairs. Thanks for letting us know beforehand!

Given that we had a chill day the previous day, Carolee and I decided to go on an adventure. We walked up, down and around the area. We walked and walked and walked some more till we finally made it to the area we were trying to reach, Las Gatas. It is a cute little area with snorkeling and clear shallow waters. After having a refreshing drink by the beach and admiring the water, we took a boat to town and caught a bus back to the hotel. After we got back, both of us fell asleep on the beach chairs. I woke up to a swarm of people in front of the area we were lounging. People were taking pictures, and instantly I wondered if there was a famous Mexican star that I was just not aware of. Turns out there was a turtle that laid her eggs right under the guy sitting in front of us. They must have dug out approximately 100 of them - they were quite cute! They were quickly placed in a bucket of water until sun down when they were released into the ocean. I actually missed the release part because Carolee and I were doing happy hour at a beautiful bar (I believe it's called sunset bar) at a mountainside resort eating fresh guacamole and drinking tropical drinks. What a way to end the day!

In the evening the whole group met up and had a lovely dinner under the stars and watched the fireworks for new years eve. Also, some of the folks we were with decided to take the challenge...the grape challenge. We were all given 12 ginormous grapes, symbolizing twelve sweet months, and the goal was to eat a grape a each second and then to make a wish. I think Travis was the only one that finished and made it - Travis, hope it was a good one!

After dinner, Christina, Carolee and I headed to downtown Zihua to get loco (not really). We got there and venues were practically dead, but we found a dive bar and had a drink and we also watched the local people dance in the town square. FYI, the town square doubles as a basketball court during the day. That was the trip in a nutshell, it was a very relaxing and refreshing way to bring in the New Year and birthdays. Viva la Mexico!