Tag Archives: Coco Bongo Cancun

Hustle Thursday Rundown

Posted on by
Reply

The days continue to get longer as we approach the first day of summer on June 21. So guess what that means? This is the last Thursday Rundown of the spring. Dang, talk about pressure. Here are tonight’s five topics…

Resemblance – Earlier this week, my dad texted Sidney and I the photo on the left and wrote You know anybody who looks like this guy? Of course, the photo was of me, and my dad was implying that Beau and I looked alike when we were both at that age. To be completely honest, I don’t really see it. However, both my wife and dad think there is a striking resemblance. What do you think?

I honestly don’t think there is much of a resemblance, at least not a striking one. What do you think?

Hustle – I never thought I would use the word “inspiring” to describe an Adam Sandler movie but here I am in 2022 doing so. Critics are calling “Hustle” the best movie of Sandler’s career and I would be hard pressed to argue. I watched the film from start to finish on Friday night and really enjoyed it. Sandler plays a Philadelphia 76ers scout who discovers a foreign prodigy and coaches him to NBA readiness. The creative basketball scenes, the celebrity cameos, and the underdog story all make this movie enjoyable to watch. But Sandler truly does steal the show with his motivational performance. You can watch “Hustle” on Netflix.

“Hustle” with Adam Sandler was really good.

Sloan Graduation – Yesterday, Sloan graduated from preschool. After spending a year in the Pre K-3 class followed by this year in the Pre K-4 class, Sloan is ready for her next challenge: Kindergarten. Wednesday’s ceremony was joyful and cute as Sloan and her classmates were celebrated inside the church. We are excited to watch our daughter and her cohort grow together as they advance through St. Mary Catholic School. Although she graduated yesterday, Sloan will attend one final day tomorrow in Ms. Lunsford’s Pre K-4 class before beginning her summer vacation.

Sloan graduated preschool from St. Mary Catholic School in Spokane Valley on June 15, 2022. She is pictured in the top right corner with her teacher, Ms. Emily Lunsford.

That One Club Experience – Sidney and I are the last people you will find in a club but six years ago on this date we made an exception. While on our honeymoon, we found ourselves at Coco Bongo in Cancun. We were entertained all night with celebrity impersonator musicians, side acts, and confetti showers. It was such a fun and memorable experience! If you ever get the chance the go, even if you cringe when you think about clubbing, you won’t be disappointed.

I only took a couple photos when we were in Coco Bongo and they are all grainy. However, this is one of Sid and I. The club was insane.

National Sea Turtle Day – When Sidney and I visited Baltimore in 2014, we visited the renowned National Baltimore Aquarium. When you enter the aquarium you come face-to-face with a gigantic tank full of fish and sharks. But what really stood out when we visited eight years ago was the enormous 500-pound sea turtle that also inhabited the tank. Her name was Calypso and she swam in the National Baltimore Aquarium waters for 20 years before passing away in 2020. She was quite the site. Happy National Sea Turtle Day, my friends.

This was the main tank that the National Aquarium is designed around. You can see Calypso swimming front and center.

———————-

Let us pray incessantly for the end of violence both in our country and the world. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you have a terrific weekend. Don’t Blink.

Coco Bongo

Posted on by
Reply

I am not a big club guy. I don’t (can’t) dance. I don’t particularly even like loud music at the bar. The whole idea of “going hard” late into the night while the beat bumps doesn’t intrigue me that much. So, normally, I pass on the high cover charges and the VIP velvet ropes.

However, while on our honeymoon we made one exception.

Early on during our stay in Cancun we met a couple of fellow honeymooners at the pool. We hit it off with them right away as they were our age and the girl was even a second grade teacher just like Sid. While in the pool, a couple of young guys promoting a club called Coco Bongo came around. Our new friends had heard of the particular venue and were all about going. They tried to persuade us to go but we passed at that particular moment.

The next day I texted the husband and asked how their experience at Coco Bongo was. He replied with this: AMAZING. I RECOMMEND TO ANYONE.”

I trusted this couple and thought it might be worth it to give the place a try. The next day, Sid and I went to downtown Cancun. While we were hitting up the shops and flea market, we saw the Coco Bongo venue. It looked spectacular as the exterior was uniquely decorated with a large Spiderman sculpture dominating the entrance. Signs from a CNN news story headline saying that Coco Bongo “Puts Las Vegas Nightlife to Shame” were in full view.

