Progreso to Motul

The Tracker is full of gas and we're ready to go. So, we decide to take the coast highway east from Progreso and then head south to Motul. We thought that it would be a great senic drive, as on the map the highway follows the coast. And, it does, but it's not too senic. The road is anywhere from a few hundred yards to about 1/2 mile inland! Gotta save the ocean frontage for houses and villas! A pretty boring drive. Great views of  the driveways leading to beachfront houses, but that's about it. Since we picked up the car at about 1:30PM we stopped at a hotel for lunch. Nice lunch. No other folks around, as it's offseason along the coast. High season is the summer months when folks from Merida try and escape the city heat and head to the beach. Exactly the opposite of what we expected. It's getting late now and we don't want to be driving past sunset- too much potential to run into an unlighted bike, trailer, or livestock- so we head off to Motul to find a place to spend the night. We pass through several small towns with ruins and old churches, but we can't stop.Gotta get there.

Then came our first disappointment with our trusty Hunter travel guide.  It said that Motul was a quaint town with horse drawn carriages and a nice hotel on the main plaza.  We made it as the sun was going down.  We parked on the plaza, walked back into a dark hallway and found a dive of a hotel.  Peggy wasn't going for it so we walked out to the plaza wondering about our next move.  We asked a taxi driver about other hotels and he told us there was an "expensive" hotel   about a half block up from the square.  We walked into a piece of heaven when we arrived at the Posada y Restaurante Maria Jose!  A young man from the kitchen (Evan) took us up to this perfect room that was quiet and graceful.  Ed asked about parking and the young man said it was out front - that meant that when the first customer left the restaurant, he would place bar stools in the parking spot to reserve it.  By the time, Ed came back with the Tracker, voila, the space was open!

After paying $48 for the room (clean, modern, king size beds, A/C, TV, etc.) and showering, we came down to a darkened restaurant.  The chef, Solidad, said that we could find a beer at the store down the street. We drank our beers listening to wonderful Handel water music that was playing on Youtube at the computer behind the front desk while we checked our own computer for any urgent messages.  I told the man at the desk that it was time for Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.  After depositing the computer in our room, we came back down to the Hallelujah Chorus blaring.  Solidad, the reception man, a few other folks together with us both sang our hearts out!  Then we found a flash mob of Beethoven's Ode to Joy on Youtube and did the same.  What an incredible experience.
Dinner of yogurt and sweet breads at a bakery, a walk around the plaza and off to one of the best sleeps ever!

Breakfast by Solidad was gorgeous and huge!  We asked Solidad and Evan if we could take their picture in front of the hotel.  They both pointed to themselves and said "us?"  They didn't understand what a fantastic experience they had created for us.  They both insisted on going back to the kitchen to change their shirts!

Our sweet room!

Motul's colonial church.

Peggy, Solidad and Evan spruced up!