Is This Heaven?

I've never been one to read Star magazines. I'm not really interested in who's doing what or wearing what or where they've been. I don't understand babies born on Monday but named Sunday, or was it vice versa? I'm a simple person with simple needs. This past weekend I went to a wedding in Mexico. I thought it was going to be in Cancun because that's where I booked my flight to but I was mistaken. I was taken to a resort about 40 miles away, a walled and gated and guarded resort named The Rosewood Mayakoba. It opened in December, cost (we were told) 3.2 billion to build, and already counts among it's guests Tom Cruise and Arnold - the honorable governor of California who's last name is way beyond my spelling capabilities. They stayed in the Presidential Suite (I did not) which costs $4500 a night.


Lest you think my suite was not acceptable (compared to that Presidential thing) let me reassure you it was fine. This was my private deck and my private "splash pool." It was a small pool about 4 x 8 and 4' deep. Just my size! There are no "rooms" because each suite is either a small house or a duplex. Although the exterier blends perfectly with the landscape and the native culture the interior is the polar opposite. It is modern with straight lines and sharp angles. Beautiful, but modern. My suite had it's own little dining room, a living area, a king sized bed with sheets that might have been somewhere around 1000 thread count because they felt like the cheek of a newborn baby. The artwork was original, signed and dated. I had an espresso machine as well as a top of the line coffee pot. The refrigerator held every juice, soft drink and beer anyone could possibly want, including Starbucks Frappucino. I personally enjoyed the diet coke. Like I said, simple.



The bathroom had a huge round sunken tub AND a wonderful shower with one of those rain shower heads that look scrumptious and really are. They are both glassed in and look out onto a private veranda that is walled in and contains an outdoor shower just like the indoor one. Yes, I absolutely did shower outside! Of course, I looked up several times to see if the Google satellite happened to be overhead - I don't trust those things. I know they should only be mapping but who knows what they are looking at? I'm a little paranoid but you would have been too. If I were young and skinny I might not care. Well I probably would care. Some. And, get ready for this, I had my own private butler. Yep. Butler. 24 hour a day butler service. Being the country girl that I am I asked the first butler what exactly it was that butlers do. Her answer, "anything you want me to do." The butler brought me ice whenever I pushed that little "butler" button on the phone. He/she ran a bubble bath. Truth. He/she came and made a pot of coffee in the morning. He/she took a package from my room to my sister's room 2 doors down so I wouldn't have to go outside to do it. And all with a smile. No matter how many times a day I showered/bathed when I returned to my suite a couple of hours later my wet towels were gone and fresh ones were in their place. They folded any clothes I left lying on the bed or the couch or the floor. A girl could get used to this.


See that wall where the outdoor shower is? Around the end of it is a stairway to the veranda on the roof. It also is walled and private. It has a small pergola and a padded double lounge chair, just in case you might want to sunbathe in the nude. Or something else. Don't even think about it. You would cook your body in 10 mintes flat up there! This is the view from the veranda.

This resort is built on a lagoon/waterway that has an underground river and is a mix of salt and plain water. If you want to go to the beach you can take a boat down the lagoon or a cart will be sent to pick you up. I rode the boat a couple of times and saw lots of birds - cormerands, which have emerald green eyes, (not sure about that spelling either) and even a stork. I saw a crocodile and iguanas, and a Mexican raccoon. He looked more like one of our possums that a raccoon.

Everybody had his/her own job. There was one gentleman who walked the beach all day with a spray bottle of water misting people to cool them off. There was a lady at the cocktail party who walked around offering Off lotion for the mosquitos.


When you got to the beach this is what you found. A breathtaking view, literally. The pool was nice too but wow, that view.











This is how the wedding was set up. They had chairs on the beach with musicians playing soft music. They had cubes with throw pillows for you to sit on for the cocktail hour. Oh and a bar. Lots of wonderful fruit non-alcoholic drinks although you could also choose wine. Before you went down to the beach everyone took off their shoes and left them on a rack. When we went back to get them they had paint brushes to brush off the sand from your feet and wet washcloths to get whatever was left before you put your shoes back on. It was very windy at sunset but the scenery was stunning. There were so many little touches that made it special, from the Bible the bride put on the seat her father would have occupied (he died several years ago), to the parents of the couple joining the pastor at one point praying for their future. They chose to have a very small family with immediate family and very, very close friends and that added to the specialness of it. They truly made a covenant before God to honor Him in this union. It was a little glimpse of heaven.