It’s finally feeling like Spring, so Dave and I decided to spend an afternoon in Old Town Alexandria. We didn’t have much on our agenda besides walking the cute streets of old town and visiting Gatsby’s Tavern museum.
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It’s officially the best time to enjoy spring in Washington, D.C. The National Park Service announced the cherry blossom trees in D.C. hit peak bloom on Thursday (April 5th), and the best time for viewing will continue for up to seven days. Peak bloom is defined as the day when 70% of the Yoshino variety blossoms are open on the cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin.
The pink blossoms of the Kwanzan trees are often found in the East Potomac Park area, while the white blossoms of the Yoshino are found closer to the northern part of the Tidal Basin near the Washington Monument.
With the weather being cold all March long, we didn’t feel like doing or seeing anything in DC, although there is always something going on in this vibrant city. However, we set up a date for tonight, which we enjoyed quite a bit.
It’s Friday!!! This Friday after work Dave and I stopped at our local Ledo pizza restaurant to enjoy my favorite pizza there: Pomodoro Bianco. Just want to remember this nice relaxing evening with my hubby in a cute comfy place. 🙂
I stopped today at our local gas station to pump gas and noticed that the gas pumps were upgraded with the gas station TVs. Now, we can watch TV while pumping gas. Little thing, but it felt nice. Gas Station TV started 11 years ago with the concept of bringing television content and advertising to the gas pumps.
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This year we celebrated Valentine’s Day at Portner Brehouse, Brewery Restaurant & Craft Beer Test Kitchen, after work. This restaurant was just recently opened. It has some interesting menu items of classic and contemporary German-American cuisine. The settings resemble a comfy brewpub featuring local craft beers and an elevated bar menu in a relaxed atmosphere.
The Rio Secreto Tour was a high priority on our to-do-list while staying in Playa del Carmen. That’s why we booked the Rio Secreto Plus tour way in advance. I am so glad, that we took this unique underground river tour, during which we were able to observe natural history dating back millions of years, hike and swim through a route of about 1 km full of beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. This tour was an amazing experience combining adventure and nature.
This Saturday, the first part of the day we spent in the crystal clear cenote Azul and the rest of the day walking the Playa del Carmen streets and lying on the beach near the pier to Cozumel, but in the evening we went to the unique and absolutely beautiful cave restaurant Alux.
Visiting Tulum Ruins was in our activity list while staying in Playa del Carmen. Dave and I had a chance to explore Chichen Itza and Coba ruins during our previous Mexico visit. A mere 30 minute drive from Playa del Carmen, put us right in the heart of the quaint little city of Tulum. This stunning, ancient-walled city used to be home to around 6,000 Mayans between the 13th and 15th century. Spectacularly located on a cliff overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, the Mayan ruins of Tulum are quite different from other archaeological sites in Mexico, which are located in a jungle.
Tulum used to be the Mayan door to the world. A seaport from where they traded their goods (it’s said to be mostly obsidian, turquoise and jade). This city is believed to have been one of the last built and inhabited by the Mayans. After the Spanish began settling in Mexico, Tulum was abandoned by the Mayans – probably after Spanish diseases began spreading among the population. The site structures remain surprisingly well preserved.
Last time we visited Cancun was about 5 years ago, and we had such a nice time there. That’s why we decided to return to Mexico, but this time to vacation in the other popular tourist destination, Playa del Carmen. In the picture above is a quick way to the beach through Calle 2 Norte (2nd Street North) from 5th Avenue, that we used numerous times.