You’d think after the boat ride, the pool party and the majority of the trip done, we would have smooth sailing the rest of the trip. And you’d be wrong. Find out what really happened here.

August 18, 2014

As with every day we’d been in Cancun, Monday morning promised to be bright and hot again.

Sean and I were at breakfast when he got the text from Adam that he’d be spending the majority of the day inside and out of the sun. I guess the sunburn was taking a heavy toll the day after the boat to Isla Mujeres.

We spent the morning by the pool, alternating between shade umbrellas and the cool water. Finally around noon, I couldn’t take the heat – even in the shade, and we went back to the room.

Later in the day, Sean and I helped Dirk film his ALS ice bucket challenge video after a friend had nominated him online, which was quite fun to be part of. Then we ventured across the street to La Isla for a snack to tide us over until dinner that night.

Almost every year since the trip to Cancun has begun, at least one meal has been at La Distilleria, a great restaurant not far from the Westin and with its own small distillery attached to the it. This was where our last meal together would be, and it was a great choice.

Lidia joined us for our farewell dinner, and it couldn’t have been better. Between the guacamole, the queso with chorizo and the chicken mole Sean and I shared, we were all stuffed in the end. He restaurant even brought out a piece of cake and sang Happy Birthday to Heather, since her birthday would be the following Thursday. That’s great service.

Sean and I had one last walk on the beach that night and planned to repack our suitcases in the morning before our flight out at 2 PM.

The next morning at breakfast, Sean had lost his appetite, which, if you know him, is strange indeed. I managed to get him to eat a bowl of cereal and some coffee, but that was it. By the time we had to leave for the airport, he was complaining of a stomachache. Things didn’t seem to get better while we waited to board our flight – even after we got him some Pepto, and when we landed in Atlanta, I was really concerned.

No one made it better by suggesting the pain might be his appendix or a parasite picked up in Mexico, either. The thing was, I couldn’t figure what might have gotten him sick but not me since we’d eaten the same things almost the while time.

The next morning, I knew Sean was going to live, but it took him about three days before he really started getting back to normal. At the same time he was getting over his bug, apparently Adam and Heather’s husband Nick also felt more than a little under the weather. We’ll never know for sure what caused it, but Montezuma certainly had the last laugh this particular trip.

All I can say is that at least it happened our last day there and not midway through, but man, what a crappy ending to a great trip. And to top it off, I forgot one of my favorite tops at the Westin, which they were unable to locate in the room, although I told them exactly which shelf I’d left it on. Very disappointing service from such an otherwise excellent hotel. But I guess that’s the breaks sometimes, I’ll just try to make sure to triple check every nook and cranny before we leave next time.

Until next time Mexico… You won’t get the better of us then.