Beer Box

I'm a beer drinker. I love the variety that is provided by the US craft beer movement. In the fall of 2014, I spent 6 days drinking beer in Belgium. I visit Philadelphia and New York City high end beer establishments at least once a year. I drive to a wonderful 120 tap bar in Boston once a week. I'm trying to give myself a little CRED in this area.

One of my greatest misgivings, greatest fears about this Cancun trip was that I would be beerless or almost as bad, drinking commercial piss. I was somewhat encouraged to read about Walmart. Several beer sources online said that the Cancun outlets had a reasonable selection. One of the things I did on my first morning, even before I picked up my bike, was to walk to Walmart. They had a good selection that I purchased to stock my fridge.

In looking at bars online, Beer Box

https://www.facebook.com/beerboxcancun/?rf=112102208878662

stood out. BUT there were also signs that it was closed, gone. Now that I search the web, everything about Beer Box is positive, but back then I was worried. My first day, at noon, I walked to Dublin Irish Pub.

http://www.10best.com/destinations/mexico/cancun/downtown/nightlife/dublin-s-irish-pub/

It was closed. I ended up having a nice meal at

http://www.yelp.com/biz/marakame-caf%C3%A9-canc%C3%BAn

and coming back at 6pm to Dublin Irish pub. The staff was very friendly and did everything they could for me. But, the draft selection was poor, and they had very few interesting bottles. They did provide an excellent chicken and chips in the fish and chips style.

I went down stairs and found the Beer Box. I was soon in heaven. I spent the next 8 nights there.

Ah, the balance between beer and staff. One could have fabulous beers and an uncaring staff. The beer box has a fabulous staff and the best beer I found in Cancun. For some reason I have my own picture of Stephenie.

but I had to photoshop a picture of Edwardo from the web (:-)

Hard to imagine how that happened.

Edwardo had a very interesting IPA? on tap for the first nights, but eventually I drank it all. I spent a couple nights drinking a Mexican IPA and a Mexican Belgium and finished up the stay just drinking the Belgium.

It is a hard job but someone has to do it.

Here are some more interior Beerbox shots

You can see better ones on their facebook page,

Saturday we got to watch NFL football! Most nights I watched Australian Open Tennis on the large screen. Occasionally the mixed boxing wrestling was the offering. I really enjoyed the food, though generally I came after dinner. I can recommend the whole potato french fries.

Sometimes I was so over heated form the 30 minute walk from my dinner that I had to stand under the air conditioner or sit outside for a while. Some nights it was just so pleasant outside that I would choose that though normally I liked the back and forth of seeing what was going on inside.

I did get to talk to one very interesting couple Sunday night. They were on their way to Cuba. Flying from the US into Cuba is still a bit sticky. You need to be part of a culture group or some such. This couple had moved from Florida to Columbus Ohio as a good central location to see the middle of our country. They had a 4 year old daughter who they had just dropped off with grandparents in Florida and were off for a weeks travel. He was in commercial photography, had run iron man races. She had done Social Media stuff with a TV station but was full time with the daughter as the daughter adjusted to Columbus. They really were dedicated to travel. Had been lots of places, including many hours in Belgium Trapest monastery breweries. He had the same internet impression that I did, a worry that Beer Box might be closed. They also had a terrible story of their cab driver not being able to find it and driving around for an hour! They were meeting friends who also love to travel and had a general idea for poking around Cuba. Without my knowing it, until after they left, they paid my bar bill! After that, I kidded Stephenie that it was her job each night to find someone who wanted to pay my bill!

Edwardo, besides keeping me very happy with his wonderful beer selection, also provided a way to the airport. My problem was that I wanted to be the the airport at 6am for a 8am flight. The airport is about 30 minutes from downtown. And I knew from first hand experience that there were almost no taxis on the roads at that time. Edwardo had a regular driver. He called the driver, set up the place/time/price and then had me call the driver. The place was the one divergence. My Airbnb was next to a gambling casino called the Palace. The driver, Mario, was not "permitted" to pick up passengers at the Palace but he could at the Ambassador hotel next door. Edwardo gave me a script "Ola, Soy Tom de da de da" I don't have the paper. I called, said the lines, we said Gracias and hung up. Now, we both had the others number on our phones in case there was any trouble at 5:30. But, Mario was there and all went well.