When Dad came to visit, I decided it would be best to drag him all over Mexico... He and I really enjoy history so we went to 3 of the 5 largest archeological sites in Mexico including Teotihuacan (which I have already posted pictures on here), Uxmal, and Chichen Itza. To visit the final two places we stayed in Mérida, Yucatan which is located between them.
Mérida
It is known as the "white city" and I can see why. Mérida is extremely clean for being such a large city. The Mayan history still has a large influence on the language, culture, and cuisine (FYI if you ever go there try La Chaya an amazing restaurant). Unfortunately, while we were there, the city plaza and many other places were closed due to reconstruction projects in preparation for the city’s anniversary coming up in January 2012. However we both enjoyed the murals and history on permanent display in the government building.
Most of our time was spent outside of the city touring sites, but on our last day we took a tour of the city which drove down a large avenue of mansions from different time periods and cultures. Some are no longer used, others are businesses, and some are still occupied by the original family. Here was my favorite. They called it a castle. Unfortunately it is hidden by a tree.
And of course they too have churches made out of indigenous ruins.
Kaban
Kaban is a small site but it is extremely popular due to the building of the rulers which has statues of different Mayan rulers on the one side 
and on the other side has numerous masks of their rain god.
Here are all the pieces which go on top, that they intend restore.
Here is a close up of the rain god.
Uxmal
Pronounced Oosh-mall, this place is exciting because after so many years the carvings are still very detailed.
This is a large site, as seen here.
However this doesn’t really display its size because the majority of it has yet to be reclaimed from nature. Here is just one of the temples that the trees and plants have destroyed.
Pirates play a large part in the history of Yucatan. It is thought that they adopted the skull and crossed bones from the Mayans. 
Some of the main features of Mayan architecture is the fact that they only decorated the top half of the buildings and their false arch that is not dependent on a corner stone, like the Greek arch.
Chichen-Itza!!!!
Chichen-Itza is 1 of the 7 wonders of the world, for the astronomical phenomenon that takes place on one of the four stairs. 
During the spring and fall equinox (March 21st & September 21st) the shadows on the left staircase creates an effect that they are snaking down the pyramid. 
One of the gods of the Mayans was Kukulkan (known as Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs). This god is a plumed serpent. So at the bottom of the stairs that moves, there is a snake head.
The Mayans had advanced systems of math (the zero existed in their culture) and had an advanced understanding of astronomy. For example, the steps of the main pyramid correlate with the number of days in the year and the levels/platforms correlate with the number of weeks in a year. Here is an observatory also found in Chichen-Itza.
Human sacrifice was prominent in the latter period of Mayan empire. The priest would pull out the heart of the one being sacrificed, lick the heart, and bite the person. This represented drinking the blood and eating the flesh. Here is a carving of an eagle licking a human heart. 
They sacrificed the captain of the winning team of their ball game (the best ball court I have seen was in an unrelated site at Monte Alban in Oaxaca). It was his job to go the gods and ask for their favor. There are numerous skulls carved around one of the platforms depicting those who gave up their lives. 
Most of the sacrificing took place in effort to get rain. Yucatan has 6 months of rain and 6 months of drought. It is mostly made up of limestone so the main water formations aren’t found above ground such as rivers and lakes, but are underground. There are several sink holes called "cenotes" where they could get water during the dry months. Here is one that we visited.
