Free stuff!

  Mazatlan, Mexico
Friday, February 16, 2007

In true Michael and Geraldine fashion, we had booked ourselves in for a timeshare presentation in order to receive a free breakfast and whatever other gifts they were willing to throw our way. We were shuttled to the El Cid Marina and introduced to our 'guy'. He wasted no time and took us directly to the breakfast buffet. There was every kind of food imaginable available to us - fresh fruit, cereal, oatmeal, waffles, french toast, pancakes, omelettes, potatoes, beans, chicken, salad, sausages, and a special stand that created made to order fruit and vegetable drinks. Geraldine ordered a papaya, strawberry and banana milkshake that was great tasting, however it was more of a breakfast smoothie as they did not have any ice cream. Michael indulged in a beet, carrot and celery juice that was out of this world. Once we filled our faces, we were taken on a resort tour and the sales pitch began. The resort was nice and the rooms were immaculate...as expected. We patiently let the guide take us through the steps of the sale and when the big closer came in to chat money, we explained our situation and current travel itinerary and he was more than happy to give us some tips on things to see and do in Mexico. We were handed vouchers for a free sailing cruise to Deer Island and a bus tour of Mazatlan. This was a pleasant ending to our morning.
 
From the marina we headed back to the El Cid main resort and spent the afternoon poolside with Peter and Lorella. The weather was not cooperating with us as the sun continually fell behind the clouds throughout the day. Late afternoon, we became a bit peckish and decided to sit with Peter and Lorella in the outdoor cafeteria. We saw some folks without the all-inclusive wrist bands bringing back plates of garlic shrimp and other goodies and thought maybe it was "free Thursday" or something like that. We decided to eat a bit as our hunger was becoming overwhelming. At the end of the meal, one of the waiters approached Geraldine and asked "Do you want your check?" to which Geraldine promptly replied "No thanks". The waiter did not know what to make of that answer. We talked to him and escaped dishing out any money once again. Life is still good!
 
We all headed back to our respective rooms to rest up for a big party at Senor Frogs. It was the last night for Peter and Lorella and we planned on drinking and dancing the night away. When we arrived at Senor Frogs there was a slight line-up where the doorman was collecting the $200 pesos cover charge. It was not a bad deal to pay $20 USD for unlimited booze all night, however we are always looking to play an angle and save a few bucks, so Geraldine asked if cover charge applied for girls and the bouncer replied "Yes, we do not discriminate here a Senor Frogs". There was not much else we could say. The free booze only included mixed drinks and draft beer. Michael was craving beer in a bottle and he kept pestering the waiter to bring him one. Finally, after hours of asking, the waiter motioned with his finger for Michael to wait a minute and when he returned he had a bottle of Pacifico in hand. As he leaned toward Michael in an attempt to hand him the bottle he let it go. To our shock and amazement the bottle nearly hit the floor before springing back up to the waiter's hand. He had tied an elastic to the neck of the bottle to pull off his trick. Michael was excited and wanted to try the yo-yo beer bottle toy. Unfortunately, Michael was not as skilled as the waiter and after a few drops of the bottle it hit the floor and smashed into pieces. More practice Michael, more practice. Even though the place was packed with twenty-somethings, we managed to have ourselves a blast. We all drank our fare share of alcohol and danced the night away on our own personal dance floor...directly beside our table. It was a blast.

Photos of party night at Senor Frogs - http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=16xvaj2z.8x9bj1y7&Uy=-q0dvgu&Ux=0
 
We slept in a bit the next morning likely due to the amount of booze we consumed. We spent the entire day by the pool lounging in the sun and drinking copious amounts of water. In the late afternoon we decided to go for a walk. The first stop was to the El Cid Golf Course to check out the deer and bunnies. Not sure why there was a miniature zoo at the golf course, but we enjoyed seeing the animals. We had heard about a church that offered free phone calls to anywhere in Canada or the US. We walked the strip up and back and could not find a church. We finally noticed a steeple a few blocks off the main drag and headed for that. We walked up to find a group of young boys playing soccer in the paved courtyard in front of the church. Each and every one of them had a smile from ear to ear playing their game. We wandered around the church and were not able to find any signs of a telephone, never mind a free telephone. We took note of the posted office hours and decided to return another day.
 
Upon returning to El Cid we spent the rest of the night packing up our clothes and dishes in preparation for departing the next day. We knew our time at El Cid would come to and end, but we did not realize it would happen this quickly.

Photos.....http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=16xvaj2z.bsk3d8db&Uy=-a5txxn&Ux=0