Brad and Kelly at the Valentin

Kelly and I just returned from Playa del Carmen and the celebration of our 20 year anniversary (ok, a few months early).  We had a splendid time in this paradise on the Mayan Riviera, south of Cancun.  We honeymooned in Cancun in 1989 and returned twice in the 1990s. Much has changed…more commercial and not so undiscovered anymore.  Every place we spent money accepted the US dollar…felt like home.  Playa del Carmen remains fairly quiet unlike the chaos in Cancun.  We did everything we set out to do this week…lots of rest on the beach.

We stayed at the Valentin Imperial Maya – an all inclusive, 5 star resort. Everything from the architecture of the buildings, to the gardens, to the room, to the 8 themed restaurants, to the 9 bars, to the largest swimming pool we have ever seen, to the amazing white sand/turquoise waters and the hospitality of our Mexican hosts was – Awesome.  Every single person greeted us with a smile and “Hola”.  As large as the resort is, it never felt crowded as it is spread out over many acres and attendance is down due to the economy.  We HIGHLY recommend this resort – it’s adults only and caters to those that want a quiet week on the beach and to those that desire lots of activities.

Now, the real reason for including you on this email.  We want to recommend our new best friend – Terrah Rominger of Legacy Travel in Plano.  Her recommendation of the Valentin was based on her prior stays at the Valentin and what we said we were looking for in a vacation.  She hit it out of the park.  You can reach her through the Legacy website at http://www.legacytravel.com/profiles.html

Special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Harwick and Texas Tech Red Raider Meghan  for taking care of our kids!  Ya’ll did great!

Buenas Dias,

Brad and Kelly

The Beach at the Valentin Imperial Maya