If you haven’t been to Mexico, you’re missing out. Unless of course you don’t like drinking fruity cocktails on a beach, in fabulous weather with spectacular views, while eating tacos and some amazing shrimp ceviche. And if you’re not the kind of person who likes that sort of thing, then you’re no friend of mine. That, and you should probably have yourself checked for possible insanity.

All kidding aside, Mexico is one of my favorite travel destinations. I know that a lot of people have qualms about visiting the country after they hear some of the media stories about it, but I choose to look at it in a different way. More crimes against Americans happen in America on a daily basis than crimes against tourists on Mexican vacations. So you have two choices. Sit at home on your couch, where the chances are better that nothing will ever happen to you, or travel the world and see what it has to offer you. Get out there. Take the plunge. Nothing will ever happen to you if you stay at home. And I mean that in more ways than one.

My husband and I don’t always get to spend holidays together. With his job, he’s working them no matter what if they fall on certain days of the week. This presents us with a little bit of built-in appreciation for the holidays we do get to spend together. It’s much easier to take advantage of our time together, and to be that much more grateful for it when we can. This made our trip to Mazatlan a no-brainer for us. I had a three-day weekend (Thank You Presidents!), and Valentine’s Day happened to fall on his day off. We booked a quick trip to Mexico and off we went.

We landed in Mazatlan, grabbed a Pacifico at the airport, and jumped in a taxi. I couldn’t resist taking some photos during the ride to the hotel, which led to “the unfortunate incident” of the trip. We arrived at the hotel, I jumped out, grabbed my bag, and went to check-in. Leaving my cell phone in the taxi. While we held out hope that it would be returned, I wasn’t naive enough to forget that we were in a foreign country and the chances were slim. But I had two choices: Spend hours thinking about everything that was in my phone that was now, very lost. Or getting a margarita, heading to the beach, and letting bygones be bygones.

I made my choice. I wasn’t going to let this ruin my trip. I changed into my suit, grabbed a drink, and took my book (and husband) to the beach to relax. We still had each other, we were healthy, and we had a gorgeous day in Mazatlan to spend together. Things could be much worse.

Besides the incident, we had such a relaxing trip. We spent our daylight hours reading on the beach, drinking cocktails, and going for swims in the pool. We watched the sunsets from the beach bars, eating the best shrimp we’ve ever had (Mazatlan is known for their shrimp), drinking Pacifico’s (which happen to be bottled there). We spent time with each other, enjoying the company. We weren’t going to take any minute for granted.

We definitely want to come back to Mazatlan when we have a little more time to spend. We didn’t get out as much as we would have liked, but did find a few amazing locales to spend a few bucks. I mean, with $1.50 Pacificos, you don’t need to spend much. That, and all the tequila shots my husband took. The second this guy lands his feet on Mexican soil, he turns from Brendan to “Javi.” He smokes cigars, takes down shots of tequila, and lives in his element. He would swim with the sharks if I’d let him. Which I won’t. Ever.

Eventually the sun set on our last night, and we had to get ready to come back to the States. It was a short trip, but it was worth every penny. We had a great time, and while we had a minor setback, everything worked itself out in the long run. Here’s to our next trip to Mexico! ‘Til next time Mazatlan!