This is Coco Bongo from the outside (photo credit to http://totaltravelblog.co.uk).

This is Coco Bongo from the outside (photo credit to http://totaltravelblog.co.uk).

I went up to one of the several guys out front selling tickets. After a short discussion, I bit the bullet and purchased $70 passes for Sidney and myself. To celebrate, the guy bought us a round of drinks and presented us a gift bag with t-shirts. Sid and I suddenly had big plans for the evening!

Later that night we ventured back out to downtown Cancun. When we arrived at Coco Bongo, it was a chaotic scene outside. Lines of people went in several directions, traffic was heavy, and about 20 Spiderman and Beetlejuice impersonators were working the crowds trying to get club goers to take photos with them. We found a line that matched our wrist band we had purchased and were quickly ushered inside.

Okay, at this point I should explain what Coco Bongo is all about. The concept of this place can be summed up as follows: live concert meets Cirque de Soleil meets the coolest club you could ever imagine. High quality celebrity impersonators and acrobats/performers put on a spectacular show while you dance, drink, and enjoy yourself.

I only took a couple photos when we were in Coco Bongo and they are all grainy. However, this is one of Sid and I. The club was insane.

I only took a couple photos when we were in Coco Bongo and they are all grainy. However, this is one of Sid and I. The club was insane.

When we got inside, we were taken through a maze. We didn’t know what direction we were going other than we were ascending up. At every corner they had shots and drinks that you could just grab. After maneuvering through the maze and security, we went through one final door and into the club which was actually more of an arena. Before we could really register the spectacle that was surrounding us, security took the two of us and escorted Sid and I right up front to where an elevated stage was. Underneath the stage at eye level with us was a bar. Directly behind us a few feet was another stage. People surrounded us pretty much shoulder to shoulder and two levels of seats ran around the outside of the area. All the seats were packed and all those people were looking down at us.

It didn’t take me long to figure out this was a type of club I had only seen in the movies. Confetti blasted out constantly from large tubes elevated above us. Balloons were dropped. Cold air was released upon us. Bubbles appeared. It was absolutely wild.

Coco Bongo had Cirque du Soleil type performers who would do their thing right in the middle of everything.

Coco Bongo had Cirque du Soleil type performers who would do their thing right in the middle of everything.

It was an open bar and because of the package we had purchased, it was easy and painless to get a drink. Combine that with the fact that the bar was only a few feet away from us and you probably get the idea that we never went thirsty.

But the awesome club atmosphere and the free drinks couldn’t hold a candle to the best part: the entertainment!

We watched front row as acts such as Queen, Bruno Mars, Moulin Rouge (Lil’ Kim, Mya, Pink, Christina Aguliera), LMFAO and Madonna put on fun and energetic performances. In between acts, they would play the best dance mix ever while projecting the music videos for each song on their giant, crystal clear video board. Often the music videos would cut out and a live stream of the crowd would cut in. They would zoom in on different people and it was just pure fun.

I took this photo after Sid and I took bathroom breaks. This was towards the end of our night when LMFAO was on stage.

I took this photo after Sid and I took bathroom breaks. This was towards the end of our night when LMFAO was on stage.

But they had more than just singers. They had Beetlejuice and a mini Beetlejuice do a number. They had a couple of Cirque de Soleil inspired acts where performers would take over the stage behind us and do crazy things on ropes and bars. In one incredible instance, they had a Tron act where probably 30 actors in full robot gear came out and dazzled. They had people on stilts, they had people in masks. It was nuts.

For a guy who doesn’t like clubs, I enjoyed myself for almost four hours that night. I (tried to) dance and had a great time with my wife. I could tell just by looking at her that she was having the time of her life and that made my time in Coco Bongo even better.

As we reached that four hour mark we both looked at each other and knew that it was probably time to go. The party would go on well past 3 a.m. but leaving at 1 a.m. was just fine with us. We were let out and took an elevator back to the chaotic downtown Cancun reality. We jumped in a cab and went back to our resort with the memories of a truly great club experience. Don’t Blink.