LIGHTS UP ON DAY 2 OF MY TRIP TO CANCUN! When we last left your hero, the JFG, I was crashed out on my bed at the Live Aqua Resort. It had been a whirlwind 24-36 hours. I wasn’t sure if it had even happened. Just to be sure, I got up, peaked out the window, and…

Oh that’s right. PARADISE. Hello, Live Aqua. What trouble can we get into today?

Quick aside – remember yesterday when I said I ate lunch at the Sea Corner with Ceddy, Mr.O, and PPP? And how we just ordered everything on the menu? Finally found a picture of our meal:

And this was only Round 1 of…oh I can’t even remember how many rounds. I mean, I could eat seafood tacos until I burst. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but ceviche and cold beers are mine.

Ceddy was still asleep, so I decided to roll down to the Club Lounge for a little breakfast. A tiny bit hungover, I had only two things in mind: coffee and something loaded with carbs/cheese/meat. Lucky for me, the Aqua Club Lounge had both of these things:

I mean, come on: how can you beat a nice cup of coffee and mini ham and cheese quesadillas with hot salsa in the morning? YOU CAN’T. I started here with three, and ended on twelve. I think. I lost count. I LOST COUNT, PEOPLE.

Plus, the coffee was clearly just coming from a Nescafe machine, but it was WAAAAY better coffee than I remember getting from any Keurig here in the states. Maybe I was biased, in the moment, but my compatriots said the same thing over the course of the weekend. Why was the coffee so good? There’s gotta be something else illicit in there. Plus cinnamon.

While I stuck to the coffee and meat/cheese bombs, there were plenty of normal breakfast options in the Club Lounge. Cereals…

…yogurts with plenty of toppings…

…big ass loaves of fresh bread, to be paired with…

…a variety of little jams, jellies, syrups, and more!

And if you wanted your carbs toasted, then they had that available too.

I know I’m not describing anything necessarily different than a normal Continental breakfast, perhaps, but I just wanted to show you the side options. Because, oh yeah, THIS was the main spread:

UM, YUM, LIVE AQUA. TONS of juices, fresh fruits, plates of meats, cheese, and at the very end of the row, slices of raw fish for bagels. Or just to stuff into your mouth alone. See that green juice? That was kiwi, celery, and a whole bunch of other good stuff. Ceddy and I guzzled green juice like it was our job the whole weekend when not imbibing booze.

Inside those chafing dishes were the mini quesadillas, as well as pancakes and French Toast. CARB. OVERLOAD. Speaking of which, oh yeah, and they had PAN DULCE!

For the uninitiated, Pan Dulce is basically just Mexican pastries. It literally means sweet bread, and ever since the JFGal introduced them to me, they’ve been a favorite of mine. These that you’re seeing here are mini Conchas, probably the most popular form of pan dulce known for the shell-like pattern of sugar on the tops of the buns.

Coffee, mini quesadillas, and a mountain of pan dulce is how I like to start off every morning.

Two more friends, the Hube and the Burg, were scheduled to arrive later that day, but until then, it was time for more lounging by the pool. And, quite frankly, for more exploring. There was this excellent shaded bar that I never made it to that had swings and a perfect view of the ocean. I need this in my house, I think. I mean, SWINGS? How fun!

As it ticked towards lunch time, the Live Aqua had plenty of poolsides eats and drinks that popped up, ready to please! These were these employees, making some sort of paella / Mexican fried rice dish. It smelled HEAVENLY.

Across from this stand was a mojito station! Now, I don’t usually go for mojitos (the mint sticks in my teeeth), but how can you turn it down when it’s right there, in your face, for free? Answer: YOU CAN’T. Plus, they had grape mojitos, which were super sweet and delicious.

I also ended up drinking my weight in mango daiquiris, strawberry daiquiris, and peach daiquiris. Apparently, I become a 19-year old girl when in 90+ degree beach weather. Whatever – it was so hot I wanted to dump the slushy drinks all over my head. And then, of course, the pineapple drinks started to get passed out:

GREAT ODIN’S BEARD. It’s clear that the extra fruit slices on the sides were merely for decoration, BUT WHO CARES. These were definitely the most tropical drinks I had the whole weekend. I’m guessing the two straws were for sharing. No matter – I stuffed one straw into each corner of my mouth like a walrus and sucked this elixir down.

