Kristen and I will have been married for 5 years this fall.

We had the privilege of living out a dream and having a fairy tale wedding on a beautiful beach where everything was perfectly scripted until a hurricane arrived three days into our honeymoon.  Sadly this forced us to evacuate our honeymoon cottage in Seaside inland to save not only our marriage, but our lives. [Don't worry Seaside is still there and worth visiting if you haven't.]

Lesson learned: Have a beautiful beach wedding, but if you plan on spending your honeymoon on the gulf, don't get married in hurricane season. [Trivia: can you name the first month in 100 years that 4 Class V hurricanes hit mainland US soil?  Answer: September 2004, the month we got married. - one day I hope to win Jeopardy with this one and totally redeem myself.]



All this to say, I've longed to steal my bride away ever since then to a place we couldn't go back to easily and that was just ours. I knew the budget would be tight this year, but one of my goals for 2009 was to make it happen. After some extensive research I found a little place just south (but far enough out of the way) of Cancun that offered everything I was looking for. An easy quick flight out of Memphis (2 hrs, 15 minutes direct MEM to CUN), affordable luxuries (I highly recommend the couples massage), rugged adventures (cenotes close by) w/ air conditioning and all the bells and whistles with which to spoil my bride. I knew I was on to something when The Tides kept popping up from friends that had visited for their honeymoons (most thought they were the only ones who knew about it). Morgan & Nick Hayes swayed us the most and before I knew it was booked and I surprised Kristen with the news over Valentine's dinner.



If you've never been to Mexico, you might have misjudged it like I did. If you're expecting dusty roads, flexible law enforcement, swine flu and food that will somehow make you sick before you leave - then leave those thoughts behind. Although we did find our share of dusty roads. (although aren't the best places usually off the beaten path?)



All I can say is thank you to all of those who made this decision easier. One friend even suggested we grease (give 'em $20) a specific team member and then sit back and watch Manuel go. It was the best tip we ever received. The food, beach and overall experience couldn't of been better.



Back when I was teaching and used to house sit for other families and their children, I remember hearing these parent say "this is the first time we've gotten away for more than a night since we had the kids 20 years ago." I was shocked to hear things like this and frankly it scared the poop out of me. But it all made sense when in reality it is very easy to get married and jet set as much as you like, and then have kids and put your head in the sand before pulling it out 5/10/20 years down the road asking "where did the time go?" Kristen and I were fortunate we stole away only 5 years in.



My blog friends have asked about the trip and why I haven't blogged about it. The first question I get is, "Did you have fun?" My first response is casually, "If you can't have fun on a trip like this, then you're an idiot." I also add that it is a little odd blogging about a second honeymoon. We all know these things are our way to highlighting the best of life, but somehow I felt this one was too good to share... and then y'all broke me.

I made a short video of the trip for Kristen (sorry, not for public consumption) and when I asked her what she loved most, she said among other things, "reading." We both loved reading while there. Kristen took down: The Help and One Fifth Avenue while I read: Home Game, Same Kind of Difference As Me and Crazy Love. [More on these later - all worth reading, ask me to borrow it, I'm in a giving book mood lately.]

Life consumes you pretty easily with kids.  I can see how days/weeks/years go by just trying to catch up on the trivial (but sweet) events of each day. Rarely does a married couple get to look back at how they first met, first dates, and dream of what the future might hold. I highly recommend it. I also can also see it took a couple days in to adjust to the relaxed days. I was proud of my bride for wanting to spend time with me and having a good approach to leaving her girls. Can you believe we didn't call them or even check email once while we were gone. [and yes, we even had wifi in our rooms, but choose not to indulge.]



Who knows when life will allow us to take a trip like this again - if ever. I pray it is one of the best investments in our marriage we ever make. I pray you can break your schedule and budget down to make something similar happen for you as well. And the best part is that we still have September to celebrate our actual anniversary with a fun dinner!

And oh yea... So far, no symptoms of swine flue since returning.