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| Fireworks at midnight on New Year's Eve |
Of course, the best way has to be on Isla
Mujeres where everyone, young and old, really knows how to welcome in the New
Year. The square in front of the Palacio Municipal (City Hall) is typically
jammed with thousands of celebrants ready to party until dawn.
The fun starts around 11 p.m. ish, this is Mexico don’t forget so
everything starts close-ish to the
advertised time.
 |
| Food and drinks for party-goers |
Drink and food stalls are the first to open, then the warm-up
band blasts rock tunes or salsa over the crowd until the fireworks display at
midnight.
Amid laughter and shouts of Happy New Year in
several languages, people hug, kiss, rattle or honk their noise makers while
dodging the burning embers raining down on the square from the overhead display
of pyrotechnics. It’s a fantastically fun evening.
 |
| Fireworks at midnight NYE Isla Mujeres |
Next the dozen-or-so headline entertainers crank
up their amplifiers and rock the downtown area with horns, guitars, percussion,
singers and dancers. You can dance your socks off until after sunrise.
Sleep is
not on the program tonight. Entire families spend the night dancing, eating,
and drinking.
Even the youngest ones can outlast Lawrie and me.
 |
| Lawrie in yellow sweater - Canadian New Year's Eve |
Over the past thirty-something years Lawrie
and I have celebrated this special time in a variety of ways, from boisterous dinners
at our home in Canada, to just the two of us sharing a bottle of good
champagne. We’ve had dinner parties here on Isla with rooftop drinks to watch
the fireworks in Centro.
And we’ve have even participated in an odd northern
custom of swimming in near-freezing ocean water early on New Year’s Day.
 |
| Isla Mujeres Navy personal helping with crowd control |
Here on Isla Mujeres there is a much warmer, interesting
custom that started a long time ago, perhaps when the footpath to the southern
end of the island became an actual road.
The hundreds of people drive to Punta
Sur to welcome the first light, to greet
the dawn of the brand new year. Punta Sur is the most easterly part of Mexico
and receives the first rays of sunlight.
 |
| First Light - January 1st, Isla Mujeres |
It’s an intriguing sight to see hundreds of cars,
trucks, motos, and golf carts arrive
with an assortment of people still dressed in their party finery. Sleepy kids
snoozing in the back of pickup trucks are carried by their parents to the edge
of the starfish-shaped plaza. Women teetering on stiletto heels clutch bottles
of champagne. (Trouble Isla book #2 of my Isla Mujeres Mystery series)
Most people look spent, tired out, and ready for bed but it’s the
perfect end to a perfect party. Others arrive bright-eyed and bushy tailed
having slept soundly, far from the crazy celebrations in Centro.
Everyone
cheers the arrival of the new dawn then finally makes their way home to sleep
for a few hours before the normal sounds of island life wake them up again.
 |
| Max, Lawrie and Sparky - waiting for our champagne |
As we were out walking our two dogs on the
morning of January 1st we could still hear the music pounding from over a mile
away, then at 7:30 a.m. it stopped.
Yes, that’s right 7:30 in the morning the
band stopped and the party officially ended.
Start making your plans now if you want to
start the next year on Isla Mujeres, a Pueblo
Magico, a magical town. You should book your accommodations and dinner at the
popular restaurants well in advance.
We know, it’s hard for you
spur-of-the-moment folks, but it is really worth the effort to plan ahead.
This is the time of year to enjoy
being alive, to create fantastic memories, and to look forward to another good
year.
We wish you and your families a
Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2018
Lynda & Lawrie
~
Get your Isla 'fix' with the exciting Isla Mujeres Mystery series!
There's Trouble on Isla, Big Trouble!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast and furious
By CA reviews on September 26, 2017
Yasmin and Jessica are back and the gold they found in Treasure Isla is still haunting them, especially when Carlos, their boss at the Loco Lobo, and Yasmin’s new lover, is kidnapped. No spoilers here, but his captivity and the girls’ efforts to free him, with the help of Carlos’s pals—including local Isla Mujeres fishermen and a Mexico City cop—are the crux of this fast-paced story. Lock has created not only a compelling and authentic setting, but a well-developed ensemble cast. The next Isla mystery can’t come fast enough.
or Paperback $11.99 USD
E-books also available on iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords
Treasure Isla - where it all began!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating and authentic
By CA reviews on September 26, 2017
This was a truly fun in the sun kind of mystery, with an authenticity that was simply captivating. Set on the island called Isla Mujeres, not far from the better-known Mexican resort of Cancun, it follows the misadventures of two girlfriends, who on a drunken binge manage to wander onto the grounds of a cemetery and find a treasure map stuck in a crevice of an old pirate tomb. Jessica, from Canada, and local pal Yasmin both work at a tourist bar/restaurant called the Loco Lobo. Soon their boss Carlos and a handsome attorney named Luis are involved in the girls’ illegal hunt for pirate gold. Toss in a bad dude running from a string of crimes in Key West, and it’s the start of an addictive new mystery series.
Available on Amazon e-books $2.99 USD
or Paperback $11.99 USD
E-books also available on iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords
1 comment:
Did not know until reading Trouble Isla that there was an after party on South End. We have been to NYE on Isla twice. Happy New Year to you both!
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