Welcome to this blog post that captures highlights from our 2026 Winter in Uaymitun!
There’s an old adage, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans“. This turned out to be true for our January and February this year. My apologies for the blog gap, but my original plan for publishing has changed due to much more important events.
This blog post will highlight the goings on after the Family Christmas visit!
I almost titled this post “Winter in Uaymitun”, as the local forecasters have all agreed that the month of January in the Yucatán is going on to the record as the coldest month in 20 years. Now, as my readers are mostly going to cry foul given the weather in many places in Ontario, I will say “cold” is relative!
As I started out Uaymitun 2025- Blog Post #2 with “Traditions!”, I’m going to do the same this year, but with a twist.
Merriam-Webster says that a tradition is an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior.
Every family has their own traditions that are most apparent during special family times. For us, Christmas includes our traditional Snowman Count, where all the grandkids (and now a great-granddaughter) hunt through our house and now our apartment counting how many Snowmen Nana has placed throughout!
So this year was very different as we celebrated Christmas in Uaymitun! So many of the Traditions were either enjoyed before we came down or will be renewed next year. Nana, Kerry and Kristy did, however, have Stockings stuffed with Christmas gifts for Jack, Ben, Madyn and Daryn.
Over the 17 years since our first trip to the area, we’ve been able to spend quality and quantity of time with my sister Val and husband George here!
So, in the spirit of traditions, I’m going to focus on our Anniversary Dinners with Val & George over the years!
This year we’re missing having Val & George here, but it was fitting that we were able to have our Anniversary dinner with niece Julie and husband Curtis!
As I switch streams of consciousness, I’ll highlight a few things from after the family left…
There’s always our first visit with Gaby in Chicxulub!
And a picture for Kerry, who was bemoaning missing a visit by a few local gatitos!
We spent a very quiet New Year’s Eve… didn’t even stay up to the see the giant Globe drop in NYC Times Square! However, our New Year’s Day morning…
A couple of days later, we went to FACES for the music! The first band was late in coming (car trouble) and really didn’t catch the fancy of the patrons.
They were followed by Las Paradigmas, who were always the stage band for the old Jam Sessions. They were great, but the response from everyone convinced Jim & Elke to cancel the Saturday sessions and add a second Steak Night on Fridays.
The weather hasn’t been too favorable for beach sitting at sunset, but we did manage to catch one nice one!
Several times, over the past few years, we have met up with Canadian cyclists, Steve and Dodie. This year, they are crisscrossing the Yucatán again and making a stopover in Progreso. We met up with them and showed them the sights of “downtown” Chicxulub.
The following day, it was time to head to the airport to pick up Doug & Janine. It’s been an eventful year for them, so they were glad to be coming for 2 weeks of rest and relaxation.
We planned to keep their visit pretty low key and relaxing, but we did manage some outings…
We went to the Wednesday market at Crocodiles…
… and then went to FACES for the afternoon music!
We were quite surprised to find that much of the beach at the eastern end of the Malecón has been washed away during recent storms.
The next day, after dropping off our laundry, we did a walkabout in Chicxulub.
The next day, after a restful morning, we headed into Mérida in the afternoon and parked at Sta Lucia Parque.
Topping off our walkabout we toured the Plaza Grande
Unfortunately, the front of the Cathedral is being renovated, so it wasn’t lit up in the evening.
Well, I think I’ll close out this Winter’s 2nd blog here and pick up where we left off in the 3rd!
Cheers!
Love to all,
-Doug and Elaine
Liked the photo from the Chicxulub Pier – it’s a new “old favourite” spot!
Great blog Doug! Loved the anniversary pics. Sure wish we could have been with you this year too.