It was time for me to find my own lunch, and I was about to head back to that rice station when…when…hmmm, what’s that heavenly smell?

OMG. THAT IS A BIG ASS GRILL. I tried to get close to take a picture, but apparently all the heat vented outwards from the back of the grill. WHOOO IT WAS HOT. Still, barbecued meat was calling me. The chef invited me to circle around to the other side to get a closer look.

OH BABY. This open air grill at the Live Aqua had chorizo, ribs, chicken thighs, chicken breast, and EVEN MORE RIBS. I had one of everything. Dude, ever eat piping hot chorizo, rice, potatos, and chips/salsa in the blistering hot sun? Let me tell ya, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.  Whatever seasoning the Live Aqua put on these ribs and chicken was bangin’, too. God, I’m hungry right now just typing this.

And then it was time to walk off the meal. This isn’t the most flattering angle, but I needed to show you what my afternoons looked like. As I walked by those jet skis in the distance, the proprietors kept shouting at me “C’mon amigo, it’s super fun!” I would, sir, but my belly is full of sausage and rum. Another time, when I’m not a ticking time bomb.

When Ceddy and I got back to our room to pass out before dinner, we found this set up:

AWH HOW ROMANTIC. Still, it was a startling site amongst our empty bottles of water, newspapers, empty coffee mugs, and then this beautiful display.

Live Aqua, you outdid yourself. Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and other treats?? That deserves a golf clap, for sure. Or the Rudy slow clap, for sure.

Ah, Alfredo Santamaria! He was the GM of the Live Aqua. What’d he have to say?

Oh nice! See, people, I KNOW that my incessant Instagramming would pay off one day. DON’T EVER SAY THAT SELFIES DIDN’T GIVE YOU ANYTHING. But honestly, this was super nice. Live Aqua, you sure know how to make the GUEST feel appreciated – I almost felt bad scarfing the chocolate down.

The Hube and the Burg arrived on time as planned, and my merry bunch expanded from four to six. Your friendly neighborhood JFG, Ceddy, PPP, Mr.O, The Hube and The Burg bro-hugged it out, and then sat down at Varenna, the Italian restaurant at the Live Aqua. I have to admit, I was at first skeptical. I mean, cmon – Italian food? In Mexico?

Well, let me tell you, the Italian food was on POINT. We ordered every appetizer – artichoke dip with crostini, deconstructed Caesar salad, lightly fried zucchini with sundried tomato – and then the bottles of wine started flowing. And flowing. AND FLOWING. By the time our entrees arrived, we were all rolling with laughter.

One thing – the portions were sort of small. I got a seafood risotto, which was EXCELLENT, but honestly gone in like four bites. But you know what? IT’S AN ALL INCLUSIVE RESORT. So the entire table just ordered an entire SECOND round of entrees, including some of the best Osso Bucco I’d ever seen. Dude, that veal shank was HUGE. Throw in tiramasu on the back end and some more incredible coffee, and we were all fueled up to PARTY.

Now, the best part about the clubs in Cancun is that you DON’T have to dress up – I mean, it’s a friggin’ beach town and it’s HOT – so the outfit above (tank, shorts, and pumas) was considered A-OK. It’s not like DC or New York or wherever, where girls have to wear uncomfortable heels and dudes have to wear $200 jeans. I think all of my clothes pictured above came from TJ Maxx. LOVE THOSE BARGAINS, SON.

It was time to head out for the evening to our destination: DADY’Os.

Besides amazing music, Dady’Os had this one feature where they would spray a HUGE BLAST of pressurized cloudy A/C-like air down on you while you were on the dance floor. You couldn’t see sh*t. It was amazing. With the laser lights, the cloud of air, and the blaring music, it was like sensory overload. Here’s an example:

That’s just another video I cribbed off YouTube, but you get the point.

After another four hours of shenanigans, it was time to roll home. The weirdest part of the club scene in Cancun – when you leave the club, there are a TON of dudes just out on the street selling PIZZA. Whoever came up with that idea was a genius. Just crappy pizza that was upcharged but soooo enticing. The next day, I asked if anyone had fallen for that trap. The Hube and Mr.O replied, “Oh, we definitely grabbed two pies and ate them both on the taxi ride home.” Perfect.

Lights out on Day 2. More tomorrow.

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy