(Most of the pictures are mine.  Some I got from Google images.)

Recap Day 3

Saturday, November 17

Today would sadly be our last day with Mark and Heather. Luckily, Paul and Julie would still be there.

I was finally learning my way around the resort.  It has 9 sit down restaurants, plus a sports bar, a pop up on the beach, and snacks to the chairs.  We choose to go excellence club so we also have access to a lounge and 3 additional pools.  It can be a little overwhelming!

This morning I woke up FULL of energy and feeling great. All the rooms at the resort are identical unless you get the imperial suite or the honeymoon suite.  The only thing that is different are  the views and whether or not you get a swim up or a rooftop terrace.  We’re very happy with the basic room.  Well, sort of basic.  We like the Excellence club so we get the added amenities with that, but the room is the same.  I kept nudging the bear to get out of bed so that we could be at lobster house as soon as they opened. We stopped at Aroma on the way over because we’re not fans of the restaurant coffee and were at the lobster house by a little after 8 on the GLORIOUS morning.

We shared the famous peanut butter pancakes– a little too rich and sweet for my taste, but I’m glad I tried them! My actual breakfast was the grilled cheese, which I really liked! It was a panella cheese (which is similar to paneer) with avocado and bean sprouts. The potatoes on the side were decadent! Richard had a Mexican egg dish that he said was very good. He had a bloody mary and I continued my love for sangrita.

It was a little after 9 when we finished, and we headed down to the beach. We don’t like to grab a spot early when we’re not sure when we’re coming back or how long we’re going to stay, so we didn’t have high hopes of getting a premium spot on the beach. We thought we’d try anyway. Lo and behold, there was not only one but TWO bali beds and PLENTY of palapas for the choosing. We went with a bali bed since we had never had one before.

I thought it was very comfortable, but it was hard to get a good angle for reading. Anyway, Erick set us all up Saturday and Anaselma gave us the most amazing, smiling service EVER. This was our second trip but our first day on the beach as I usually can’t sit still for very long. I had looked at Bingo games and trivia contests at Sol bar, but I was settling in to doing nothing pretty well. Staff came around occasionally with skewers of cucumber or a kiwi mojito to try. All were wonderful. The only time I left in the morning was to say goodbye to our friends.

When Anselma was on lunch break, her relief came by and asked if we needed anything. We ordered some nachos to the bali bed. He told us he would return “quick as a bunny” and he literally RAN away. When he came back, he told us that he made sure to get his order in FIRST, just as they were opening, otherwise it could take a long time. The nachos were tasty but very messy!!

I did feel a little bad later as I realized I could have gotten them myself. I hadn’t been over by Sol bar at lunch time and didn’t realize that there is a buffet set out behind the bar with burgers, nachos… all the things on the chair side service menu… but I suppose they wouldn’t have a menu if they didn’t expect people to order things. (We do tip.)

We weren’t particularly hungry, but it was Mongolian day, and I had heard so much about it, I felt like I couldn’t miss it! Besides, it was about time I got some more vegetables in my system. We made our way down to Las Olas with our friends and I made myself a small vegetarian bowl with some noodles before we went back to our bed.

We decided to go back to building 7. Again, all of the spots at the pool were taken even though there didn’t seem to be many people there, so we went to pool 8 and found a spot there easily with some other addicts we met on this trip. I really like this pool with its dedicated bar.  They inquired about my lost phone again. Richard asked “Did you check the liner inside the suitcase? Doesn’t that liner zip out?” And it all of the sudden occurred to me that I hadn’t! (Yes, of course, I tried “find my phone” the problem was that since I hadn’t logged in on the device I was using, it kept telling me it was going to send a text to my phone, which was on silent, NOT useful! 🙂 )

On the way back to the room we jumped into the main pool and the swim up bar for just a few songs from the band. They were great! They started with an instrumental/Mexican version of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” that was so fun! We danced around a bit and then headed back to the room. We picked up a Hawaiian and a pepperoni pizza. I didn’t really like the Hawaiian, tasted like a bad frozen pizza. Richard said his pepperoni was quite good.

We were bummed that housekeeping had not come yet when we returned at about 445 but decided that we would call them when we left the room and just ask for housekeeping and turn down at the same time. I went immediately to the closet to our swimsuit bag, unzipped the liner, and there was my phone! (My friends had been tearing their rooms apart for the two days prior. Apparently, in my frenzy, I had put it in there for safe keeping. Ah, well..)

We got ready for Mexican fiesta night. Originally, I had planned to go to Toscana or restaurant hop on Saturday night. This was my second visit and I have yet to go to The Grill (at dinner), Spice, or Toscana (at dinner). I was going to do all three (Spice for sushi, Toscana for dinner, The Grill for dessert), but as our trip got closer I saw more pictures of fiesta night and more people raving about the food. Jim Stoddard’s videos sealed the deal for me, so the other restaurants will have to wait until next time!

When we got there, I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen my husband quite so excited. Buffets are a little overwhelming for me, and I have trouble choosing. But he grew up in South Texas and was so excited for all of the authentic Mexican food. He said, “Thank you for insisting we do this!” (He had been a bigger fan of the original restaurant hopping plan).
He also said, “So, from now on, we always have to be here on a Saturday.” The suckling pig, the leg of lamb, the cactus, the tacos al pastor, the barbacoa quesadillas, the homemade tortillas. He was beside himself with joy! It was fun that we were sat right beside one couple from Canada and another from Germany. I love that people from all over the world come to EPM.

We decided we needed to walk around for awhile and went back by Sol bar. We grabbed a few drinks and sat down on the sand at the X Lounge. We could hear the party going on at finest next door and watched fireworks from the tip of Isla Mujeres. We strolled back toward he fiesta and took a seat to watch the end of the entertainment with the mariachis and the lariat and had some more of that wonderful tequila liqueur.

The urban show was starting in the theater, but we were tired and wanted to head back to the room. We had tried to go to Aroma the night before, but they had JUST closed.
This time, we each got an ice cream. (The caramel was EXCELLENT), and I was there so I HAD to grab a macaron.. (Okay, two…). Housekeeping and turn down had come. The room was lovely and dark. Last time we went, we only stayed three nights. I was excited that we still had one day left.