martha's vineyard in the off-season

it's SPRING BREAK for this graduate student! to mark the occasion, tim and i took a little bike trip to martha's vineyard. we'd both had never been there--and we lucked out with some incredible weather. in two days, we managed to bike almost the whole island and saw all the sights...oak bluffs, vineyard haven, edgartown, and gay head. the island was empty (it was, after all, a sunday and monday in the middle of march), but it was nice to get an idea of what it is like for people who live there on a year-round basis. not too much stuff is open!

http://www.harbor-view.com/

i could have spent a few more days here...

i just returned from a few days in mexico's riviera maya. although we were there for our "field studies in global consulting class" we managed to see quite a bit of the the area considering we were there for three nights. i also managed to completely fall in love and was tempted to skip the plane and stay!

previously, i would have thought that the riviera maya was just like cancun--large multi-story hotels, watered-down pina coladas, and late nights. the two areas do share the same airport, after all. i couldn't have been more wrong! centered around playa del carmen, the riviera maya is quiet and "beachy," if that is a word. playa del carmen has a bunch of small shops and restaurants, and many of the restaurants don't even have real doors.

we were taken on a visit to tulum, about an hour south of playa del carmen. i would have thought that tulum was just a bunch of tourist shops and vendors surrounding the gates of the mayan ruins at tulum. however, it  is more of a "yogi" destination--a no shoes allowed kind of place, with fresh fish, hippies, and small restaurants right on the sand. and as far as tourist spots go, it felt relatively untouched. i can't wait to go back!

i could eat breakfast here every day for sure.

downtown playa del carmen.

tulum-mayan ruins.

restaurant/hotel in tulum: http://www.zamas.com/