Following The Fastball

The day after we got engaged, we did something very on brand for baseball life. 

We packed out bags and headed to the small town of Campeche on the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico for the LMB south division championship series. More to come on the story of this epic series….

We stayed in the team hotel that can only be described as aggressively unromantic.

This was one of those team hotels where you walk in an immediately question every life decision that led you there. The sheets fel like hospital paper… and the bugs…

Let’s just say this place had character and none of it good.

Now just down the road sat a stunning 5 star hotel. The kind of place where the Mexican elite causally pull up in Escalades like it’s nothing. The hotel was a historic hacienda, with clean lines, beautiful architecture, and perfectly curated with plants and small natural pools.

I desperately wanted to use my AMEX points to stay in this hotel for 2 nights, but naturally we decided to adopt a system

Live in one hotel, and dine in the other. 

Breakfast and dinner, every day, we showed up like we belonged. We ordered the same local fish dish, and the Mamey flavored ice cream.

Our go to spot was the outdoor patio, quite, relaxed, the kind of place where time slows down just enough to convince yourself that you’re on a normal luxurious vacation.

But as the sun went down… the mosquitos came out. And not in a cute “light a candle and you’ll be fine” kind of way. I’m talking full attack mode. 

For whatever reason, my body decided to react in the most dramatic way possible. My legs were completely covered in bites. The kind where you start googling and drawing circles around the bites to make sure they don’t get worse.

At one point I was convinced I had contracted at least three tropical diseases.

Justin, of course, was completely fine. 

Lesson learned… when they hand you bug spray at the start of your meal, do not eat outside!!

And then came the grand finale.

Back at our hotel (the one star place), his teammate in the room next door to us discovered a massive centipede. Not a small “oh gross” situation. A MASSIVE one that has been paying rent longer than we had 

after this, every night consisted of shaking out all the sheets/pillows, and praying we don’t encounter one. 

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So there we were. 

Freshly engaged.

Living somewhere between luxury dinners and bug-infested reality. 

All in all ready to take on Campeche in the south division series championship